Booking a Hotel in Europe

If you plan on booking a hotel in Europe for your European rail trip read on here for pointers and advice on how to get the best hotel for your budget and where to book it.

Finding a hotel can be quite a difficult task if you don't know anything about the area in which you are staying. Our advice is to do some research in to the area, use our City Guides to get an idea of some of Europe's most popular cities. Once you have a general feel for the area you can begin to get an idea of where you would like to stay. The next step is to visit hotel websites to see what's available in the area. We have a range of hotels listed in our city guides which are all bookable online.

When booking your hotel you have a number of options:

1. Call the hotel direct to make your reservation
   
   
   • Pros:
     You're making your booking direct and not through an intermediary or travel agent.
     You can talk to a hotel representative about the rooms and the hotel.
   • Cons:
     You won't neccesarily get the best available rates at that hotel for your dates.
     Depending on your location the calls to the hotel could be expensive.
   
   
   
2. Book the hotel online using the hotel's own website (eg Best Western)
   
   
   • Pros:
     You're making your booking direct and not through an intermediary or travel agent.
     You can see the available special rates for your travel dates.
     You can change or cancel your booking online.
   • Cons:
     You won't neccesarily get the best available rates at that hotel for your dates.
     
   
   
   
3. Book the hotel through an intermediary website (eg Our City Guides)
   
   
   • Pros:
     You can get very low rates at selected hotels, often much lower than hotels would offer direct.
     You can change or cancel your booking online.
   • Cons:
     You aren't dealing with the hotel direct.
   
   
   

Back to the European Accommodation Home Page