When using booking.com, double check a city location first... it can be confusing...

[Damien Reynolds]

So like in Spain, a lot of the towns have multiple names. I think it has to do with local traditional language vs. the national one.

Some examples: On the norte San Sebastián is also Donastia.

On the Frances, O Pedrouzo is also Arca, and O'pino. Or at least that is how it seems to me.

And sometimes there are two very similar location names. Once I was walking along the Norte and decided I wanted to book a place to stay (if available) in La Arena (it's a nice beach outside of Portugalete). I go into booking.com and find what I think is a fabulous beachfront hotel for a very reasonable price. I was stoked. I booked it. No refunds.

Then I plugged the address into google maps for walking directions and it said, "there are no walking routes to this destination" or at least something like that.

I realized, looking at the map, that I just booked a hotel on Tenerife! I mean I'm a good walker, but walking on water is not in my skillset!

Luckily I immediately noticed the error and messaged the hotel through booking. Happily, they refunded my purchase, understanding my confusion.

Sadly, this happens to me every once in a while when I think I know what I'm doing. Too confident maybe. Now I always double check before hitting buy now... I mean, unless it's a place I've stayed before.

 

[C clearly]

Good idea to check this, for flights and other arrangements, not just in Spain. I know someone who booked a hairdresser for her wedding 3000 km away!

 

[trecile]

For bookings that I make for the Camino through booking.com I cross reference the location on Gronze. Usually, if Gronze does not list a place it's not walking distance to the Camino.

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

Good idea to check this, for flights and other arrangements, not just in Spain. I know someone who booked a hairdresser for her wedding 3000 km away!

There was a well documented story back in 2002 about a British couple who booked their flights to Sydney online.
They were most surprised to end up in Sydney, Canada rather than Sydney Australia.
Apparently the locals showed them a wonderful time so they probably ended up better off!

Ironically, whilst the first time, it's not the only time this has happened to the tiny little town in Nova Scotia. It's happened several times since then!

 

[Damien Reynolds]

There was a well documented story back in 2002 about a British couple who booked their flights to Sydney online.
They were most surprised to end up in Sydney, Canada rather than Sydney Australia.
Apparently the locals showed them a wonderful time so they probably ended up better off!

Ironically, whilst the first time, it's not the only time this has happened to the tiny little town in Nova Scotia. It's happened several times since then!

See. Its a thing.

 

[TravellingMan22]

I’ve done it!!

Booked a hotel in Halle, Saale, Germany to watch a major international tennis tournament, thinking it was a strange place to have a major international tennis tournament, only to find out the tournament was in Halle, Westfalen, which is an frankly even more unlikely place to have a major international tennis tournament! One of the few bookings that I have made that was non refundable. I ended up doing both (I could change the dates on the non refundable one but not refund) as the ‘not needed’ one in Saale, is up the road from Leipzig, a great city!

Another one that a few people get caught out on, thankfully I know there are two, is Frankfurt. A football fan recently turned up at Frankfurt (Oder) to see his team, which is a smallish place on the German / Polish border, east of Berlin, when the game was in Frankfurt (Main) the big city to the south! What idiot does that, eh!

I nearly got caught out with the two Vancouver’s too, not knowing there was one in Washington State, south of the border! That was a bus ticket booking though!

 

[oursonpolaire]

It always helps to check. Looking for accommodation in Agreda on the Castellano-Aragonese, Booking.com sent me to Vozmediano, about 9km away. It worked out fine, as it was on the way and I was tired of walking. It had a good collection of franquista street names, possibly one of the last pueblos with such, and a good restaurant.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Let me add another way to mess up bookings. As a USAer I'm used to calendar weeks starting on Sundays. In Spain they start on Mondays. I made a train reservation based on the (incorrect for Spain) location of the day in the calendar instead of the date. Changes were said to be difficult so I just added another night to our lodging. It was in Barcelona so that actually worked out better for us.

As for city names my best man got instructions from the AAA auto club to Owego, New York (this was before the World Wide Web). He gave a ride to a friend of Peg's that lived in Boston but had lived in Peg's home town and so my best man was correctly steered to Oswego NY.

 

[dbier]

Ontario, Canada vs Ontario, California. We used to regularly have engineers book the wrong one....

 

[Saint Mike II]

There was a well documented story back in 2002 about a British couple who booked their flights to Sydney online.
They were most surprised to end up in Sydney, Canada rather than Sydney Australia.
Apparently the locals showed them a wonderful time so they probably ended up better off!

Ironically, whilst the first time, it's not the only time this has happened to the tiny little town in Nova Scotia. It's happened several times since then!

I know of at least one occasion when a professional (or at least they claimed to be a professional) travel agent made this mistake. The travellers double checked to the hotel booking and were surprised to have a person with a Canadian accent answer the phone. Obviously there was a very quick adjustment to their flights (not to mention the additional costs).

 

[TravellingMan22]

Then t

Let me add another way to mess up bookings. As a USAer I'm used to calendar weeks starting on Sundays. In Spain they start on Mondays. I made a train reservation based on the (incorrect for Spain) location of the day in the calendar instead of the date. Changes were said to be difficult so I just added another night to our lodging. It was in Barcelona so that actually worked out better for us.

