I feel like an idiot for asking this question but I really don't know. How do make a reservation for a hotel/bnb in Italy? Do you call? Do it online? Is trip advisor good to use? Do you pay upfront? Hold it with a credit card? If I use my debit card, do they hold money out? Do you pay in euros when you check out do use your credit/debit card? How does that work?
Obviously I've never done it before so don't be too harsh on the slow girl...;)
Thank you!
I compare different hotels and book online mostly because it's easier and I want a written confirmation of my stay with a booking number. You can also e-mail a small "Mom and Pop" place or B & B, or use their online reservation form to request a room and wait for their confirmation. I use booking.com a lot because it's a good comparison resource - it's a third-party site, but you can book directly with a hotel if you prefer. Hotels hold rooms with credit cards (and sometimes Paypal), not debit cards. You typically pay when you check-out unless you reserve a pre-paid room (I would only do this if there's a substantive cost savings because it's non-refundable). Some small places may have a different policy for payment because they cannot afford a no-show, so they may charge your credit card ahead of time for a portion of the room cost as a type of downpayment.
You should read the hotel's reservation and cancellation policy, and any other small print, very carefully. Your credit card will reflect the cost in $ USD using the interbank exchange rate that day, which fluctuates slightly from day to day. It's best to use a credit card that has zero foreign transaction fees, so choose wisely (Capital One is one example). You should familiarize yourself with the EUR to USD exchange rates so you know more or less how much something advertised in Euros will cost you. Good luck!
Since you're new at this, I urge you to read Rick's money-related tips right here on this website. Dealing with financial transactions before and during a trip to Europe isn't difficult, but it's possible to make mistakes that will cost you a substantial amount of money. It would be a lot more fun to spend that money on an experience or a souvenir, rather than inadvertently frittering it away through lack of knowledge.
After you've searched for hotels for the specific town on a site such as Booking.com, narrow down your choices by reading the reviews. For Europe, mention of "a small room" is not necessarily a bad review since many rooms & bathrooms are smaller than a US hotel. Try to pick a hotel that's walking distance to what you would like to see in the center of an Italian town - usually great restaurants in those areas, too.
Once you select the hotel, reserve it on Booking.com (or similar). I print a copy of the reservation, so I can just hand it to the hotel receptionist when I arrive, along with my passport. The booking site will state whether you're paying at the time of the reservation, or if you will be paying at the hotel. You want to pay the hotel in Euros using your credit card. You will pay when you check out of the hotel, although they'll usually scan your credit card when you check in.
Definitely purchase the Rick Steves Italy book - well worth it for lots of great information!
Regarding your question about TripAdvisor.
I have written hundreds of reviews for TripAdvisor but now rarely use them. They started out as a worthy peer review website with everybody helping everybody out, but have become huge and impersonal and really now only a paid booking site. I used to be able to figure out the fake reviews - those posted by the place itself or by friends, and those posted by enemies or trolls - but that is getting to be harder and harder to do. Bots can be cunning.
All of TripAdvisor is paid now for the hosts and what was folks helping out folks is now a mega-booking site running on huge rivers of cash.
I go there to see photos of the place which I find very helpful, especially the ones taken by reviewers (you can filter out the location provided ones) so I know what the rooms and location will look like.
There is a current thread on here about TripAdvisor and some of heinous things they have done.
The link is here for that thread ::- https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/beyond-europe/interesting-article-trip-advisor-removed-warnings
I now tend to prefer booking dot com reviews because the reviews are only posted by verified travelers who actually stayed at the place.
Unfortunately, I have read of several discontented users of booking dot com. Be open-minded and skeptical with ALL 'review' sites, including booking-dot-com and TripAdvisor, 'verified' or not (who does the verifying? and verifying does not mean reviews are not deleted). I expect all sites screen/edit/delete reviews. I even seen obvious advertising posted on this site, against the site rules, although those posts usually get deleted within days. Use more than one site to research options. Doing a internet search of specific places is a good idea.
Bottom line: all of these type sites are For Profit. I read them to get a general idea of the places listed, for location and surrounding sites, and to view photos.
Additionally, I try to avoid booking through 3rd parties. I always try to book internationally through the hotel's own website or by email. Rarely, a hotel website will instruct me to use their booking service.
The first and only time I used a third party booking site, the hotel had no record of our reservation when we showed up with confirmation in hand. The hotel ended up offering us a better room for less money.
You are way better off communicating directly with the hotel/bnb of your choice.
