Cash only for hotel

Those are questions which nobody on this board will be able to answer. But your bank can answer your questions. There are daily limits on withdrawals. 350 Euros equals almost 500 US dollars. So if your daily limit withdrawal is less than that you can ask your bank to increase it. Other option would be to take enough US$ in cash and change into Euros once you get there.

You should have no problem as long as you let your bank know where you are traveling and when

As of today, €350 = $496. (Rates can change every day.) Before you leave home, have your bank increase your daily ATM withdrawal limit to at least $600. Each ATM will have its own limit for a single withdrawal so you may need to make two separate withdrawals or use two different ATMs to get your €350.

What kind of a hotel charges 350 euro per night and only takes cash?

Thanks everyone for your help:) I appreciate it!

Ditto on Steve's reply. In the States we have a daily withdrawl limit of $1000/day but our credit union limited us to $500/day in Europe. Last summer this translated to a little over 300E/day. I tried several times to pressure my CU into changing the limit to no avail.

We rented several apartments during our 5 week trip; and each required cash only. We simply planned out ATM withdrawls to make sure we had enough cash in hand to pay the bills.

It was not as much of a hassle as I thought it would be.

Agreed with all.

I've taken groups over several times, so sometimes would need ~2,000 Euro or more to check into a hotel / apartment.

First, I won the battle of pressuring my bank into giving me larger daily limits -- I changed banks.

Second, I did the math on when I would need the cash and made daily withdrawals to build up my cash.

We always take debit cards from at least 3 different banks and credit unions so we never have a problem with getting enough cash. Also, if anything goes wrong or won't work with one of the accounts, we are covered.

Following on what Tyler says, find out when the hotel expects to be paid. We paid cash for a discount at our hotel in Rome. The bill was paid at the end of our stay, and we had visited ATMs often enough over the previous days to be more than able to cover it.

At our B&B (more of a self-serve apartment) in Orvieto, only cash was accepted. We paid at the beginning of our stay. Since this was our second stop we had already withdrawn enough for the bill. Had it been earlier in the trip/more money, it might have been a bit more of a challenge to have enough right off the bat.

If traveling alone or a couple I suggest having more than one card(from different banks).I was in Germany several years ago and the other couple and I had the same bank card and couldnt get a dime out of either account.Fortunately I had a card from another bank and I was able to supply both of us with money.Calls to the bank solved the problem but it took several days to do so.When we got home the bank president told us it was the German banks fault,that is until we told them another bank gave us the money.Then he was very silent.I alway take two bank cards.Then I leave my checkbooks from both with a trusted friend or relative and sign checks for each.That way I can have them transfer money from one bank to the other.Ive used this a few times.

The daily limit on my card is $500 (US not Euros), that is roughly equivalent to 350 Euros. That's a pretty common daily limit. Some banks allow you to request a larger daily limit (most don't).

The fee is set by your bank, about $3 per transaction is probably normal. Keep the fees down by making fewer large transactions.

The daily limit usually refreshes at midnight local time for your bank's headquarters. Convert that to local time in Europe and you may be able to withdraw two day's worth if you time your visits to the ATM right.

You should ask your bank for details and make sure they record your planned vacation so they don't shut your card down with a fraud alert.

Also take the non-800 contact number for your bank in case you have a problem. 800 numbers won't work from Europe.

Jessica - Before your trip get with your bank and advise them of your trip. Let them know your travel dates. Ask them to increase your atm daily withdrawl limit. Once you return from your trip, get with your bank and have them reduce your daily withdrawl limit.

"What kind of a hotel charges 350 euro per night and only takes cash?"

She probably means that the hotel wants cash up front for the entire stay -- not that it charges 350 EUR a night.

In December, I stayed at a hotel in Amsterdam that said they would give me a discount for cash up front for the entire stay. The bill was 700 Euros total. I told them that I could not withdraw that much cash at at ATM in one day. No problem -- they said I could pay in several installments.

When I got there, however, they willingly accepted my debit card instead. Debit cards cost the hotel less money than credit cards.

Explain your problem to the hotel. I bet they will be willing to negotiate, rather than lose your business.

I wouldn't recommend taking $$$ and exchanging them at a bank. When we did this in Italy in '07, we found that the bank often had a limit on how much we could exchange. This was true in Milan as well as smaller towns.