A number of my emails sent to inns and hotels in Rome and Tuscany asking about accomodation in March have gone unanswered. Should I be expecting long delays for response or do they just not respond if there is no availablity? Any suggestions as to getting a response? I'm getting anxious to reserve.

Many hotels will close some time in the winter for 2 weeks or more. Some of them will close for a month or more. I would have to guess that the hotels you have contacted are in that category. Be patient, wait until a few days into February, and then try again if they haven't contacted you. Good luck.

You might want to try the website www.venere.com - some of the hotels there have online booking, others you send an email and they are good about responding. Also alot of good info and reviews about numerous accomodations.

My suggestion is to pick up the telephone and call. With those 10 10 numbers you can call for about 3 cents a minute. I have used 10 10 987 and was billed 3 cents per minute and a 39 cent connection charge. You can also ask a lot of other questions while you have them on the line. E-mail is fast and cheap, but if they don't check their e-mail everyday it's not much help.

This is probably a silly question, but are there any of those 10 10 type numbers that can be used from Italy to the US?

You might want to try calling, especially if there is a specific hotel/inn where you really want to stay. Some places don't reply because they are booked, busy, unprofessional, whatever. Personally, lack of response has helped me to eliminate certain hotel options and make good decisions ultimately. Trust your instincts. You'll find something.

I feel the same as wifebug. If a hotel does not reply (and after many attempts too) then I would move on. Answering a prospective guest's email is part of guest service. If they won't do that at least, that to me is a bad start.

joan_a: I am not aware of any 10 10 number that you can use to call from Italy, but I have a friend in France that calls me frequently and he has some system available to him that he can call the US at a reasonable rate but I do not know what that is. Last month I called him and we talked for 90 minutes and the charge on my phone bill form 10 10 987 was $3.09. Here is a web site where you can compare different phone plans. http://www.ldfacts.com/The%20Math%20of%2010-10-987.htm

I found another site where you can call from europe and they call you back using there system. Go to this web site for the details. I really do not know much about this. http://www.callbackworld.com/

Thanks for your help Randy. I'll check them out.

I've gotten into using those 10 10 numbers to call Europe, after I gave up my International long distance plan since I don't use it enough. Then the other day I mistakenly dialed direct to call London. I did an 8 minute call to a theatre box office. The charge on my ATT long distance was $18.00. Duh, won't be doing that again.

I buy phone cards from the corner store. The cost of foreign calls is only a few cents per minute. Very much worth it. You can also use these cards to phone a fax number also.

Thanks for your help. Have used 1010620 for $1 for 15 minutes to speak to a human being and will look into phone card.