I am going on the Germany, Austria, Switzerland tour in June of 2008 and I plan on arriving in St. Goar two days early because I want to get over jet lag before the tour starts. I want to spend those two nights in the same hotel as the tour will stay in, so how much ahead should I book those nights? Would six months ahead be too early?
Posted by
Seattle
223 posts
Why don't you ask the RS people if they can coordinate this for you so that you'll be able to continue to stay in the same room without changing once the tour starts? They probably accomodate this type of thing all the time.
Posted by
OP
Olympia, WA, USA
6 posts
They charge for consultations. I don't mind doing it myself or changing rooms. :-) Thank you for the advice.
Posted by
Seattle
223 posts
I don't think they'd charge you for a consultation, if as part of a package, you ask them to book your room in advance as part of the bookings they will already being doing as part of the tour.
My experience with the company is that they are very accomodating and do not "nickel and dime" their customers.
Posted by
OP
Olympia, WA, USA
6 posts
Really? I'll give them a call tomorrow and find out. Thanks! :-)
Posted by
Napa, CA
3580 posts
I've taken RS tours and their advice has been to contact the hotel directly for extra nights. A year in advance may be a bit early, but you could go ahead and try now. RS makes their hotel reservations a year in advance, so maybe individuals can, too. Contact ETBD to find out exactly which hotel they will be using.
Posted by
Texas
531 posts
We are going on an RS tour in October - decided in December. It's really easy to make the reservations yourself via e-mail following Rick's advice. We're going 15 days early and using his books I planned our route and made the hotel arrangements myself via e-mail no problem. Some hotels book a year ahead but I had no problem booking smaller B & B's 9 months ahead.
Posted by
Salem, Oregon, USA
2760 posts
I booked ahead for a RS 17 day Italy tour for the last tour hotel by contacting the hotel directly. Be sure to let them know you'll be on the RS tour - the hotels are typically used to this and in my case let me stay in the same room, even though it was larger than my reservation indicated. I would say try at 6 months early and see what the hotel staff say. Also, the RS folks may not be able to tell you what hotel you're staying in until 6 months ahead, so you might have to wait for them to find out. Have a great trip!
Posted by
Staten Island, NY, USA
9 posts
I have gone on 5 RS tours and I have arrived early by one day on 4 of the tours. Book the room with the hotel you are staying at as soon as Rick Steves tells you the name of the hotel. I have done this each time and had no problem getting a room and staying in that room for the rest of the week. June is busy and some of the hotels are not that big, best to be save then to wait.