Albergue Prices

[dpatterson0516]

Hi. I'm Dan from Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. I am planning to hike the Camino Del Norte or Camino Frances in September-October 2022. The accommodation prices for Albergues on booking.com are much higher than any guidebook indicates. Is there an accurate resource for current Albergue pricing? If you recently hiked either CF or CN what did you pay for Albergues? Thanks very much.

 

[trecile]

Gronze is fairly accurate.

Camino del Norte | Gronze.com

www.gronze.com

 

[Vacajoe]

Prices have increased since many guidebooks were written and you can expect them to continue to rise due to inflation in Europe. Generally, those 5€ places are now €7-€8 while €10 became €12/€14 and €15 rose to €18-€20. In short, 20-40% increases, but really just a few extra euros a day.

Prices on Booking.com are often higher than in-person because of added fees to the actual price of the accommodation. For accurate pricing, I’d use an app (Buen Camino, Camino Ninja) or an online site (Gronze.com) - they get updated throughout the year versus a printed guide which is out-of-date even before it’s published.

 

[Tincatinker]

Hi. I'm Dan from Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. I am planning to hike the Camino Del Norte or Camino Frances in September-October 2022. The accommodation prices for Albergues on booking.com are much higher than any guidebook indicates. Is there an accurate resource for current Albergue pricing? If you recently hiked either CF or CN what did you pay for Albergues? Thanks very much.

I am not aware of many Albergues at all on Booking.con. A few of the privately run establishments yes but the donativo, parochial, municipal and Xunta places won't be listed.

If you are looking to stay in the dormitory rooms of pilgrim Albergues budget €10 - 20. Donate more if you can. They've had a couple of tough years.

 

[Grousedoctor]

If you do use Gronze, which I like very much, many of the albergues will have their own website and you can get that contact info directly from Gronze. I’d go to their site for the most up-to-date rates. My experience for our recent bookings is similar to what @Vacajoe describes above. Across the board, rates for a bed, in at least the private albergues, seem to generally be 3-5€ higher than what yo will see posted on some of the general websites. So, as you plan, expect higher bed rates although it’s still a great bargin compared to staying in private rooms in hostels or hotels.

 

[dpatterson0516]

If you do use Gronze, which I like very much, many of the albergues will have their own website and you can get that contact info directly from Gronze. I’d go to their site for the most up-to-date rates. My experience for our recent bookings is similar to what @Vacajoe describes above. Across the board, rates for a bed, in at least the private albergues, seem to generally be 3-5€ higher than what yo will see posted on some of the general websites. So, as you plan, expect higher bed rates although it’s still a great bargin compared to staying in private rooms in hostels or hotels.

Thanks for the replies. I am finding albergues rooms for 50-125 euro on booking.com, but few dorm beds.

 

[peregrina2000]

Thanks for the replies. I am finding albergues rooms for 50-125 euro on booking.com, but few dorm beds.

Hi, @dpatterson,

A couple of points
1. booking.com prices may be higher than booking directly with the albergue itself.

2. If an albergue has private rooms as well as dorm rooms, the fact that booking only shows private rooms may only mean that booking’s “allotment” for this albergue has been used up. Booking usually only has access to a few rooms or beds of any establishment’s total offering. In general, I would say the attitude of hoteliers is that — we need to use booking, because everyone does, but we would much prefer to book our rooms ourselves because we don’t have to pay the booking commission.

3. Private double rooms in albergues for 50€ is not terribly out of whack with pre-covid prices. 125€ is way high and may just be a way for an establishment to offer some rooms on booking.

Bottom line advice — contact the albergues directly. And buen camino!

 

[Thomas1962]

Only very few albergues are on booking, mostly the more expensive ones.
Really check gronze.com (or any other special camino app) for the most accurate information and to get the best overview of existing places to sleep.
Once again: booking can be handy at some moments, but is really not the site to use on the camino.

 

[henrythedog]

There was a period in the last couple of years when booking.com was useful - for certainty and ease of cancellation if, like me, covid cancelled your carefully made plans. Currently, and increasingly, it’s less necessary.

That said I’ve booked a few private rooms between Burgos and Leon, and in Madrid; for next week and the week after. I’ve paid about €44 on average for a private en-suite room.

I’d suggest making direct contact if possible.

 

[Arniece2022]

Hi Dan from Kitchener, This is Arniece from Hamilton. I arrive on April 15, begin my walk on April 20 and booked the first 5 nights of my Camino. I agree with others above, Gronze is the best resource and then go to the Albergue website. The only thing I have to add is, when on Booking . com, use the sort feature and choose Price Low to High. I have found and booked a couple this way for $13 to $18 euros. Buen Camino!

 

[Elle Bieling]

I find that the pricing on Gronze is quite behind the times, when I cross reference with the actual websites, if the accommodation has one!

It appears to me, that outside the larger cities, the prices have gone up significantly, especially for non-dormitory rooms! This is post-pandemic times and is just the way it is and most likely will continue to be!

 

[dpatterson0516]

Hi, @dpatterson,

A couple of points
1. booking.com prices may be higher than booking directly with the albergue itself.

2. If an albergue has private rooms as well as dorm rooms, the fact that booking only shows private rooms may only mean that booking’s “allotment” for this albergue has been used up. Booking usually only has access to a few rooms or beds of any establishment’s total offering. In general, I would say the attitude of hoteliers is that — we need to use booking, because everyone does, but we would much prefer to book our rooms ourselves because we don’t have to pay the booking commission.

