Just Received Tour Confirmation Email and Have A Question

Since you are going at a festive time I’d probably email the hotel to see how far out they book. You’ll be able to write in English. I would do it during the week as that is possibly more likely to have English speakers answering email.

I always try to book directly with the hotel instead of a 3rd party especially when I’m on a tour. I also ask if it’s possible to stay in the same room although you can always do that at check in.

You can contact them and see if they can help you now or suggest a time when reservations will be open. Also look to see what hotels may be located within a few blocks of the hotel as an alternative. I’ve saved over $100/night before by simply staying across the street pre tour. Whatever type of reservation you make, be sure it can be cancelled with full refund since this is so far out.

The other thing to consider is if you buy trip by trip travel insurance, there is often a 14 day deadline after putting down trip deposit to have coverage for pre-existing conditions. This will be something you will want to act on soon.

I don’t think that most hotels will book more than a year in advance. But you could go to the hotel’s website and try a “dummy” booking to see if they show availability yet for the dates you are interested in.

When I go on an RS tour (12 tours and counting!), I always arrive a day or two early, and sometimes add time at the end. I like to stay at the RS hotel for simplicity’s sake. I generally email them, explaining that I am part of a particular tour, that I want to stay in the same room throughout my stay, and ask for price and availability. In most cases, the reservation can be cancelled or changed until very close to the date of the reservation. So I do this quite a bit in advance since RS hotels are often small and fill up quickly.

Pam and Carol already gave you most of the advice I would. I too often don't choose the RS tour hotel for my pre- and post-tour needs, often because of cost but usually because I want to go elsewhere just before or after my tour. Since you have the property names, you can also look at a booking site like Booking. com to see if the hotel is accepting reservations out that far on that platform. I would book directly with the property if you choose the RS hotel though, as it makes it easier for the hotel to keep track.

Hi, I'm taking that tour in fall 2026. If Adina is your Hamburg hotel, you can save some money by joining their free e-club and/or watching their sales. I was able to book a year out. But, yes, Google map rates first. We decided to go with the tour hotel for the night before the tour after comparing options.

You might also take a look at rates for the equivalent period this year, to see whether the 2027 quote you ultimately receive from the hotel seems reasonable to you.

Good info shared already. As another option, my husband & I always flew in a few days early and stayed at a different city 1-2 hours away by train from our tour beginning city. It’s a way to feel like the trip was expanded. For instance, for my upcoming tour that begins in Prague, I am staying two nights at lovely Cesky Krumlov.

If that interests you, there’s a wealth of information from our German forum participants for ideas.

If it were me, I'd contact the hotels directly by email as soon as being confirmed. The hotels that work with RS will hold some rooms for tour participants who want to extend their stay, but not that many, and first-come first served. They may or may not direct you to their booking site, or just give you an email confirmation. They may also block those rooms to hold them, so a third party booking site may show them as unavailable. So you have to make sure they know you're on an RS tour, and which one. At one hotel we stayed at, they had two RS groups overlapping so only had a few rooms available.

I would go ahead and reach out to the tour hotels, but keep your options open. We tend to prefer other hotels to the tour hotels, although, of course, that varies. It won't hurt to have your name down on the list.

You've gotten lots of great advice, and there's not a likely hood that a hotel would take a reservation 17 months out. But the hotel is the only one who can tell you that. Of our 4 RS tours, I've always contacted the first hotel, and I always ask what type of room I should book that would allow me to stay in the same room once we are officially on the tour. I've gotten response such as "we don't know what type of rooms as they are not in the system" to "yes, we'd love to have you stay, but it's too early to book", to "thank you for your reservation."

Hint: Don't book an upgraded room if you want to stay in the room on the tour. Also, out of 4 RS tours, only one hotel (for our 2026 tour) has offered us a discounted room rate but we've decided to visit another city a couple of hours away instead, and arrive at the tour hotel day of, which we've never done.