Hi...you have helped so much in guiding my preparations for the flights, I now need to ask about lodging.
We are a family group of 8 departing LAX
*My husband and I
*His sister/husband/*3 kids
*Papa
so, 4 rooms
We plan to travel through Italy in July 2006. The catch is we will not know until December 15th if we can go.
So,
I am making all the plans now,
so if on Dec 15th we find we are traveling to Italy, we can be ready to buy the airfare.
The plan is to arrive in Rome
then my husband and I will go to Sorrento
the others will go to Tuscany,
then we all meet back up in Venice.

???
How early should I make reservations for lodging in July 2006?

Is it true that I could reserve the rooms now, but should we not be able to go,
we could cancel them on December 16th without penalty?

Do I pad the days in case airfare is not available on the originaly planned flights?

Or do I just line my ducks in a row, then book everything on Dec 16th?

Buy the way, the rest of the group (6)states they will still go, should we hear we cannot.
What do you think?

Just in case

Hi J,

For 8 people in July, book the hotels ASAP.

Check the cancellation policy. Most will let you cancel 30 days in advance with little or no fee.

what ira said

Ditto, We are a party of ten visiting Italy end of June - mid-July, 2006.

We have already booked our hotels. The cancellation policy varies with each hotel, but you shouldn't have a problem if you need to cancel, as long as you read the hotel's policy.

If you don't like their cancellation policy, move on to the next hotel of choice.

I think you will find a perfectly good selection of hotels from now through the beginning (if not middle) of spring.

In fact, some hotels might not even have their reservation books open for summer 2006 (in October 2005) - - mostly applicable to smaller family-run inns... not in major cities.

Best wishes,

Rex

I think you should be able to book Dec 16 if you don't have your hearts set on one particular hotel. WIth that large a family have you considered staying in a place for a week? We loved what we booked through www.rentvillas.com. We booked two places (one in Tuscany, one in Umbria) and saved lots of money and loved them. You have to be committed to driving though with day trips..

I would e-mail the hotels you want, if you have already decided, now and ask them for their best rate. IMO, the longer you waut, the smaller the selection. Lots of people here seem to reserve way early and that might tell you a lot about the other thousands that are planning trips to Italy for next year, too.

If the hotels you contact haven't set rates yet they will tell you. And you can ask them when the earliest date you could make a reservation will be.

Most hotels wouldn't charge a penalty for a cancellation fully 6+ months out.

I have been recently making hotel arrangements for an April 2006 trip to Italy. So far, one popular hotel in Rome was already fully booked.

If your budget is tight (i.e. it would be a financial hardship or a trip breaker to book a considerably more expensive hotel than you planned) or your tastes tend toward smallish hotels with local flavor, (i.e. La Calcina and Pensione Accademia which are frequently mentioned on these forums) you need to book now, get travel insurance, and be sure you know the cancellation policies...

Cancellation policies will vary from hotel and hotel, and from reservation service to reservation service. Some reservation services/hotels offer 24-hour in advance cancellations with no penalty.