3. Private double rooms in albergues for 50€ is not terribly out of whack with pre-covid prices. 125€ is way high and may just be a way for an establishment to offer some rooms on booking.

Bottom line advice — contact the albergues directly. And buen camino!

Thank you. I have been emailing albergues and getting better info!

 

[Esperanza]

I have noticed that prices for private rooms, either in albergues or not, have definitely shot up since pre-Covid. In addition to inflation and hard times in general for the people operating the businesses, it probably has something to do with supply and demand, with so many pilgrims wishing to avoid shared sleeping situations these days.

 

[dpatterson0516]

Thanks. I am looking forward to the albergues experience. I am looking for a physical challenge that brings me back to the basics our ancestors experienced. I am not taking a vow of poverty, and I will not chuck my phone, but I am planing to sleep in albergues and buy food from markets and stores along the way as much as possible. I am not a particularly religious person, but I feel spiritual when I am hiking in a natural environment.

 

[dpatterson0516]

There was a period in the last couple of years when booking.com was useful - for certainty and ease of cancellation if, like me, covid cancelled your carefully made plans. Currently, and increasingly, it’s less necessary.

That said I’ve booked a few private rooms between Burgos and Leon, and in Madrid; for next week and the week after. I’ve paid about €44 on average for a private en-suite room.

I’d suggest making direct contact if possible.

Thank you. I've booked my flights for a 40 day adventure. I have faith that my first Camino will happen this fall, but being prudent, the flights are refundable!

 

[J Willhaus]

@dpatterson0516 Not all albergues take reservations. Many of the municipal, association, and paroquial ones do not. Quite a few of those are also donation-based, meaning you contribute what you are able for the experience. They are simple, but usually clean and sometimes offer a kitchen and/or breakfast/communal supper. Often they are staffed by volunteers or members of the community, association, or from a few Camino volunteer organizations.

 

[Richard of York]

Last year I paid €25-35 for a private room each night after Pamplona, whether in a hotel or albergue. The albergues were all private and the dorm beds in those places seemed to be around €12, though few dorm beds were bookable through booking.com.

Where I stayed in a dorm through booking.com I could see I was paying an extra euro or two to cover their commission.

I very much recommend Whatsapp to book ahead if you can. It's easier if you're shy with spoken language and almost everyone uses it. Prices go up 10-20% after Sarria.

 

[J Willhaus]

You can also follow the Live from the Camino thread of @NobleHiker as he is posting what he pays each night.

 

[henrythedog]

he is posting what he pays each night.

Yes; for everything ..

‘Nobody’ has a bigger drink problem than I. The punctuation’s quite important in that sentence.

 

[David with new Kit!]

While I'm not booking dormitory accommodation for my August 2022 Camino I am booking private rooms using a combination of Booking.com, emailing properties directly, and calling directly too. The prices have certainly gone up and the guidebooks are well out of date in some instances.

I note the comments above about Booking.com prices including "hidden" fees etc and to book directly. But, with my experiences booking in the last week, the accommodations are not all offering a lower price, in quite a few instances they are matching the Booking.com prices and in doing so, keeping the "margin" to themselves, which I haver no problem with.

I am finding that after Markina the prices are improving as i move away from San Sebastian and surrounding areas.

I have also found that when Booking.com shows no availability, that calling the accommodation direct normally yields results.

But, the general points above are true, prices are certainly up this year, whatever your personal preferences.

 

[BookGirl305]

I prebooked 7 nights from Pamplona-Logrono for a few weeks from now and the prices are 20-25% higher than the published guidebooks. Almost all are requiring a card guarantee to reserve with cancellation 2-7 days in advance, so not a cancel the night before situation as previously described in many threads. I put the price listed in the Wise Pilgrim app in bold following, only to illustrate that the pricing is moving faster than a guidebook can keep up with. Yup, I'm slow- doing the 4 day walk in 6 days
Pamplona- Casa Ibarrola- pod bunk- 20 (night before) 18
Uterga- Casa de Perdon/ Albergue de Perdon- 60 private room, unlcear if its at their albergue or casa as they have both 60
Cirauqui- Albergue Matalotx- 45 private room 38
Estella- Hostal el Volante- 50, private room used booking.com for this one 35
Los Arcos- Hostal Monaco- 52, private room 40
Viana- Albergue Izar- 30, private room 20
Logrono- Winderful- pod bunk- 24 used booking.com for this one 18

 

[Vacajoe]

I put the price listed in the Wise Pilgrim app in bold following

Thanks for taking the time to list the comparison between actual and guidebook.

 

[MarkN]

Hi Dan from Kitchener! Mark from Guelph here.
Heading out to our forth Camino in a few weeks. While we were happy to see flights around the same price we did find accommodations were more expensive.
As others have said, reaching out directly to the alberge is the best bet for better pricing, however we did find not all responded. Keep the email short and try to translate if you can.
Of course there is the other side of not wishing to commit to your every nights stay up front?

 

[J Willhaus]

At a hotel there may be a desk clerk who is answering the phone. An albergue may be tended by only one or two hospitaleros who are cleaning, shopping, and tending pilgrims so the phone may go unanswered. Also some albergues where we have worked have the phone ring to the municipal offices which may or may not be open. It may not ring to the albergue.