I have tried, as most of you have suggested, to book directly with the hotels for our reservations for May 06. The problem is, these hotels do not email back!
(with the exception of our genoa hotel, who I basically had an email back and forth conversation with for 20 minutes or so, at which time I was so grateful, I immediately booked with them direct, instead of expedia or hotels.com, for their truly amazing personal attention) So now, I have been emailing the Rialto hotel in Venice, this is my 3rd email to them, also today I emailed for the first time the Antiche Figure and the Marconi,( REALLY want Grand
Canal View for our first trip!!!) the Rialto has yet to answer me..basic request, 2 people, canal view, king bed, dates provided, I feel that if they cannot even reply to my 3rd email then to h*** with them. anyway, sorry....just frustrated, now in checking on expedia, etc, my dates are disappearing and I am beginning to panic...what do you folks use for a search engine, veniceby, etc. help please!!! ps thanks for listening to(reading) me freak out.

Many hotels are somewhat slow in the holiday season now, and you may need to wait until after the 6th or re-send your message then with a request return reciept flag. Generally its cheaper as well as more personal to deal with the hotel directly

Hi Daisy,
have you tried with http://www.hotelclub.net/ ?

As a former receptionist I think it is a shame they don't take time to answer you!
good luck
corinne

not to seem like a techno-dummie (I am)
but what is a return receipt flag? It did cross my mind about the holiday dates,thought some places might be closed, but I have been emailing the Rialto since mid November! I realize there are many venice hotels with a grand canal view, just want one that is beautiful and does not require a second on my house to accomplish this, and these seemed to fit the bill, although the Antiche Figure seemed perfect in every way, except the view of the train station, and the san croce area, which seems to be a bit removed. do any of you have suggestions for a "perfect" 1st time Venice hotel? would like of course, grand canal view, king bed, beautiful venetian decor, centrally located, 250.00 USD including taxes and breakfast, not a pension. thanks

thanks, cocofromdijon, I will try that site, and thanks for your kind words.

I've used www.octopustravel.com a lot as they have a good selection of hotels and good rates too for most of them. I also like the fact that the price is always the total price, including any local taxes etc, unlike some other sites.

Some sites which may be useful.
www.itwg.com www.enit.it www.travel.it www.italyhotel.com
www.venere.it
www.initaly-com
www.turismotorino.org
www.slowtrav.com/italy

Hi daisy,

I have foind that I get faster responses if I fax or phone hotels.

Also, many hotels will wait until after Jan 1 before quoting rates.

I note that the Marconi wants about 270E/nite for a dbl.

See http://www.hotelmarconi.it/

I've always gotten very slow responses from hotels overseas (and sometimes no response at all). Especially during the holiday season. Give them a little time, then try calling or faxing. Sometimes they won't book so far in advance; I just ran into that problem last week. Good luck!!

1er arrivé, 1er servi! I don't see where the problem is with those hotels, don't they have any planning?
Why can't they take a booking in advance!? I really don't get it!

Hi cocofromdijon,
>I don't see where the problem is with those hotels, don't they have any planning?
Why can't they take a booking in advance!? I really don't get it!<

It's because they are Italian, innit?

of course Ira they are hibernating because of the bad weather now! ;-)

Daisy58, just a word of warning towards clubhotels.net and Octopus. Both are "pre-paid" hotel reservation services, meaning that when you've a room confirmed, your CC will be charged.

About Hotel Rialto, have you considered the Palazzo Bembo? Bembo is not really a hotel, but a First Class B&B, since it's on a 4th floor of a palazzo ( with a lift), but it does have a gorgeous room with Grand Canal view . Besides, they have a 24 hrs reception, as well as room service and concierge, as per what I've been reading. The reviews on Trip Advisor are very good.

Check it out.

http://www.palazzobembo.com/Palazzo_Bembo-en.htm

At the hotel, they are waiting for the best english speaker to talk to the manager/owner about what rate to quote you. Scanario - When the manager checks the e-mails (possibly twice weekly), next day he finds the best english speaker.

Daisy a return receipt flag lets you know someone has looked at the computer and opened your email.
[email is not the primary communication tool for the business world.]

Planning, in Italy?!?! lol

We have used www.hrs.com with some success for reservations in Germany, Austria, and France.

Haven't tried it with Italy.

Try the www.italyby.com, www.veniceby.com, www.florencby.com, www.romeby.com, etc. I've had good luck with their sites and have found, reserved, and been very pleased with the hotels I've booked there.

Since you know exactly which hotels you want, and they seem to be substantial properties where English can be expected from the front-desk staff, why not make a phone call?

Time it to fall into early afternoon there when the front desk is likely to be quiet (but people are back from lunch)?

Then take down a confirmation number and fax your confirmation asking them to fax you back. Fax is still more common than email in the travel biz, and way more secure when it comes to cc numbers - never email them!

Fax is also a "facsimile" (duh!) so what you see is what you get - an image of the credit card - and the hotel's letterhead on their return confirmation, which you bring along for check-in, of course.

Good luck

WK

There seems to a limited number of vacancies allotted to big travel bookers like Expedia and Travelocity. If you find that there are no vacancies through those sites, then look for a more local options.....like directly with the hotel or through one of the Italian booking agents...like Venere.com. My friend wanted to join us at Hotel Roma (near the airport) and was closed out of booking through Expedia....but did find a room through venere.com right away.

Don't take a no as absolute until you can dig no further.

daisy58

About the hotel you've been trying to contact since November: by now, I would have lost any confidence in the place. Even though some others think email is not the best way to contact a hotel, I pretty much use it exclusively.

Now, if they list an email address and don't reply to emails, I tend to doubt their customer service attitude.

Did you check the Bembo that was recommended? I don't know it but it sounds nice.

Keep trying; eventually you will get all your perfect hotels.

Happy New Year!

Dear Daisy,

I'm sorry that you have not had good luck with e-mailing the hotels for your reservations.

I agree with WallyK. We call directly to make our reservations. That way we can ask about the specific room we will reserve, make sure if there's a bathtub, etc. Then we use a fax to confirm the reservations.

Been traveling to Italy yearly since '98 and this is the first year I noticed that more hotels are finally using e-mail to confirm reservations rather than fax. Before that, my e-mail experience was the same as yours.

Hope your trip is fantastic, especially your time in Venice! SusanEva