Thank you all for your advise and suggestions! I wonder if booking through Airbnb would be better?
Thank you all for your advise and suggestions! I wonder if booking through Airbnb would be better?
I used to contact hotels directly, but these days too many of then are not responsive. They either take days to respond, or don't answer all my questions (like what is your cancellation policy?). Or they don't respond at all, which might mean they have no availability, but I don't have time to chase down someone who does. Now I use booking.com and have never had any issues. Often I try to find a hotel that is also listed in Rick's book, but not on my Italy trip from a year ago. I used booking.com for every booking. If a place has hundreds of reviews, I have a high level of confidence that enough of them are legit. Don't pay in advance or you have no recourse. You pay in Euros on sight after your stay. Don't pay in advance when you arrive either, again you lose leverage if something is unsatisfactory. Be sure and understand the cancellation policy. Once I booked a hotel in Munich and forgot to ask up front. Turns out their policy was, you pay for the fun stay even if you cancel. The stay went off as planned, but I learned a lesson on that one. Generally I don't find TripAdvisor to be user friendly and have never booked through that site.
Be sure you know what you're getting with airbnb. When you're dealing with an apartment, there's sometimes a cleaning fee. Very often you have to make special arrangements to meet up with the person who will give you a key. There's often no way to drop off your bags early in the day, before check-in time, or to leave them in a secure place at check-out time and head out for more sightseeing. Those are not usually issues in hotels, though very small hotels may not have someone at the front desk all day long.
Trip Adviser's restaurant reservations are handled by a division which used to be known as The Fork when it was independent. I have used the service a couple of times in Europe and found it to be efficient without adding to the cost. It is handy in places where you don't speak the local language.
On-line booking agencies are now a huge industry and a fundamental part of the tourist trade. All reviews must be approached cautiously. Some of the biggest sites, such as booking.com, at least attempt to verify that a submitted review comes from someone who actually reserved a room, rather than a plant from the hotel staff. Contacting the service provider directly is, in my opinion, the best tactic with airlines. For hotels, I have often found better rates on services such as booking.com and hotels.com than the hotels themselves are offering.
How do make a reservation for a hotel/bnb in Italy? Do you call? Do it online?
Once you identify a place you want to stay, you can email, call, or book online through the hotel of B&B's website as many now have their own reservation system. Emailing or online are easier than calling given the time difference and possible language issues. OR you can use a booking site like www.Booking.com. This is nice for many reasons as they manage the payment system. I like it much better than Airbnb, which for a beginner might not be such a good idea.
Is trip advisor good to use?
As you can see there are many opinions. I do use it for pictures and ideas. I like to read the reviews and see what people really liked or disliked. For example, if it seems a lot of people complain about noise or poor WIFI, I move on.
Do you pay upfront? Hold it with a credit card? If I use my debit
card, do they hold money out? Do you pay in euros when you check out
do use your credit/debit card? How does that work?
Some/Most places require a deposit and especially in high season. Some require you to pay in cash at the time you check in. Others accept credit cards. Some require full payment long before arrival, so you want to be 100% sure of your plans before booking a place with pre-payment. You really have to read all the terms and conditions. I would not use a debit card due to the risk to your bank account in the case of fraud. Use a credit card, only, or cash.
I use booking.com a lot. You can filter by price, location, amenities, etc. I print out reservations and sometimes need to show the address to a cabdriver.
Be careful to notice the different rates; I always take the "no penalty for cancellation" price and always pay in local currency. Sometimes a property will put a pre-authorization charge on your credit card but that goes away after a few days. Sometimes a property will charge your card a few days in advance of your arrival, but usually you pay when you check out.
If you find specific properties that interest you, come back and ask about them, good chance someone on this forum knows about it.
Personally I use booking.com to find a place then e-mail the hotel direct and see what price they can do, because booking take a commission and if you book direct this will be eliminated. On the other side a lot of hotels on booking.com do not require payment until the day and have last minute cancellation this is a good option sometimes.
I have successfully booked multiple stays in Italy via Hotels.com. It's not everyone's first choice for booking, but I have had good luck with it more than once. Not only have I found great rates, but I have yet to have a problem with the actual booking reaching the hotel in question.
Having said that, I always research the hotel across multiple websites. Trip Advisor has great photos as a general rule. Read reviews with caution, no matter what the site.
But I always book online. Some people follow up with an email.
Just a note that booking.com now offers apartments as well as hotels.
