I have used Fodor's Pocket to research accomodations in Rome. I've gone to several websites and emailed them to make a room reservation for late Oct. Not one has responded! Must I telephone? Help!

Sometimes it takes a couple of days to receive responses back from emails. Why don't you try faxing, if you have a fax machine available. I've found that this sometimes works better than email. Send the fax early in the day so you have an opportunity to receive a fax back the same day.

Also, try a few more places. Perhaps the places you've emailed are popular and are already booked. I've only received responses when hotel have rooms available. Never when there is no vacancy.

I booked a hotel in Rome for mid October but I did it about 2 months ago or more. Keep trying - you'll find something. If not, post again with your requirements (price, area) and folks on this board will help with suggestions.

Try www.venere.com

Best wishes,

Rex

Unlike Adrienne, I have always received return e-mails from hotels even when they are fully booked. I agree with trying a fax..if you aren't up early in the day you might also consider doing it late at night (in the US) which means they'll have it when they first arrive the next morning. If you are concerned and feel you don;t want to wait for a fax then yes, I would telephone.

I write to update my original request for help finding accomodations in Rome for late Oct. this Fall. I had a lot of trouble getting a response using the email address from the particular hotels websites UNTIL I tried a little Italian (very little), when I got an immediate reply!. [Yeah, yeah, it also happened to be within daytime hours, noting the time lag.] I currently accepted a reservation at St.Chiara @ 212E. Wow! What has helped me immensely allow myself to spend this the most $$ ever for a hotel, are the Fodor's Raves, first time back to Rome in 30 yrs and what I have learned being to book much earlier than this for major cities in Europe!!! To all of you booking for April next year, multo bravos....and, thanks to all for this wonderfully helpful site.

The easiest way to lose my business and my interest is by ignoring me, no matter what level of quality. Some of Rome's more popular, moderate-priced hotels have a very "I'll get to it when I can" kind of attitude, especially if they're already booked. They know that for every tourist they neglect, there are 10 waiting in the wings. Burn-out is largely responsible, too. Americans are notorious for booking a year in advance and then changing their dates a million times.

I refuse to recommend Pensione Panda, a small, nicely located pensione that gets rave reviews here, for this very reason. They just don't respond quickly enough or worse, they don't respond at all.

If I haven't heard from my hotel contact within 24 business hours of sending my e-mail, I call and use a different name to remain anonymous. This is my personal method of determining the quality of service one can expect from any service business.

I agree with NYCFoodSnob regarding email responses. Ninety percent of the time I receive responses within 24 hours or even within 2 days. If I do not get any response after that I figure it's in my best interest not to pursue that hotel. Sure they must be busy but not that busy to ignore prospective guests. That shows a lack of guest service right there. Of course sometimes a hotel will email after a couple of weeks saying they were on vacation and apologize for not replying. But if no reply at all forget it. There are other hotels to choose from.

I thought it very funny that I finally heard from my 1st hotel choice with a rather inaccurate (I hope) translation of the hotel being FULL for the dates I will be in Rome. The subject read, REFUSED FROM HOTEL! Or, maybe they meant it literally and heard of my misbehaving earlier in my younger years. What do you think?

Re: <i>I refuse to recommend Pensione Panda, a small, nicely located pensione that gets rave reviews here, for this very reason. They just don't respond quickly enough or worse, they don't respond at all.</i>

I'm not doubting what you're saying, and they should respond, but how did you contact them?

In March 2001, we phoned them, found out they had availability for four nights, made reservations (and, as I recall, made a deposit with a credit card) and had no problem whatsoever.

So it was you, capo, who took my friend's room at the Panda. That's the last time I use a tarot card reader on14th Street to check accommodation availability in Rome.

I have heard that hotels do not respond if they are full.

Well that was your problem. I believe the policy of the Panda is to not respond to inquiries made via tarot card readings, ouija boards or astrologers.

My friends and I booked our hotel through Expedia last summer, and we had no problems. Of course, you have to be careful, especially if you're unfamiliar with the city. Our hotel (Morgana Panama Garden), while lovely, was waaaaay far from the center. (We didn't care, though - just took the bus or tram in every day).

The nice thing about Expedia is that you'll know your hotel is booked, and that the room is available. Don't know what kind of experience others have had with it, but it seemed to work fine for us on that trip, and for my friends on two other jaunts they took.

Have fun! Rome is SO incredible!!!

i have had absolutely no problems with contacting hotels via email and getting responses. some i did through venere or romeby.com and some, i wrote directly to the hotel. I was very pleased with the experience of booking on line.