Is it normal in Rome for a hotel to charge you 1 night for a 3 night stay with no possibility of a refund if you cancel early.
Posted by
Atlanta
3250 posts
Some do--one that has been discussed on this site is Hotel Smeraldo in Rome.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23301 posts
It is a developing trend. It is not normal for every hotel but it is not uncommon either. What you are seeing is that many hotels are adapting various marketing techniques which have been common in the US for sometime. The internet makes very easy for them to do so. During the planning for our most recent trip over half of the hotels offered a variety of pricing plans. Big discount if we would pay in advance with no refund if canceled, discount was smaller with more flexibility, and finally a small discount for cash and the ability to cancel within 24 hours.
Posted by
Malaga, Malaga, Spain
410 posts
From what I read on this, and other travel forums, is that many people book multiple hotels and apartments as a sort of insurance - that they will have somewhere to stay unless they find something better or cheaper. Closer to the time, they cancel all but the preferred one.
Not that I run a hotel or apartment agency, but I think if you put themselves in the shoes of those who do, you can understand why this is becoming a more common practice. Not only is there revenue to be lost, but it must be time consuming managing cancellations.