StevePinMA

My wife and another couple are heading to Italy from 5/19 to 6/3. Our itinerary is Venice, Rome, Florence and Sorrento. We've booked rooms in all four cities (within the past week), however we could not get our first choices in any one. We used Venere, hotels .com, and dealt directly with the hotels themselves (some via phone, other via the internet).

Do hotels block off rooms in anticpation of travel agents/tours? In other words, should I bother to keep trying to rebook with our first choices as we get closer to our travel dates?

We are trying to stay within a budget of $150 Euro/night at most (except for Venice). The hotels we have now are above that price.

Any advice is appreciated. We traveled to Italy once before but all of our bookings were through a travel agent (who has since passed on, unfortunately). Thanks for your time.

Steve

bookchick

Hi Steve,
I can't answer definitively about hotels blocking off segments for tour groups, but my best guess is that some do and some don't. It is always worthwhile to try back with your "first choice" again, because people cancel every day for a variety of reasons, and what was reserved yesterday may suddenly be open today.

Buon Viaggio,
BC

Dayle

Hi Steve,

I think your experience with hotels is just that you are quite late in making reservations. Italian hotels are much smaller and have fewer rooms available than the huge chain hotels you find in the US.

On my last two trip to Italy, I've booked 8 - 9 months in advance and still didn't always get first choice!

That said - most hotels also have a short cancellation policy and things do change on short notice. If you are really determined, keep trying up to the last minute.

Buona fortuna!

StevePinMA

Thanks. I will keep plugging away. I thought that we had enough time. Oh well...next time we'll do it earlier.

Dayle

Steve,

The large tour operators tend to use larger hotels in order to get enough rooms, but these are frequenty on the outskirts of major cities.

I've worked in group sales in the hotel industry in a ski resort town and US groups usually sign a contract a year or even years in advance for a "block" of rooms. In the contract, based on negotiation, they have the right to "shrink" their block by a certain percentage at preset dates without/with various pentalties.

Usually 90 days in advance you will find a significant # of rooms opening up, but it all depends on the group, the destination and time of year!

The good thing in Europe is there are plenty of lovely choices!

Have fun!

eurotraveller

I stayed at the Hotel Parlamento in Rome a year or two ago and it was wonderful! Perfect location within walking distance to most sites, great restaurants nearby, nice staff and the room was also very nice.

http://www.hotelparlamento.it/eng.htm