Lodging in the Cinque Terre

Lawrence, What source(s) have you been using to find "desirable accommodations"? If you haven't checked, the Italy Guidebook has lots of suggested lodgings in each of the towns and in various price ranges. Which of the five villages would you prefer to stay in? What type of criteria are you using to determine desirability?

you can pick a village and stay in town. they're all different but equally nice. early oct is low season you shouldn't have to worry about lodging, you can just drop in town and stop by any gift shop or cafe shop and ask the owner if he/she knows of any room available, most likely they'll say their neighbor has a room and they'll call the owner to the shop to pick you up. usually it's a pretty short walk in the village at a good price, so there is no need to book ahead.

I also would ask what sources are you using to try to book accommodations? Most places in CT don't offer "live, real-time" booking capabilities and VERY few are featured on ANY typical online booking source, like hotels.com or booking.com, or venere.com Use a RS guidebook to look at the various property websites (usually very basic and not always completely in English), make your choices as to what is "desirable", and send email inquiries. Then wait for the responses..... Also, if this is your first visit to CT, I do believe you will love it. I've been about 5 times in 15 years and don't get tired of it. But know before you go...in other words, this isn't a destination offering numerous true hotels. There are only a few actual hotels, and nearly all of them in Monterosso. The vast majority are small albergos, B&Bs, and rooms for rent, most of which function as more of a place to sleep and shower rather than that true hotel experience you would get in Florence or elsewhere.

You should have little difficulty finding a room at that time of year. Just don't expect instant responses to your emails. You'll be staying in a small hotel/b & b, not a Marriott resort. I highly recommend Manuel's guesthouse in monterosso; great views.

I have used www.arbaspaa.com several times when we visit CT. They have a HUGE apartment/room/hotel base to pick from. We are leaving tomorrow and starting our trip with 6 nights in CT.

I had a similar experience in trying to book a room in CT for my family's vacation in September. Ultimately, after several on-line booking attempts and email inquiries, I called one of the prospective hotels using Skype. Though their hotel was full they were able to arrange for us to stay at a friend's apartment. You may find that working with someone personally works better in small town Italy as they will know of resources that we could never find on the internet or in a guide book. We were able to find the perfect size apartment in the exact neighborhood we wanted to be in. Good luck.

We wanted a hotel as we started our vacation in the CT, so we stayed at Hotel LaColonnina in Monterosso. It was great place to stay and we wuld definitely go back there. You need to send emails to the hotel to check availability and make reservations. Lee