Wish to repeat a marvelous place to stay in Varenna and this time want stay 7 nights instead of 3. Would it be wise to get firm reservation for hotel first as this place is important to us and then try for airline after ? Not leaving till 2011 (saving up till then) but can easily pay for airfare the 4=required 11 months prior to travel. Or should I get best rate for that periodwe wish to travel and then try for hotel?
Posted by
OP
Kahuku, Hawaii, USA
78 posts
Good advice. Not using Miles this trip. I think maybe will make hotel reservations in early 2011 but try 2 ways for air, first 11 months prior to travel and if good, buy. If not, wait till closer to trip. On thinking things over, the hotel is still very dear to us but if they not want change reservations for 7 nights in a row, it might be fun to try another place in addition to our choice. Places to stay on Rick Steves suggested recommendations really helpful.
Posted by
San Francisco/Marin County
9436 posts
Jackie, I would definitely book the hotel as soon as you are able, and get airline tickets after that. We made all the arrangements and paid for an apt rental in Paris last May for our trip there in May 2010. We haven't bought the airline tickets yet, waiting for 3-4 mos prior to going.
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
Well I guess I must do things differently than others, because I never book accomodations before booking airfare. We tend to go wherever the airfare "sale" takes us. When we have the airline tickets then we can map out an itinerary and THEN we can choose accomodations for our itinerary.
Of course we travel with budget being #1 priority. But we've never had a bad accomodation experience. With the help of TripAdvisor we can definitely avoid the bad and even the questionable places.
Posted by
Dallas, TX, USA
1170 posts
Call me crazy....but I wouldn't think of booking a hotel until I had my airline ticket in hand and my travel dates written in stone, or at least wet cement. But....you can't book an airline ticket this far in advance of your travel date in 2011, nor will your hotel book this far in advance I would bet. Even if you could book your hotel this far in advance, you run the risk of your reservation getting lost in that length of time. Wait until at least 1 year before your travel date. Your hotel shouldn't be booked up that far in advance and neither will your airline.
Posted by
San Francisco/Marin County
9436 posts
We go to Europe every year, or every other year, and the vast majority of hotels we are interested in (many from RS guide) book up 6-12 mos ahead. Airfares are typically at their lowest 90 days prior to flight date. If I waited until I got the airline tickets, the hotels I'm interested in staying at would be completely booked. That's why I have always booked hotels first, then airline tickets. This is especially true if there is a particularly special place we want to stay, as the OP wrote. This has always worked well for us. Everyone's different though, and everyone has their own way of traveling that works best for them.
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
Yes, I'm sure Susan is correct in saying that everyone has their own particular way of traveling. Personally, I've never found a hotel that was so special that it dictated my entire vacation. I wonder what hotel the OP is talking about.
Posted by
Freedonia
16287 posts
You didn't say which month you were traveling in. July will be harder to book than February.
If this hotel is that important to you, book it 364 days prior to your arrival--usually the farthest out you can book a non-group reservation. Then start working on the air fares. You probably won't get the best fares that far out. And if you really need to stay in this one hotel, then you'll have to be flexible with airfare. But it also give you lots of choices as to which airport in Italy to initially arrive.