Hotel Reservations in March 09

I can only speak to Paris, but I would book there as well. It gets so many visitors that the good/inexpensive places tend to book up. Happy travels.

I would always book ahead in Venice which is a tourist mecca. I can recommend a very good B&B that gets good reviews on TripAdvisor and fits your budget.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187870-d289282-Reviews-Bed_and_Breakfast_Venezia-Venice_Veneto.html

Here is their homepage:
http://www.bbvenezia.com/

The biggest issue I see in winging it is that your budget is quite tight. US $100/night is about 80 euro at the current exchange rate. And you say that's your max.

In November (definitely off-season), we paid 95 euro/night for a two-star hotel in Rome that was a double (2 twins) + bath. To go cheaper, you will need to stay somewhere such as the Beehive -- 80 euro/night for a private double room with a sink, but no bath it looks like -- and it books up quickly.

With a low budget, I would not wing it in the larger, expensive cities such as Paris, Venice, and Rome, or you may find yourself blowing your budget in two nights.

I would book now in order to guarantee yourself a place to stay. I would just make sure that there is a good cancellation policy and you understand it well. I am planning a 28 day trip to France and Spain in May 09. So far my average hotel cost is $91.00 per day for 2 people. Ranging from E105 in Paris to E125 in Barcelona. Find out what hotels or B&B's you're interested in and try to book direct with them. Good luck and Happy Travelling!

Correction: My daily hotel cost based on my reservations is Euro 91.13 not USD. Sorry for any confusion

Your budget of $100 per night is on the low side for two people. That would be about 65-70 Eu per night at today's exchange rate. (I know someone with access to today's rates and a calculator will correct me. That's ok.) Exchange rates will go up or down between now and your travel time. You may be able to stay on budget if you mix in some real economy by staying some in hostels. That's what I would do.

Hey John! I've planned a five week trip for April & May next year and have all ready booked my accomodations for two travelers. Munich and Vienna are in my itinerary as well. In Munich, I reserved a double room with full bath, including breakfast at Hotel Monaco for 83 euro per night (a little over $100 US). I have the same arrangement in Vienna at Pension Hargita for 73 euros per night (about $90 US). If you're pretty confident of your itinerary then I'd suggest going ahead and booking your lodging.

I too would pre-book. Mostly because of your budget--the good value hotels are booked well in advance. Do you really want to spend your vacation wandering from hotel to hotel with your luggage looking for one in your budget, with available rooms? But also because most of those cities are busy all year--there are business conventions and events that you might not know about, which might make it difficult to find a vacant hotel room. The only place I probably wouldn't worry about is Nice.

Thanks for all your replies. We have started the process of finding hotels, requesting rates and will pre-book. I have to admit, we are much more comfortable with having reservations. I think my biggest hurdle in this adventure is, the more I read and research the more overwhelming it all seems. Not to be undone however, we are both very flexible and I know will thoroughly enjoy the experiance. Especially since we will at least have rooms to stay in.

Suggest you look at the Germanrail website (www.bahn.de) and click on to English language and then hotel reservation section. Brilliant selection of hotels for every city in Europe. You can pre-book with a credit card though payment will not be taken unless you fail to turn up. I use it frequently.

I am sure some will disagree with this recommendation. But IBIS hotels are usually very decently priced. They are a chain in Europe, but in my opinion much better than a US chain.

John, perhaps consider convent accommodation. Google will help with your search, however they tend to book out quickly.Casa il Rosario in Rome is excellent. There is a convent close to St Mark's Square in Venice.

"But IBIS hotels are usually very decently priced. They are a chain in Europe, but in my opinion much better than a US chain."

One caveat with Ibis. They seem to be the fall-back plan for everyone who tries to "wing it"... meaning that if you try to book a room weeks in advanced, no problem, they'll have plenty of vacancies. But if you show up at the counter unbooked, especially in the busier cities (like all of them on your itinerary!), expect to find the place filled.

Finally... $100 per night won't take you very far in those cities, especially if you want a private bath.

John,

You are going to the most expensive cities in Europe.
I agree, $100 for lodging is not enought for March.
In Amsterdam the cheapest hotel I found some years ago, in 2002 was 80 EUR when the $ was a bit stronger than the Euro. However that hotel was bad. The room was small and at the last floor(4th).
In Paris I was able to find a room by the subway station for about 50EUR in a small hotel, but clean.
I think I booked with hotelreservations.com.
Venice is very expensive. I found a room with shared bathroom for 2 for about 120 Euros, this past October. The bus system around Venice is pretty good. If you find a hotel some where outside of the city it will save you some money.
In Nice go to their Tourist office and try to book thru them They have good deals. I staye din a small hotel with kicken for about 55 EUR about 5 minutes walking distance to the beach.
In Rome you can try Pensione Otavianno
http://www.pensioneottaviano.com
It's a hostel , but they have private double rooms with ensuite bath for 25 EUR or so.The location is very good, close to vatican.