Venere.com

Venere is well known, haven't used it to book, I do use it as a resourse for reveiws and location maps though. I haven't found their rates cheaper then what the hotels I have chosen to stay at any cheaper, I suppose if I did , I would use them.

Yes, I have and many others have also, that website is well known.

I have used venere with no problems. Sometimes the rates are more expensive - sometimes cheaper. Either way Venere does NOT charge your card. Your reservation and CC details are forwarded to the hotel and you pay at the hotel on checkout. After reserving through Venere you can even email the hotel directly to confirm the reservation.

I have also used Venere.com with good success. No problems. I had the same experience as Tim above where after booking, it was like I booked directly with the hotel in the first place. I paid the hotel directly.

Mendy -

Using the advice Rick has given on this website and in my copy of Rick Steves' Rome 2008, I contacted a hotel directly through their e-mail address. After a handful of e-mail exchanges, I secured a reservation for April 2008.

It sounds like Venere has worked for most people. Being a realist, however, I refuse to believe that they are getting NOTHING by acting as a middleman between traveler and hotel. There is no such thing as a free lunch in our world.

Your best bet is to contact the hotel directly by e-mail or fax to see if they will give you the rates quoted on Venere, and my guess is they will. Now is the time to lose any apprehension that you may have about communicating with another culture in another country.

I am very familiar with booking accommodations in Germany, having spent nearly a hundred nights there in the last seven years. I've studied booking website such as, but not limited to, Venere. In major cities these sites claim huge discounts at well known hotels, but if you can find the hotel's own website, which they seem to try to block with their own, you will find that they are no less, sometimes more expensive. Outside big cities, they have very little selection, often only overpriced accommodation.

I recently researched one of these sites. For a small town I know of in the Black Forest, they showed one hotel. It was the same price as on the hotels own site, except required a three day min., which the hotel did not. In addition, there were about 50 comparably priced places in that town that were not shown on the booking website.

For small towns in Germany, I have always had success finding accommodations using www.[town name].de.

We have used Venere and found it good. Also VRBO.
Web has plethora of excellent services. Check around

Of course you can't blindly say that hotel booking sites are cheaper than booking with hotels directly. Neither is the opposite true! You must do your own research and make an educated decision. I always check several websites including the hotel directly for prices. Sometimes booking directly with the hotel is cheaper...sometimes not.