Cinque Terre

The winter months are slow in the CT. Some places close for the season. You will probably find some places open; keep looking.

Bill, Many Hotels in the Cinque Terre close for the season at the end of October and re-open for the new season on April 1st. That's when the owners take their holidays and also do any renovations or upgrading. It will be somewhat "quiet" in the C.T. in mid-November, but there should still be a few Hotels open, but I'm not sure which ones. Have a look at Monterosso and check the Hotels on this list. You could also consider staying in Levanto, which is only about about four minutes by train from Monterosso. It's a larger city, and also has a beautiful beach. The station is a bit of a distance from the main part of town, but I was there a few weeks ago and the walk only took about 10 minutes. Happy travels!

She will be open in Vernazza: http://www.elisabettacarro.it/

We showed up without reservations in late October. At the train station we were greeted by multiple people trying to rent rooms. We looked at one but decided it was too small (for five of us), so we headed to the water. We went in the last hotel on the left (before the water) and told the guy at the desk what we were looking for. He talked to a lady in the hotel, who went into the street and talked to two other ladies, then rented us a very nice apartment at a great price (no view though). The nice thing about that time of year is it's very quiet. The bad thing is the restaurants close the second you finish your dinner and no one is open for a glass of wine after that. Unless the entire town is closed, you should be able to find something without too much trouble.

I second Ken's recommendation of considering Levanto. We stayed there in late September this year and found it interesting to explore as well as very close to the CT towns by train.