Hello,
I booked most of my hotels through Booking.com but still need to pay the local city tax at the hotel.
Do they take credit card? or cash only?
What are other places that normally take cash only?
We will be in Venice, Ortisei, and Santa Maddalena (14 days).
I have about 150euros left from my trip 2 years ago, wondering if this should be enough.
Thanks
Places usually want the city tax in cash because otherwise they lose the percentage that the cc companies charge since they simply pass that money onto the city. I believe I have stayed at larger hotels that may just include it on the bill but smaller places will ask for cash.
Other places that generally only take cash are open air markets for cheese or fruit and I think it is generally better to use cash for smaller amount transactions like gelato and coffee. Taxi drivers really prefer cash over credit but are required to accept either.
Unless you run into unexpected larger expenses I think 150e is probably enough. Many people report going a whole trip using nothing but cards or their phone but I think there are enough <5e transactions that are still better with cash.
Take an ATM card and you know that you will always be able to get more cash if you want/need it and then don't worry about it.
Have a great trip,
=Tod
I've never known any hotel that didn't simply add the local tax to the bill and take it with the main payment. booking.com don't include it in their prices because it can vary on conditions so not everyone would pay same amount (in some places it's only tourist, not business travellers) . Ortisei is a very good example of where your money goes - the Guest Pass with inclusive public transport is part funded by it and you can get a week's worth of tax back in a day's use of the transport.
In Venice if you stay in a hotel in the Access Fee area you do NOT pay that fee, it's done like the other places, via the hotel. If you are staying outside the Fee area you will probably pay the tax of wherever you are via the hotel but will also have to pay the Access Fee to the historic centre on certain dates - quite frankly the system is so convoluted I'd just avoid the place on those dates!
My experience was the same as me.crewe. All 5 hotels I stayed at just added the city tax to their final bill which I paid via credit card. Even with the couple of hotels where my room was pre-paid, I still paid the city tax to the hotel directly via credit card. None of them wanted cash, I'd only really expect that from an airBnB-type property and not a hotel.
We’ve never been asked to pay the tax in cash
Dozens of hotel stays
Thank you
Sounds like my 150 euros should be enough.
It depends on where you are traveling and the type of place you are staying. We've stayed at many inns/BnBs that want the city tax in cash. However, its usually been a few euros or so, and for us, tends to happen most often in France.
I see you will be in Italy. Our Venice BnB wanted the entire stay in cash, but we were informed prior to our stay.
Unless you have to pay for lodging in cash, 150 euros in Italy should be plenty. If not, there are many ATMs readily available.
Hi Holly, I go to Italy yearly and stay in 8-10 places per trip. I use Booking for my lodging & pay the room rate ahead of time. It is now the exception that a hotel will ask for the city tax in cash. And gelato shops all over Italy are very used to taking ApplePay now. If you don’t have a credit card loaded into ApplePay on your phone, do it now and use it at your own city to get used to it.
Currently, I only use cash in Italy for the rare public toilet I use, for street musicians, for outdoor produce markets and for taxis. (That’s my own preference for taxis.)
