I recently discovered venere.com while searching for hotel accommodations in Italy, and I used their website to book a room in Venice. Venere.com sent me a confirmation, but none of my subsequent e-mail messages directly with the hotel have been answered. Can I show up in Venice, reasonably confident that venere.com secured the reservation?

we used Venere in France twice - worked fine. You don't have to contact the hotel.

We too have used venere serveral times with good results. Usually I find a phone number or e-mail address in which I correspond with the hotel and have been successful doing so.

I think it's a good idea to confirm a reservation directly whenever you've booked through a third party. And, I, personally, would not be reasonably confident unless I could confirm the booking directly with the hotel. It's also a good idea to get the cancellation policy in writing from the hotel.

Note from the Venere website:

"All rights and obligations arising from the ensuing accommodation contract exist directly and exclusively between the booking party and his/her chosen hotel."

"The user understands and accepts that Venere Net is not to be held liable in any way for any damage or loss, financial or otherwise, resulting from the use or inability to use the Venere service, nor for the costs neccessary to find alternative accomodations resulting from any malfunction of the Venere Net online reservation system, nor for unauthorized access of, alteration to, or misuse of your personal account information."

And, so on.

When searching Venere for Paris, I noticed that their rates are often higher that those on the hotel's website, and usually about the same. So, to me it's better to deal direction with the hotel.

I have used venere a few times, and never had a problem. I consider them reliable.

Frankly, I don't see the point in using an agent if you cannot bring yourself to trust that agent. If you don't have that trust, then don't use the agent.

The rates you can get through different paths can vary. I work through tripadvisor, which acts as a portal to a number of booking agencies and makes it convenient to check out all the offers.

I've used venere without any problems. Just be sure to print a copy of your confirmation to have wit you when you get to the hotel.

I have used them many times with never a problem BUT I always check directly with the hotel just before the trip to re-confirm the reservation. I do this whether I book with the hotel itself or a third party, Venere or anyone else. I suppose if you book only a week or so ahead it might not be necessay but I usually book a month or more in advance. It just makes sense.

I've used Venere frequently without problem.