Since it's less common for hotels in the lower price range to have websites, and some of them do not even publish e-mail addresses at which they can be contacted, here is some advice from Rick Steves, for what it's worth (paraphrased from his Italy 2003).
If you don't want to wait until you get to Italy to line up your accommodation, and you want to make reservations in advance of your trip, FAX the hotel to enquire if it has a vacancy on your desired date(s). (The EuroCheapo website, for example, features many hotels that do not have websites or e-mail addresses but that do have phone and fax numbers.)
Rick Steves posts a printable hotel reservation form form on his website. He claims that even non-English speaking hotel reservations staff have learned the basic English terms related to reservations, e.g., arrival date, departure date, etc.
Be very sure to use the dd/mm/yy date format when you provide your arrival and departure dates. June 18, 2004 would be expressed as 18/6/04.
If you want to spend June 18, 2004 and June 19, 2004 at the hotel, you would write the dates as 18/6/04 - 20/6/04. The last mentioned date is the morning of your intended departure.
If you receive no response within a couple of business days, assume that means, "No."
If the hotel responds that it can accommodate you, that is not in and of itself a confirmation. You then need to get back to the hotel to let it know that you do want to avail yourself of the accommodation.
Many budget hotels (even many that do not accept credit card payments for accommodation) do accept credit card numbers for the purposes of holding a reservation. A few hotels require other forms of payment to secure a reservation.
Cancellation policies vary. To be on the safe side, give a minimum of two days' cancellation notice if you don't want your credit card to be charged with the cost of a one-night stay.
Call a few days in advance of your arrival to reconfirm your reservation. If you don't speak Italian, Steves suggests you get the receptionist at your current hotel to call ahead to your next hotel to confirm your reservation.
Good advice for the most part...but a couple of things.
Lots of hotels now have e-mail...even the low end ones.
If the first fax or e-mail doesn't elicit a response, I would try a second one--three days later. When I e-mail a request and don't hear back, I followup with a fax.
Don't assume the cancellation policy....ask for it in writing when you make your booking.
And when I write the date, in order to avoid confusion in my mind and the hotel's, I write it like this
20 January 2004 or 20 gennaio 2004
so there is no misunderstanding.
Also in any fax or e-mail, put all the pertinent information in the subject line so you will not confuse responses.
For example..
Reservations: Zurer: 21 January: 2 nights
And yes, it is mandatory to accept any offer of accommodation. You should then ask for a written confirmation of the booking, which you will carry with you on your trip.
I've had great results using email to reserve for my upcoming trip to Spain. Better than faxes, I think. I've got fax confirmations for all my bookings, though.
I think email is becoming more and more common even with smaller places. After all, it is a lot cheaper to send an email than a fax. Rick's info sometimes is a bit dated, but someday he'll catch up.
I seem to be having a lot of trouble getting responses to both email and fax this time around. Last trip i was able to book almost everything by email with rapid response. This time, I've sent email, followed up by fax, to more than one place where I have heard nothing after several weeks.
Its really quite frustrating--in these cases I've just given up and booked elsewhere. For one thing, if they are so difficult to contact regarding a reservation, what if there is a problem later? (cancellation, arrival change, etc.) One case in point, La Meridiana in Alba--which everyone so highly recommends--answered no email and I followed up with two faxes which got no response, so I finally gave up and booked La Favorita...who responded to me immediately and was very helpful,sending me website links for the area, etc. I'd much rather deal with a place that's a little easier to communicate with, even if it ends up costing a bit more.
I do understand that many places don't have email or have unreliable email, but a fax should be responded to. I've had more success getting email and/or faxed reservations in Ecuador, Panama, and Costa Rica than in Italy!
La Meridiana is infamous for not responding to e-mails and faxes...I am not sure what the reason is but one shouldn't use them as the example for the behavior of other hotels in Italy. That is one place where a telephone call might be a wise strategy if one is set on staying there.
quote:Originally posted by Jim Zurer: La Meridiana is infamous for not responding to e-mails and faxes...I am not sure what the reason is but one shouldn't use them as the example for the behavior of other hotels in Italy. That is one place where a telephone call might be a wise strategy if one is set on staying there.
Well, sort of my point...unless there's absolutely no other reasonable option, I'd just as soon find someplace else if an establishment won't respond to email or faxes (and, btw, I send all my emails and faxes in both English and Italian (bad-babelfish translation, but usually its understood). It sort of makes me feel like they don't really care about my business. Phoning is difficult if one doesn't speak Italian..and as I said, if there's an issue later on, with a change in plan, then more phone calls are in order...just really prefer the ease of email and fax. It was a pleasure dealing with La Favorita...so why struggle with La Meridiana?
I guess that they perform better on some days than others....
My own personal experience (several years ago) was the same as Janet's and it has been repeated several times when I tried to book for clients. I will give them another try.
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