wanderful

This is frustrating.

A month ago the hotel failed to respond to two e-mails I sent asking for a room in May. When I called a few days later, the proprietor (in this case, Paolo) didn’t even know they were having e-mail problems, something another Fodorite was experiencing. My call to the hotel cost $30.

I e-mailed yesterday to ask them to make some museum reservations for me and have heard nothing.

Anyone else having a similar problem?

LoveItaly

Hello wanderful, do you have a fax no. for the hotel? If so I would send a fax. Sometimes emails in Italy are a problem, especially with commercial businesses. They seem to take a fax much more seriously. However do try to fax during the business hours in Italy if possible as some places turn off their faxes after normal business hours.

Also there are some 800 phone numbers you can use to call Italy which have a very low per minute rate. I don't have the numbers as I have a plan with AT&T which gives me low rates for international calls but hopefully a Fodorite that has one of the 800 phone number's will see this thread and post the information for you. Also if you use the search box and type in Ira you may be able to pull up some of his threads where he gives the 800 numbers. Best wishes to you.

ira

Hi w,

In my experience, Europeans respond better to phone and fax than email.

If you dial 1010987 before the 011, it will be 59 ct connection charge plus about 10 cts/min to call Italy.

wanderful

Thanks for the responses.

I’ll try the fax route.

jasmine3

Our family of 5 stayed at Hotel Casci in July last summer.
I'm very surprised to hear that you have not heard back.
Paolo was extremely helpful and we had him make our reservations.

Try emailing again. Very nice family at the Hotel.

scrb

I'm seeing similar things with other hotels and B&Bs in Italy.

Oddly, I did get replies from Casci in 2006.

They need to figure out that the fax is 21st century.

Fodorite018

We too have stayed at the Casci and loved it. The owners were very helpful, so I can only imagine that something is not working properly. I would try to fax during their daytime hours. The hotel is great, so don't give up!

2010

Can anyone explain what the 1010987 prefix is? Is it only used when making a call from the US?

Thanks!

2010, a Canadian Fodorite

Flame123

I have also stayed at Hotel Casci five times in the past and loved it better each time. Indeed, try faxing them. I know that some time ago, a few months ago I think, indeed they were having computer and e-mail problems. This seems to be de rigeur in Italy and no one runs to get it fixed either (think "Italy time&quot. Good luck.

yeadonite

I just stayed there and loved it, if they didnt answer they didnt get it. They are a family business who takes each customer very seriously. Try emailing them directly at [email protected]

mebe

Wandeful ~ can you let me know how it works out?

I'm also staying at Hotel Casci in May and want to make museum reservations. I should probably do it soon, I simply can't decide (time wise)how to coordinate the Uffizi and Academia on the same day.

Maybe I'll see you there

wanderful

mebe:

This is what finally happened: After waiting a week after I first e-mailed Hotel Casci about making my Uffizi/Accademia reservations, I tried their fax for a time, but it was always busy.

So I called them, quickly gave Pierpaolo my entry time requests for the two museums, and he e-mailed me within 30 minutes with the confirmation times and numbers. (I called the well-known number in Florence for these museum reservations on my own, at very points in the day, and it was always busy, so going the hotel route worked out fine.)

I had a similar experience when I made my initial room reservation at Casci. I e-mailed them, waited for a time, got no response, and finally called to secure my room. (I’m going in early May, so they were nearly booked solid when I called in early February, so I just made it.)

The buzz about the place is very good, the family owners sound gracious and are very responsive when you finally make contact with them, it’s just that they tend to ignore initial e-mail requests.

I think, finally, the hotel will be a good choice.

mebe

Thanks for the update wanderful.

I wrote down the numbers to contact the museums directly so I think I'll try both methods.

I didn't have any problems with emails when booking (Feb 6, I think).

I've also heard great reviews about this hotel.

wtm003

<<... and are very responsive when you finally make contact with them, it’s just that they tend to ignore initial e-mail requests.>>

This has not been my experience at all. I made reservations several months ago and the reply to my initial request was very prompt and helpful. Hope you enjoy your trip!

mebe

I wanted to update.

I emailed Hotel Casci yesterday and asked them to make reservations for the Uffizi and the Accademia.

They emailed me back in less than 24 hours. I'm not sure if this makes a difference or not, but instead of creating a new email, I "replied" to the confirmation email they sent to me back in February.