I just made a booking request for a b&b in Rome for April and was pertubed to find out that my booking will not be confirmed for up to 48 hour. Normally this would not be an issue but this time it is because I will be away and unable to access my e-mail for the next week. After being home for a day I will be away again for two weeks. I had hoped to have this settled before leaving. My question is it common to have availability showing on Venere.com only to have the booking fail? Or, am fretting about something that is unlikely?

If you are wondering why I did not do this sooner the reason is that I did not know I was going to Rome until yesterday.

Why not bypass venere and book directly with the hotel?

Not all of venere's properties offer instant confirmation, especially the B&B's. IME, faxing these smaller facilites or calling directly is generally faster than email, which they may check only intermittently.

My husband and I have made several (5 or so) B&B reservations through Venere.com. Only one came back (it was a B&B in Cortona) with no response what-so-ever. If the one you want comes back with no response or unavailable (unlikely, but it happened to us 1 out of 5 times), they will give you 3-4 other choices of the same nature (location, price, stars, etc.) This ended up being a blessing for us b/c they gave us another option that we liked even better. If this happens to you, however, not being able to check your email will be a problem b/c you have to accept any counter offers within 48 hrs. Maybe the place you are going will have a way for you to access internet and you can check your venere.com account? Or contact the hotel directly if that is the only one that will do. Good luck!
Another good web site for B&Bs in Rome is: http://www.b-b.rm.it/
Lori was very helpful in helping us pick the right B&B for when we will be in Rome this fall.

Thanks jentheskier, 20% is not that much of risk under the circumstances. If this does not work I will be more carefull about making sure I can get instant confirmation next Sunday when I between trips. It is not that I am particularly attached to this place but more that I wanted everything in place before I leave so I could stop thinking about it.

I have spent far too much time on the computer in the last 26 hours. In two days from getting the word I planned and booked 16 days, 5 hotels, 4 airlines in 3 countries.

I better finish packing now.