Greg

I will be in Spain on my honeymoon for 2 weeks, beginning October 2 of this year. How soon should I book my rooms? I currently plan on staying at Carlos V in Madrid, Casa de la Juderia in Seville, the parador in Ronda, Hotel Balcon (I think that name is pretty far off from correct - the info is at home) in Nerja and undecided about Barcelona.

Thanks in advance for the advice (and any hotel recommendations for Barcelona. Possibly off Las Ramblas - we're looking for fun.)

Greg

Not USUALLY too early!

Funny, I just got on and saw your question at the top. Just yesterday I called a hotel in Italy and tried to book a room for June 2 and 3 and was told to call back in April because it's too soon now to make a reservation. I guess it just depends on the hotel. Try now, then try again later.

MICKEY

THE HOTEL COLON IN BARCELONA IS A GOOD ONE WITH A GREAT LOCATION

Tracy

In January we booked hotels and b&bs in France and Italy for the summer. Many locations were already booked - especially if they were highly recommended.

To get what and where you want, it wouldn't hurt to be early.

Good luck!
Tracy

Ed

I've never found a disadvantage in booking early.

On the contrary, it's easy to be too late. Many, if not most, of the best value-for-money hotels are pretty small and reasonably well known. They book up quite far in advance as a rule.

Ed

Marc David Miller

Book now. There is a chance that a particular hotel will fill up (I tried to book at the Casa de la Juderia for January 2000 in October, and it was filled).

Thyra

Greg, I usually book between 6 and 3 months in advance of a trip and have only had 1 hotel in about 50 tell me it was too early and that was just because they hadn't adjusted their "next year's" prices yet, so didn't know what to quote me as a rate. One caveat though, if you do book early:
1) Make sure you get a written confirmation that includes the correct dates.
2) Call a month to a week before your trip to confirm.
3) Bring a copy of your confirmation documents with you on your trip.

Please make sure you follow the above, one of the hazards of booking way in advance is that sometimes hotel personel change, or they update their reservation system or the hotel changes owners/manager having documentation to back you up is a real lifesaver!

Greg

Thanks to everyone for their quick responses!

Alex

One of the other reasons why some hotels tell you to call back later, other than the one already mentioned, is that they want people to book for more than a few days. They prefer early bookers to stay for a week or more, preferably Saturday to Saturday, so that there's less likelihood of odd days left unoccupied, and of lucrative long-stayers being turned away. This is more likely in resort hotels, in high season of Easter/July/August, when people, often locals, spend all their holidays in one place. They just want to know the reservation pattern in the booking season, before releasing rooms for shorter periods.

Bob

At least 6 to 8 months. We booked our
April Paris trip (last year) in October.
Even that early we had trouble with airline tickets. But not with hotels.