booking your hotels

There is no pat answer and varies from hotel to hotel.

1. We always do it ourselves. I find it interesting that 50% of your hotels have no web sites. From our experience that is very unusual since we find that 100 of our hotels have websites. They probably speak better English than you do Italian so just call them.

2. It varies. Sometimes the hotels will not accept reservations more than six or so months out. We book in the range to 3 months when we book. And we do not always books all of our hotels in advance. That locks you in to a schedule.

3. No normal practice. May asked for a credit card to guarantee booking. Some will give a discount if prepaid. Most ask for nothing.

4. Many locations, especially smaller ones, will give a discount for cash payment. We pay 9 out of 10 of our hotels via cash. We rarely use credit cards for anything in Europe.

Frank,

1. If you do not have advance reservations, how often do you find that the hotel/B&B you want has no vacancy? I have previously traveled in Europe off season and have not had problems with no reservations. But this time we will be traveling in May in Italy and I am concerned about taking a lot of time finding a room if we do not have a reservation. Also in the past we have always driven a car but this time we will be using a lot of trains. In order to get the good fares you need to book them well in advance and we will be locked into a schedule any way.

2. Why do you not use credit cards? When I travel that is all I use unless I get a discount for cash. I do not like carrying a lot of cash and for a 3 or 4 night hotel stay that is more than I can get in one day from an ATM.

I completely agree with all of Frank's answers above.

You are planning to stay in Riomaggiore, Monterosso, AND La Spezia? That is a bit redundant. Choose one and don't move around so much.

Most " standard" hotels do have websites; if not you can probably book them on Booking.com. Generally they require a credit card to hold the reservation, but do not charge your card unless you fail to cancel and fail to show up. Just like most hotels in the US.

Some places will give a discount if you pay in cash instead of putting it on the credit card. In that case their website usually says so.

The above does not necessarily apply tho Venice. Some popular hotels there do take an advance deposit to ensure that you will show up. But there are many others that do not. It is not too early to book Venice ( probably late for some of the popular places) and probably not Fiesole. The Cinque Terre towns tend to shut down and may or may not answer you inquiry right away, or may not accept bookings for 2014 until after Christmas/New Years. There are not many standard hotels in Riomaggiore, if any, but Monterosso has some.

after seeing Bob's followup, I still agree with Frank.

For ourselves, we usually make bookings and change them as we go, so much like Frank there but a different angle.

Yes, cheap trains are in advance,, and when we use them we book ahead and have less flexibility and change plans less. We still usually decide what to do on particular days when we open the curtains and check the weather.

Other than staying in zimmers in Germany we haven't found small hotels in the past couple of years which have no internet nor website, no matter how small. If you are searching for a website don't assume that because you only see booking sites on the first page of results that there is no direct site. Just keep digging. Often composing a search with the name of the hotel in the original language and include the word "official".

I agree with Frank about calling - - - during office hours please, after checkout and before checkin, local time. You don't mention your province in your profile but if it the town in Ontario you will 6 hours behind Italy so to reach the hotel between 11 and 3 Italian time you need to call them between 5 and 10 am your time.

I agree with what Sasha said about the redundant locations. What's up with that?

and I thought about the 3 adjacent places (why La Spezia?? unless just for the station - or are you hunting submarine pens - a good view point right up in the hills above the pens allows a view straight down into them, and a gelateria across the street, but unless you are driving the hills like me - - na!!) of Riomaggiore, Monterosso, La Spezia? But then I thought, they must be staying at one and visiting the others... but again, why La Spezia?

John,

I have the same question as the others regarding Riomaggiore, Monterosso and La Spezia. Could you clarify your plans in that area?

Regarding your questions.....

1. I'd suggest using hotel websites where possible and DIY. Travel Agents typically book in larger properties (where they get a good commission), which may not be exactly "central" to the sights you want to see. A T.A. is not likely to ever deal with a small hotel that doesn't have a website.
2. For travel in May in the locations you mentioned, I would try booking early especially in the Cinque Terre.
3. The policy varies with each hotel. Some may reserve using a credit card and some may reserve with a credit card but require cash for payment.
4. Yes, some hotels offer a discount for cash.

