Travel Cheaply Without
the Ball and Chain of Reservations
By Rick Steves
From the July/August 1998 issue of Transitions
Abroad magazine.
Europe is full of hotels--old-fashioned, dingy, charming, central, friendly, safe, and government-regulated. They offer beds that are good enough for Europeans and good enough for me at a cost
of about $30 to $40 per person a night. No matter what your travel agent says, these hotels are hardcore Europe: fun, cheap, and easy to find.
For the ultimate in spontaneity, consider traveling without the ball and chain of reservations. In more than a thousand unreserved nights in Europe, I’ve been shut out only three times.
That’s a 99.7 percent bedding average earned in peak season and very often in crowded, touristy, or festive places. The cost of a wonderfully reservation-free trip is the remote chance you’ll end up spending the night on a bench in
the train station waiting room.
Every year I travel peak season (lately, with my wife and kids), arrive early or call a day or so in advance, and manage fine by using the few tricks listed here.
Expensive Is Not Better
Travel with a good list of hotels. I spend more time in Europe finding and checking hotels for my guidebooks than anything else. What’s striking to me is how little correlation there is
between what you pay and what you get. You are just as likely to spend $90 for a big impersonal place on a noisy highway as you are to spend $60 for a charming family-run guesthouse on a bikes-only stretch of canal.
To sleep well and inexpensively on a big-city bed, all you need is a good guidebook listing hotels and budget alternatives. Or try room-finding services. Popular tourist cities usually have
a room-finding service at the train station or tourist information office listing that town’s available accommodations. For a fee of a few dollars, they’ll get you a room in the price range and neighborhood of your choice. The drawback
is that room-finding services are normally not allowed to share quality judgments, so what you get is potluck.
Finding It Yourself
Use the telephone. If you’re looking on your own, telephone the places in your guidebook that sound best. Not only will it save the time and money involved in chasing down these places
with the risk of finding them full, but you’re beating all the other tourists--with the same guidebook--who may be hoofing it as you dial.
Consider hotel runners. As you step off the bus or train (particularly in Eastern Europe), you’ll sometimes be met by hotel runners wielding pictures of their rooms for rent. My gut reaction
is to steer clear, but these people are usually just hardworking entrepreneurs. If you like the guy and what he promises, and the hotel isn’t too far away, follow him. You are obliged only to inspect the hotel. If it’s good, take it.
If it’s not, leave. You’re probably near other budget hotels anyway. Establish the location immediately, as many of these people have good places miserably located way out of town. The early bird gets the room.
If you anticipate crowds, arrive in the morning when the most (and the best) rooms are available. If the rooms aren’t ready until noon, take one anyway; leave your luggage behind the desk;
they’ll move you in later and you’re set up--free to relax and enjoy the city. I would leave Florence at 7 a.m. to arrive in Venice (a crowded city) early enough to get a decent choice of rooms. Consider the advantage of overnight
train rides--you’ll arrive, if not bright, at least early.
If the room situation is impossible, don’t struggle--just leave. An hour by car, train, or bus from the most miserable hotel situation anywhere in Europe is a town--Dullsdorf or Nothingston--that
has the Dullsdorf Inn or the Nothingston Gasthaus just across the street from the station or right on the main square. It’s not full--never has been, never will be. There’s a guy sleeping behind the reception desk. Drop in at 11 p.m.,
ask for 14 beds, and he’ll say, "Take the second and third floors, the keys are in the doors." It always works. Oktoberfest, Cannes Film Festival, St. Tropez, Running of the Girls, Easter at Lourdes--your bed awaits you in nearby
Dullsdorf.
If you anticipate trouble, stay at the last train stop before the crowded city. Let hotel managers help. Have your current manager call ahead to make a reservation at your next destination
(offer to pay for the call). If you’re in a town and having trouble finding a room, remember that nobody knows the hotel scene better than local hotel managers do. If one hotel is full, ask the manager for help. Often the manager has a
list of neighborhood accommodations or will even telephone a friend’s place that rarely fills up and is just around the corner.
Consume Smartly Hotels in northern Europe are pricier than the south, but there are exceptions. In Brussels, Berlin, and the Scandinavian capitals, business hotels are desperate for customers in the summer
and on weekends, when their business customers stay away. They offer some amazing deals through the local tourist offices. In this case the later your arrival, the better the discount.
Consume smartly--don’t stray above your needs. A three-star hotel is not necessarily a bad value, but you’re spending $50 extra for things you don’t really need. You can get air conditioning,
elevators, private showers, room service, a 24-hour reception desk, and people in uniforms to carry your bags. But each of those services adds $10 to your room cost; before you know it, the simple $50 room is up to $100.
Shop around. When going door to door, rarely is the first place you check the best. It’s worth 10 minutes of shopping to find the going rate before you accept a room. You’ll be surprised
how prices vary as you walk farther from the station or down a street strewn with B and Bs.
Never judge a hotel by its exterior or lobby. Lavish interiors with shabby exteriors are a cultural trait of Europe: blame the landlord who’s stuck with rent control.
Avoid hotels that require you to buy meals. This is rarely economical or fun. I prefer the freedom to explore and sample the atmosphere of restaurants in other neighborhoods.
Check the Listed Room Prices
Check the prices on the room list to find the best value. Room prices can vary tremendously within a hotel according to facilities provided. Many hotels have a room list clearly displayed, showing each
room, its bed configuration, facilities, and maximum allowed price for one and for two. By studying this list, you’ll see that in many places a room with a shower is cheaper than a room with a bathtub, and a double bed is cheaper than
twins. In other words, a couple who prefers a shower and a double bed can pay $20 more for a bath and twins.
Bargain. See if there’s a discount for a longer stay. Or if it’s off-season, offer less. If the place is too expensive, tell them your limit; they might meet it.
Put more people in a room. Family rooms are common, and putting four in a quad is much cheaper than two doubles. Many doubles come with a small double bed and a sliver single. A third person pays very
little. A family with two small children can ask for triples and bring a sleeping bag for the stowaway.
RICK STEVES (425-771-8303 or www.ricksteves.com) is the host of the PBS-TV series Rick Steves’ Europe and the author of 27 European travel
guidebooks, including Rick Steves’ Europe Through the Back Door, all published by Avalon Travel Publishing. |
