Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Hostels
For $20-25 a night, you can stay at a youth hostel. Travelers of any
age are welcome, as long as they don't mind dorm-style accommo-
dations and lots of traveling friends. Hostels are also a tremendous
source of local and budget travel information. Cheap meals are
sometimes available, and kitchen facilities are usually provided for
do-it-yourselfers. Expect crowds in the summer, snoring, and lots
of youth groups giggling and making rude noises while you try to
sleep. Family rooms and doubles are often available on request;
unlike in Western Europe, many hostels in the Czech Republic
are in university dorms where two- or three-person rooms are
the norm. Hosteling is ideal for those traveling single: Prices are
per bed, not per room, and you'll have an instant circle of friends.
More and more hostels are getting their business acts together,
taking credit-card reservations over the phone and leaving sign-in
forms on the door for each available room. If you're serious about
traveling cheaply, get a membership card (www.hihostels.com),
carry your own sheets, and cook in the members' kitchens.
Making Reservations
Given the quality of the places I've found for this topic, I'd recom-
mend that you reserve your rooms in advance, either directly with
the hotel or through one of Prague's room-booking services (see
page 115). Book several weeks ahead, or as soon as you've pinned
down your travel dates. Note that some holidays merit your making
reservations far in advance (see “Major Holidays and Weekends”
sidebar on page 8).
To make a reservation, contact hotels directly by email, phone,
or fax. Email is the clearest and most economical way to make a
reservation. In addition, many hotel websites now have online res-
ervation forms. If phoning from the US, be mindful of time zones
(see page 8). Most hotels listed are accustomed to English-only
speakers. To ensure you have all the information you need for your
reservation, use the form in this topic's appendix (also at www
.ricksteves.com/reservation). If you don't get a response within a
few days, call to follow up.
When you request a room for a certain time period, use
the European style for writing dates: day/month/year. Hoteliers
need to know your arrival and departure dates. For example, for a
two-night stay in July, I would request: “2 nights, arrive 16/07/10,
depart 18/07/10.” Consider carefully how long you'll stay; don't just
assume you can extend your reservation for extra days once you
arrive.
If the hotel's response tells you its room availability and rates,
it's not a confirmation. You must tell them that you want that room
at the given rate.
