Hotel Selection Upon Arrival at Train Stations?

Most train stations located in popular tourist areas have a Tourist Information office. These TIs offer room finding service for a small fee. They usually have a master list of what available, and can sometimes get you cheap last minute rates at larger business class hotels that happen to have low-occupancy during your stay. One downside is that there sometimes can be long lines at TIs during the peak season which can eat-up some of your sightseeing time.

Credit card are generally accepted but not always so check. Second, cash is king and generally will get you at least a 5% discount from the credit card price. Another approach would be to id three or four hotels in each place and call the day before.

A few years ago, I arrived at a town in the Black Forest a day early. I had a reservation for the following night, and I figured the room might be available for that night too, but I decided to try the TI thing. They found me a perfectly acceptable hotel, not quite as close as the one for the following night, and a little more expensive. What's the motivation of the TI office? It's probably not to get you the best place for the money, but to spead the business around. I think you are a lot better off to check the town's website in advance and pick the best deal for you. A lot of other people are doing that, and when they find a good deal, they don't pass over it for you.

My husband and I have done the "just show up and see what happens" method a couple times in Europe, and both times have been very positive. In Heidelberg, the TI staffer had access to a computer system where local hotels had put in their last-minute availability and rates. She was able to give us the list within minutes and offered to call around, too, but we declined her helpful offer because we had a car to stow luggage and knew we'd be in the vicinity of these hotels later in the day while sightseeing. It worked well because we were able to stop into a hotel on the list later in the day (the TI lady's favorite - it was absolutely beautiful) and negotiate a rate MUCH lower than had we booked in advance, even lower than what the TI lady had quoted seeing. In Brno (Czech Republic), again, the TI staffer was willing to call around and booked us into a brand new pension at a very favorable rate compared to what I'd seen before we left on the trip. In both cases, the TI staffer performed a free service and payment was made directly to the hotels. If I were to offer advice, it would be to make sure in advance of the trip that there is nothing big going on that you might be otherwise unaware of (i.e. showing up in Munich during Oktoberfest). Otherwise, I hope you find similar success!