With the hotels which don't have a website, do they provide at least an E-mail address? Do they use www.booking.com or other sites to handle that? If they deal with tourists from this part of the world, they will have someone on staff who can function in English to some extent. As with anything it Italy, be patient and don't expect an immediate reply as things don't always happen quickly there.

Are you completely set on the hotels you've chosen, or is there possibility to change a few of them? The Italy Guidebook has lots of suggestions for reliable hotels in the places you're visiting, and most of them have websites.

Happy travels!

If your preferred hotel doesn't have a website, try searching for it on booking.com. On hotel websites you will very likely find a little British flag icon which will change the website's language default to English.

The whole process of booking into hotels in Europe is much easier and, I think, safer when you use Booking.com.
You get a complete description of the hotel, all amenities, a locator map, a confirmation number and PIN, cancelation policy, all of which can be printed out and carried with you as you travel.
I have used their website for frequent European travel for seven years and never had a problem.

In response to Bob's second set of questions

1. We have never encountered a serious problems without advance reservations. A couple of years ago we were traveling in Spain over Christmas and New Years with son and girl friend. With the need for two rooms and the holidays we made reservations in advance. At each hotel I made inquires as to availability of rooms and was told by each hotel that they had rooms available. Without question the internet has made advance reservations far easier and many more people do so than ten or twenty years ago. So if you schedule is set then advance reservations is just one less thing to worry about. We don't lock into a lot of advance train tickets simply because we don't want to be that rigid in our travels. (The exception is England because the train tickets are so expensive). We recognize we are forgoing some savings but we save money in other aspects that off sets what we lose with train tickets.

2. What I find interesting about the credit card vs cash discussions is that many travelers post concerns all the time about credit/debit card security. If you don't use a credit card, then security is not an issue. We just find it easier and more convenient to use cash. And cash has never been declined. When we get the bill, we don't have to wait for the waiter to take the card, return the card, sign the card, no chip and pin issue, etc. We do carry a couple hundred or more in cash most of the time but it is split between the two of us and well buried in a money belt so we have no concern about lost or theft. We carry two debit cards, one with a $1000 limit, so it is easy to get the cash necessary for a large hotel bill. Since we almost always get a good discount for cash, it works for us. If it is a multi-day stay with a large bill, we will pay it with two or three cash payments over the days we are staying. The hotel is always happy to take partial payment. However, pay in the morning rather than late afternoon or evening because the hotel often will not accept a large cash payment late in the day.

You need to use an approach that you are comfortable with and we are very comfortable with paying cash 98% of the time.

Great advice once again from the scribes of the Boot....here's an update from efforts since my original post.

Going DIY route...working out well so far with confirmed bookings in Fiesole & Sovestro.

Confess to using Trip Advisor for herd feedback on hotels/B & B's ( sorry Rick)- if they lacked websites, they all had "info@...." email contact addresses.

La Spezia was a transit town decision ( going to Venice from Monterosso) and did not want to look for one night in Florence.

Chose 2 towns/3 nights ea. in CQ since I draw/sketch so change of cliff top sea landscapes was a factor + we love evening walks along different town streets.

I see with reservation bookings, the question of a down payment or not is up to the hotelier. Eg. B & B owner uses Pay Pal for a min deposit/hotels take a cc to reserve the room.

Tried 3 B& B's in Venice and they all want 4 nights ( and I want 3)- still working on this one.

Hey Nigel, I am a huge Das Boot fan too- not sure the pens will be on the to do list though...cheers to all.

Frank,

Thank you for your complete response. My only thing is that in looking at train fares in Italy there is quite a difference from what you can get with advanced booking vs the a day or two before travel (e.g., Venice to Milan, 27 vs 74 euro per person). For the two of us that is about $125 savings in that one trip.

But I can also take a Regional train with a walk up fare of 27E that takes 3.5 hours instead of the 2.5 hours for the high speed. For us, an extra hour is not that important. High speed trains are nice when the ride is five or six hours. For those we will reserve in advance but for shorter distances, speed isn't that important. Remember, we are on vacation - what is the rush?

As I posted earlier there are other ways to save money. Saving $125/hour and having some flexibility is not a bad rate.