Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Making Hotel Reservations
Reserve your rooms several weeks in advance—or as soon as you've pinned down
your travel dates—particularly if you'll be traveling during peak times. Note that
some national holidays jam things up and merit your making reservations far in ad-
Requesting a Reservation:
It's usually easiest to book your room through the
hotel's website. Many have a reservation-request form built right in. (For the best
rates, be sure to use the hotel's official site and not a booking agency's site.) Sim-
pler websites will generate an email to the hotelier with your request. If there's no
reservation form, or for complicated requests, send an email (see sample request on
next page).
The hotelier wants to know:
• the number and type of rooms you need
• the number of nights you'll stay
• your date of arrival
• your date of departure
• any special needs (such as bathroom in the room or down the hall, cheapest room,
twin beds vs. double bed, crib, air-conditioning, quiet, view, ground floor or no
stairs, and so on)
If you request a room by email, use the European style for writing dates: day/
month/year. For example, for a two-night stay in July of 2014, ask for “1 double
room for 2 nights, arrive 16/07/14, depart 18/07/14.” Make sure you mention any
discounts—for Rick Steves readers or otherwise—when you make the reservation.
If you don't get a response to your email, it usually means the hotel is already
fully booked. But, there may be another reason: Overly aggressive email spam fil-
ters used by Internet service providers in North America may block a hotel's cor-
respondence from reaching you. If you don't get an email response from a hotel or
B&B, don't assume they are ignoring you. Many innkeepers have shown me emails
they sent to travelers—who later complained that they never got a response. To re-
duce the chance of this happening to you, include an alternate email address from
a different provider (for example, if you're using a Comcast address, also include a
Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, or other address). Phone the hotel or B&B directly if you
haven't heard back from them within a week (see “Phoning,” below, for internation-
al dialing instructions).
Confirming a Reservation:
When the hotel replies with its room availability
and rates, just email back to confirm your reservation. Most places will request
a credit-card number to hold your room. While you can email it (I do), it's safer
to share that confidential info via a phone call, two emails (splitting your number
between them), or the hotel's secure online reservation form. On the small chance
