GREEK HOTELS - reservation deposit into personal bank account?
 

I have made several hotel and pension reservations in Greece over the past few months for our trip this summer. This is the first time however, I have been asked to deposit two nights stay directly into their bank account rather than a reservation system, etc. in order to reserve the room.
The hotel is on Milos Island, Nikki-Savvas, which has great reviews so perhaps this is just customary sometimes in the Greek islands?
Can anyone speak to this?

Thanks!

Yes, it's true, it's not uncommon. It saves the hotel owners the expense of a credit card service charge. YOU pay for the wire transfer.

Many smaller family-run hotels don't accept credit cards. I you really want to stay in this particular hotel and your bank can't help, try Western Union.

Small hotels do this you however are totally

at their mercy if you wire money lots of risk.

Usually do not to this on line lots of cheats scammers

stay with quality sites to book booking.com otel.com

or simply wait better on the smaller ones to shop

around for best deals when you get there.

insuremytrip.com always wise especially wiring money

lots of risk tax cheats scammers on line out there

so do careful homework.

What qwovadis says is true, but doesn't tell the whole story.

Many small hotels (domatia) are family-run establishments with a small number of rooms, and depend upon trade during the months of May - September for their year-round livelihood. In May, June, and September you can usually walk up and find a vacancy, and will usually get a better deal than had you pre-booked. High season (Jul-Aug) is a time when you really need to book ahead, or you will have to take what's left over when you arrive on the island, as the best rooms will be full.

Yes, of course you should be careful to whom you wire your money! Check the reviews on Trip Advisor, and be wary of one time posters. If the hotel has a long-standing good reputation, then wiring money to them should be safe.

You can go through a booking agency and pay by credit card if you wish, but if you do you will pay more for the room. Booking agencies and credit card companies charge for their services, and hotels pass on the costs to their customers. Small island hotels eliminate the middleman to keep the costs down. :-)

The Niki-Savvas place is a long-established family-run place in Pollonia, they would NEVER do something to hurt their good reputation. If you still have trepidations, you may contact the most knowledgeable Milos resident who posts regularly on several forums -- name of Andreas Belivanakis, goes by screen-name of "milosisforlovers"; he is a fount of info and knows most of these hotel folks personally. You can contact him if you want reassurance; say that Janet of Philadellphia recommended him.

His website is being re-designed so there is now a "form" for contact; just click that you're writing for "information." http://www.milos-is-for-lovers.com/F...ntact-form.php Another place he posts is on Virtual Tourist: here are his comments about Nikki-Savvas (the room rates are out of date I believe but the rest OK), and this form allows u to send an e-mail. You may have to register with VT in order to do so, but that's a matter of a few clicks and totally worth it: http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/6c3f5/66ab4/3/

I always stay in small hotels like this, and these families are NOT out to scam, last thing in the world they would do. In a society like ours, full of dangers and deceptions, it is hard for us to have trust, I know. So ask Andreas, and then send your money. And then -- come back to Fodors, and tell everyone about your rewarding experiences.

For a moment I didn't recognize your screen name SB. However, the advice stands. Just do it.

However, if you're in the US, it can cost you quite a bit in fees -- like $35 -- to make a wire deposit abroad. I've avoided this in the past by telling the hotel/B&B/apartment landlord that I'm in the US, where wire transfers are expensive, and offering to send a personal check in dollars to cover the amount. Said check to be returned when I pay in cash upon leaving. I've only had to send the check twice; the other times the hotel understood and held our reservation without a deposit.

Thanks you guys - my gut was that it was okay but I just wanted to be prudent.

See my reply on Tripadviser re Western Union. The fees should be less.