I'll be staying at Suore St. Elizabetta and am wondering if convents usually want to be paid up front or can be paid at checkout. I have a confirmed reservation and I had asked them this question, but they didn't answer it. I'm hoping I can pay at the end because my bank has a limit on how much can be drawn per day and I wouldn't be able to get the full amount at once. I'll need to be able to go to an atm at least two or three times. I don't want to charge because that drives up the cost with the fees the credit cards tack on.

Increase you ATM limit before you leave. All it takes is a yelephone call.

Most convents don't take credit cards so you must pay cash. The last one I stayed in (in Rome)I paid on check-out (actually the night before since I was leaving before the front desk would be open that morning). Convents are so cheap, it shouldn't take many withdrawals. I stayed 5 nights and it was only 250€ = 1 withdrawal.

I'm going to need 336 euro for my seven nights, which is nearly $500 USD at the current, sad exchange rate.

You need to know what your daily withdrawal limit is with your bank. If it's $500 then you would get about 340€. Machines in Italy usually limit the withdrawal to 250€ so you do a transaction for the 250€ and then a 2nd transaction for the other 86€. If your bank tacks on much fees, I would plan to have enough leftover from previous transactions to cover the 86€ so I wouldn't have a fee for such small amount.

Just found out my bank's limit is $500, which is better than when I last checked a year or two ago. Thanks for the reminder that some European banks limit withdrawal amounts, that happened to my mom last year.

I would think you should check with the convent to see if they want to be paid when you arrive. I wouldn't be surprised if they do. If you need the equivalent of $500, that's cutting it close with a $500 daily limit. As suggested above, call the bank and ask them to raise it. If they refuse, you can also open a second account at another bank and get the rest of the money there. I always do that. It's also nice to have that backup if you lose your ATM card.

By the way, get a Capital One credit card. They don't add on ANY fees for foreign charges.

SusanP, I did check with the convent, but they never answered my question. I'm not going to worry about it further. I'm sure if it comes down to it, they'll let me pay a couple of days in advance and then get more cash to pay the remainder.

my experience with the wonderful Suore St Elizabetta convent is that they do not ask for payment upfront, but i would pay within the first few days of my stay out of courtesy. they also accept credit payment.