Has anyone used this hotel? We are thinking about taking a group there in June. My main question concerns them offering a 20 euro per night discount if we pay at the time of the reservation. Has anyone done this? Do you think it is safe? We would have our credit card receipt and a prepaid voucher from the hotel but I've never done this before. Thanks for your advice.

I never stayed at this hotel. And I don't like prepaying even for a year in advance. So I wouldn't prepay even with a discount offered. I would look for a different hotel.

Dear PWAbbott,

I'm Belgian but living in Italy and I strongly advise you not to do that. I've had several bad experiences with prepaying in Italy.

Why don't you try apartments for your group travel? It's much more personal and you have all the confort you need. I've been te Rome with Halldis, have a look at their site: www.halldis.com.

Good luck and have fun

A few years ago while in Rome my husband and I met two couples who were staying at Hotel Adler and both had nothing but raves about this budget hotel ,particularly the management. One of the travelers lost his wallet and the owner have him $100 Euros to use until he could obtain more money. Rick Steves often recommends this hotel.

My husband and I and his brother and sister-in-law stayed at the hotel Adler two years ago and enjoyed it with no problems. The owners were wonderful and very helpful. The rooms were comfortable. The rooms facing the street (Via Modena) were good size, tall windows with shutters which opened. Some of the other rooms are much smaller but comfortable. We liked the location. It was very convenient to the train station and just one street off of Via Nazionale. Personally I would have no problem with paying at the time of reservation and I would definitely stay there again. If you are going with a group, I would consider the advice of "stiene" and look into renting an apartment. I am going back to Italy this next summer and will have a group of 5 and we are renting apartments. We will have much more space and, it is actually less expensive than getting two hotel rooms.

PW,
This is a second reply--just a thought. You said you were taking a group in June. If your group is large enough, you may be reserving the entire hotel--it is not very big. If that is so, it may be the reason they would like for you to prepay.
Just a thought, Charlotte

Are they saying that they will offer the discount even if you DO use a credit card? The reason I ask is that you often hear of discounts if the patron is willing to pay cash which means the merchant avoids the service charge they pay in return for the cc services.

If they will then you should be protected by the cc against fraud as well as non-delivery of services.

I've seen quite a few hotels offer discounts if you prepay, and it doesn't have anything to do with using a CC. That seems a pretty normal thing for a business to want to do -- bird in the hand, etc. -- it's just a technique to better manage revenue and vacancies. That's why airlines have much cheaper seats for tickets weeks in advance, so they can plan better.

I have not done it at Hotel Adler, though, so can make no recommendation on that hotel, but I've done it in other cities if the discount was substantial. IN your case, I think they really may be concerned and offer discounts to get you pinned down because you have a whole group. It can cause hotels problems when entire groups cancel.

So, I don't know about Adler, but don't find the practice suspect.

We do have a large group (17 total) and the prepayment would be by credit card. The total savings would be 20 euros per night off of each of the 6 rooms. I appreciate all the great comments about the hotel. I had read a lot of blogs about this place and have found mostly very positive statements. Thanks for all of the advice!