Can I book hotel rooms last minute?

Playing things by ear would certainly be possible, especially in later October. But with that freedom and flexibility come the risks of possibly limited options and likely higher prices.

And heads up that October 12 is a national holiday. A Wednesday this year means that both the weekend before and after could be busy/sold out on major train routes.

Playing it by ear and just booking rooms at the last minute has always involved risk. Traditionally, the risk would rise and fall with the season and travel crowds -- in the busy summer season, the risks were often high, and in popular places you could find yourself out of luck, searching for a room into the night and coming up short, left with choices that are unappealing and expensive (been there, done that). In late October the risks will be lower...but many things have been hard to predict this year.

A compromise some people have always used is to book your next night one day in advance. Not 100% spontaneous, but you get some certainty.

As my travel experience has deepened, I have come to accept a seeming contradiction: that planning ahead and committing to a schedule actually frees me to utilize my time better: When I'm at home, with good resources -- fast internet, desktop computers with large-screens, lots of websites and services at my fingertips, and pretty much unlimited time -- I can and do make better choices. When I'm on my trip, as the sun is setting, after a long day exploring, on a mobile device with slow internet and not every resource, I know I'm not as efficient to search for options, weigh them and pick one. And, most of all, I have a lot more time to do such chores now, before I'm on my trip. Once I'm there, I'd prefer to spend that time enjoying the place, rather than spending time searching for a place to sleep.

The risks are definitely lower in late October. But I still prefer the freedom of being locked in to a confirmed schedule. I can sit back and enjoy a glass of whine as I watch others searching for a place to spend the night.

Ad hoc travel and getting a room shouldn’t be an issue. What you won’t get are the lower rates you might get if booking ahead. Since you are traveling off season, prices will be lower anyway. Once there and you know where you’ll be on a specific day, you can reserve a room a day or two before arrival. We like staying at Paradors if there is one in the town we are staying in. Other than a few of them, they are reasonably priced with many being in historic buildings.

If you decided to go way south to the Costa de la Luz or Costa Almería for example, that time of year you could run into issues finding a hotel since many hotels shut down after the mid-September end of the tourist season.

October 12 is a major holiday, so be careful in the few.days around it. Especially if Zaragoza is in your radar - busiest time of the year there. And that fact might affect train ticket availability between Madrid and Barcelona (since said train passes thru Zaragoza).

What David said.

I also flew in and out of Madrid. This is a question that applies to every location, not just Spain. I suggest you write yourself an itinerary at least with how many nights you want to stay in each town, stick with it, and book your hotel rooms before you leave home.

Can I book hotel rooms last minute?

Sure, why not? You might want to take a list of first, second and third choice for each city. Have fun.

I often see trains flagged as sold out on the Barcelona-Madrid-Cordoba-Seville line, so that's another consideration. Even if trains aren't totally sold out, long AVE trips can get very costly if you buy the tickets so late that only full-fare options remain.

One problem with last-minute hotel bookings is that if you aren't monitoring the situation (via something like booking.com) in advance, you have no warning that you're bumping up against a major local celebration, a big rock concert or sports event, etc., that is greatly increasing demand. That can mean finding out awkwardly late that no affordable rooms remain. I remember an earlier post from someone who was looking at $500-per-night rates in Madrid because of a soccer play-off game.

Just as a general rule, I've found that the more nights you need, the harder it can be to find an affordable room just a day or two ahead of time. I assume that's because at that point you need for someone to have canceled for all the nights you're trying to book.

Thanks everyone for responding, I may book the first couple of nights somewhere and the last 4 nights in Madrid and wing it in the middle.

When I book on the go I use the booking.com and the accor hotels ap.

I am going to Spain in September. So far, I have booked the first 6 nights (three cities) and the last two nights, leaving something like 16 nights unbooked, I may or may not book more now.

I suggest using Booking.com, makes it easy to book, good map option, you can see an array of properties and prices. You can also get a sense of availability and cost. For example, San Sebastian, seeing availability start to drop, we booked. Many other cities, availability is good, prices acceptable. We have traveled this way most of the time, so we are comfortable with it, and have adjusted plans once on the ground, so it has paid off.

I will say it can come down to personality and expectations, we do not look for the "perfect" place to stay, we just want a simple room, well located, do not need a 5 star hotel. For some, the hotel is the centerpiece of their travel, for us it is a place we sleep and spend little time. For a rare trip where the room is critical (if we went to a beach or would spend time in the room) we do usually book that room.