Booking Hotel Rooms in Europe

View from the terrace of the Hotel Paradiso, Naples.

Avoid tourist-office booking desks during high season or on weekends.

Tourist offices often have hotel counters in railroad stations and airports where you can get a room at the last minute. Although these services are useful in emergencies, they do have several disadvantages:

Your hotel choices are limited, and you could find yourself staying in a dump or at an inconvenient location.

At busy times (high season and weekends), lines are often long. It can be frustrating to wait in line for a hotel referral when you could be sightseeing or recovering from an overnight flight.

Air/hotel packages are another option.

Packages that combine air fare with local hotel accommodations can yield worthwhile savings, especially in the off-season. Some packages may toss in extra perks like local transportation passes or sightseeing tours. (Airlines often promote such packages on their Web sites.)

How to get the room you want.

The quality of hotel rooms can vary, especially in older hotels or in cities where the shape and layout of ancient buildings may limit the number of rooms that have good views and sunlight. Although you can request a specific room ahead of time, you can't always be sure of getting it--and if you've never stayed in the hotel, you may not know what to request in the first place.

Fortunately, there's an easy solution in most cases: Check in as early as you can. If you aren't happy with the room you've been assigned, ask to see another. (In hotels, as in many other endeavors, the early bird often gets the worm.)

Next Page > Alternatives to hotels - Page 3

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