Booked European hotels

For a recent trip to France and Italy, arranged on short notice, I decided to book all hotels ahead of time. I had considerable benefit from using a site called Venere.com.

The site is not a “bargain” or auction site. The hotel presents the offer at a given price, take it or leave it. Nor is it a guide, like Michelin. The site does not rate the hotels but simply presents the hotel’s estimation of itself, together with user comments, some of them quite savage. In most cases, I was able to find a suitable hotel.

You tell the site the city, dates and general class of hotel you want. It shows what it has. If you decide to book, you register with your e-mail address and a password the site gives you. You should write this password down, as you will need it to check or change your reservations. The site then sends you an e-mail confirming the reservation.

If you need to change or cancel a reservation, you must do it through Venere.com. I found that talking directly to the hotel, even face to face with the desk clerk, did not work. Luckily, Internet cafés are common in Europe, and so when I wanted to change after one hotel proved to be a dump, I was able to do so easily.

After you check out of the hotel, Venere.com will send you a feedback form by e-mail which you can fill out and which will be posted.

The site is very well organized and easy to understand, and I would recommend it for all reservations but particularly for reservations at the last minute.

MICHAEL MAHONEY
San Francisco, CA