Has anyone had a positive or negative experience making reservations for a hotel via e-mail? I want to be sure that my reservation is guaranteed and that I won't arrive to be told there isn't a room. Is an e-mail as "binding" as receiving a fax or written confirmation?

We always make our reservations by e-mail and have never had any problems. We usually e-mail for availability and prices. We then confirm any offer we accept and ask them to confirm by e-mail. I print all correspondence and take it with us.

I guess the bottom line really is, we have a piece of paper (e-mail, fax or even a hand written confirmation on the hotel's stationary. If they gave away the room and they are full, all we have is a worthless piece of paper in the end. I've had no problems with e-mail confirmations so far. Regards, Walter

We have booked over a month's worth of accomodations via email, asking for either email or fax confirmations, which we have printed out and carried with us for check in. We have never had any problems.

One time when making an email reservation, they were going to charge us a higher rate when checking in. I had printed out our email confirmation from them and they changed the rate. Just keep copies and carry with you.

Sure, I've had positive experiences, none negative. It's just a different way of delivering mail IMO. Nothing's binding on a piece of paper; maybe if they have already charged your credit card that could be binding, but I won't stay in hotels that do that ahead of time myself. Most hotels I have dealt with in the last couple of years prefer email now. I do the same thing as "me", print the email, it's just like a letter.<BR><BR>However, I would not be so secure if you are emailing a booking agent or someone other than the hotel itself.

I had trouble with one hotel in Venice--booked and confirmed via e-mail, but they had never heard of me when I called the day before our arrival date. The problem was not the e-mail, it was the hotel, and I'm sure the same problem could occur with fax or snail mail.

Making reservations via email is GREAT. It's so much easier than it was five or six years ago. I make all my reservations this way -- even just today for a B&B in Thailand. We emailed back and forth with questions and answers.<BR><BR>Once after emailing several times to a hotel in Greece, they upgraded us.<BR><BR>I always print out the correspondence and carry it with me. Never had a problem.

My husband and I had problems with Le Clos Medicis in Paris. We had reserved our hotel by email, received a confirmation, and a reconfirmation a week before our trip. When we arrived, they said the hotel was full, but they were able to book us elsewhere. I was told that this is a common practice in europe to overbook hotels. I don't know if there is anything you can do to avoid it. If there is, I'd be interested to know, as we are travelling to Italy this June.

I booked all of our hotels in Italy for a two week vacation this past summer and had no problems at all. One was through a booking agent (for the Hotel Lloyd in Milan) and the others were all direct communications with the hotels and one residenza. Easy and fast if you keep it simple. I also printed out my confirmations and took them with me, but I never needed to pull one out. All were 3 9or 3 1/2!) star facilities or at least that level in pricing. No pre-pays on my list, so I never had that kind of hassle. Many noted the price would be reduced 10-15% if we paid in cash upon check-out. One, the Aberdeen Hotel in Rome, honored special Rick Steves rates because we mentioned in the e-mail that we'd read about them in that guidebook. We didn't ask for the Steves rates (I should have!); they volunteered them. I also reconfirmed each reservation via e-mail 2 days before the trip. No problems there, either.

I booked two hotels by e-mail for my last trip to Italy with no problems. E-mail is my method of choice. Just be sure to bring a printout of the e-mail with you on your trip, and make sure you include the rate, dates, and number of nights you are agreeing to in your final reply so that all the pertinent info is in that message. And copy yourself on that e-mail.