We're from the US and will be visiting Italy next year. I have found that some of the hotels want to be paid by check or cash. I have a daily limit on my ATM withdrawals, so getting enough cash to pay for a week would be a hassle.<BR><BR>How does one write a check on an American bank in euros? Do you just write in in dollars using the current exchange rate? I had learned to avoid such transactions in travels in the Americas, as the local exchange rate is usually usurious.

I may be wrong but I don't think you can write a cheque in euros from an American bank. You'd have to check with your hotel but they may take traveller's cheques, which you can purchase in the US before you leave.<BR><BR>Alternatively you could go into a bank in Italy rather than using an ATM. to withdraw a larger sum.

I don't think they mean a personal check from your bank account. I am guessing Travelers Checks or a Money Order in US funds, which they would translate into Euro during the transaction.

I agree, they probably mean Treavelers Checks. In which case, you mgiht want to get them in Euros in advance, since most banks, AA, et al. wil give you a better exchange rate than the hotel (which will have you as a captive audience if you're presenting your TC'supon checkout). Or take TCs in dollars and cash them into euros at the Am Express office the day before you leave. Whatever alternatives you consider, be sure to aask about, and factor-in, exchange rates. if they're unfavorable enough, you might be better-off just using a credit card after all.

William: If your question is: Can I bring my American checkbook with me and write a check in euros? - absolutely not. <BR><BR>If your question is: Can I turn over a traveler's check denominated in dollars to pay for a hotel? - probably not. The recipient would have to take it to the bank for conversion and would likely pay a fee, so he's probably not going to be willing to accept a dollar-denominated traveler's check. Many hotel owners don't even like to take euro-denominated checks.<BR><BR>I think your only solution is to increase your daily ATM limit (call your bank to do that) or bring euro-denominated traveler's checks with you. If the hotel won't take the checks, you can always go to the bank and cash them andhand over the cash.

The only times I have gotten traveler's checks in the past few years was in foreign currency and either for deposits or to pay &quot;cash&quot; to hotels that required that (twice in Turkey, once in Italy). All three gladly accepted the traveler's checks, but I agree they should be in Euro.<BR>Although you won't be able to get the Euro traveler's checks with a great exchange rate, it shouldn't be too bad, and should still be less than any kind of check conversion or special money transfer that I'm aware of. Are you a member of AAA? They may offer you as good a rate as anyone for buying Euro traveler's checks.

I am guessing you just read some standard terms for all guests, and the personal check option was for Italians. I have a daily limit on my ATM withdrawal, also, but given you must be staying in a cheap hotel if it won't accept credit cards, I would think you could easily withdraw enough cash to pay for that and your other daily needs. Most ATM daily limits I've heard of are in the hundreds of dollars ($300 at least). Also, there is more than one of you, so don't you have at least two bank accounts? <BR><BR>I have been to a very few places abroad that accept checks written on US banks, usually stores that depend completely on tourist trade and are in countries where they like US dollars--in that case, they would convert the price to US dollars (no doubt huge markeup) and you'd write the check in US dollars. <BR><BR>Okay, I do have one suggestion for you that will work if you can't get enough from your own ATM everyday. VISA sells an ATM card called Travelmoney or something like that, which is just something you purchase for the amount you want. YOu then can use it at foreign ATMs to take out your own prepaid cash with no ATM fees (unless you make more than a certain number of withdrawals, usually). Because it's prepaid, I don't think there are any limits like a regular bank on withdrawals.<BR><BR>Here is the URL for their web site that describes it<BR>http://usa.visa.com/personal/cards/visa_travel_money.html<BR><BR>They tell you where you can buy or order one, such as from Travelex outlets. AAA Travel Stores have started selling that product, also, if there is one near you. I think that card only costs $15 regardless of the amount you load on, although I'm not sure of the exchange rate in using it. I called to inquire once about that and the VISA person swore the exchange was at the interbank rate but I'm skeptical--she said they made their profit off the $15 fee alone. <BR><BR>In any case, it should solve your problems.<BR><BR>

If you will call, fax or e-mail your hotels and ask them if you can send them a personal check ahead of time they will usually let you, that gives them time to deposit and it clear before you get there, alternatly you you could wire them the money ahead of time or send them travelers checks which I recently did without any trouble and had a pretty fast e-mail confirmation back from them that they had recieved them.

Thanks for the information.<BR><BR>Yes, it is true that we are avoiding the luxury hotels; I hope to get a better feel for the local culture by staying in smaller places.<BR><BR>I came across the problem looking at the Hotel Galleria in Venice. Interestingly, they will accept credit cards to guarantee the reservation, but want cash or cheques for the actual payment. That makes sense for a small hotel, as I'm sure that, like here, the credit card company charges the merchant some percentage of the charged amount.<BR><BR>I talked to my bank, and their response is that they will issue ATM cards for both me and my wife, so our daily limit is effectively doubled.