As for city names my best man got instructions from the AAA auto club to Owego, New York (this was before the World Wide Web). He gave a ride to a friend of Peg's that lived in Boston but had lived in Peg's home town and so my best man was correctly steered to Oswego NY.

Then there always the difference in date format USA v Europe. 5/7/24 or 7/5/24!!

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

Then there always the difference in date format USA v Europe. 5/7/24 or 7/5/24!!

True. Has caught me several times, especially when the website concerned is based in Europe but they're using an American program.

 

[TravellingMan22]

True. Has caught me several times, especially when the website concerned is based in Europe but they're using an American program.

Yes that’s the one to be careful of - still a clean bill of health on that one though been a few close shaves!!

 

[truenorthpilgrm]

As for city names my best man got instructions from the AAA auto club to Owego, New York (this was before the World Wide Web). He gave a ride to a friend of Peg's that lived in Boston but had lived in Peg's home town and so my best man was correctly steered to Oswego NY.

And having lived in Portland, Oregon for a number of years, don't forget Lake Oswego!

 

[Kathor1]

A few years ago, a family friend managed to book a flight from the UK to Palma - to Palma on the Spanish island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean Sea and not to Palma on the island of Tenerife in the Atlantic Ocean where the rest of the holiday bookings had been made. The mistake was noticed very quickly but the cost of the flight was not reimbursed. It is a good idea to pay attention to the whole place name and not just parts of it.

As to O Pedrouzo being also Arca and O Pino ... well that's easy, isn't it ? O Pedrouzo é un lugar da parroquia de Arca no concello coruñés do Pino, na comarca de Arzúa. O Pedrouzo is a hamlet in the parish of Arca in the municipality of O Pino.

What complicated things a little is the fact that a place name can denote both a single village on its own or the same village plus four or five or more neighbouring hamlets altogether in Spanish regions. But that's not unusual, is it? I know of such combinations in my country of residence and in my country of origin. It's a result of numerous administrative reforms and postal reforms, and there seems no end to it ...

 

[TravellingMan22]

A few years ago, a family friend managed to book a flight from the UK to Palma - to Palma on the Spanish island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean Sea and not to Palma on the island of Tenerife in the Atlantic Ocean where the rest of the holiday bookings had been made. The mistake was noticed very quickly but the cost of the flight was not reimbursed. It is a good idea to pay attention to the whole place name and not just parts of it.

As to O Pedrouzo being also Arca and O Pino ... well that's easy, isn't it ? O Pedrouzo é un lugar da parroquia de Arca no concello coruñés do Pino, na comarca de Arzúa. O Pedrouzo is a hamlet in the parish of Arca in the municipality of Pino.

What complicated things a little is the fact that a place name can denote both a single village on its own or the same village plus four or five or more neighbouring hamlets altogether in Spanish regions. But that's not unusual, is it? I know these combinations in my country of residence and in my country of origin. It's a result of numerous administrative reforms and postal reforms, and there seems no end to it ...

I didn’t even know there was a Palma in Tenerife, but I met a couple who got mixed up between Palma, Mallorca, and La Palma in the Canary Island, so the potential is there. I think they managed to get it sorted out!

 

[Kathor1]

I didn’t even know there was a Palma in Tenerife, but I met a couple who got mixed up between Palma, Mallorca, and La Palma in the Canary Island, so the potential is there.

So many Spanish islands ... let it me rephrase my earlier description: they wanted to go on holiday on Tenerife and needed to book a flight to get there.

 

[Bradypus]

Let it me rephrase my earlier description: they wanted to go on holiday on Tenerife and needed to book a flight to get there.

I recently walked the Camino on Gran Canaria. I was very careful to choose "Las Palmas" and not Palma when searching on Kayak...

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

"According to the U.S. Geological Survey there are currently 67 populated places named Springfield in the U.S.A."

Quoted from:

Springfield (toponym) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Also used as the location name in several TV shows.

 

[Jim]

Yes, it's sometimes very confusing. I know a couple who booked for a B&B in a tiny town in France and discovered that they were needing to drive many hours away to a village of the same name they intended to stay in, but in a different "department" altogether-- distressing situation for them!
Since becoming an independent traveler a few decades ago, I've learned to use the map feature on Booking.com, Expedia and other similar sites.
One can zoom-in or zoom-out on it accordingly to get the idea of whether or not you are arranging for a place at the location you really want.

 

[kamleman]

Teradillos de los Templarios on the Frances. I couldn’t figure out why my hotel wasn’t on the Correos list. Then realized I had booked at a Teradillos somewhere near Salamanca. They were nice enough to cancel without charge

 

[williamlittig]

So like in Spain, a lot of the towns have multiple names. I think it has to do with local traditional language vs. the national one.

Some examples: On the norte San Sebastián is also Donastia.

On the Frances, O Pedrouzo is also Arca, and O'pino. Or at least that is how it seems to me.

And sometimes there are two very similar location names. Once I was walking along the Norte and decided I wanted to book a place to stay (if available) in La Arena (it's a nice beach outside of Portugalete). I go into booking.com and find what I think is a fabulous beachfront hotel for a very reasonable price. I was stoked. I booked it. No refunds.

Then I plugged the address into google maps for walking directions and it said, "there are no walking routes to this destination" or at least something like that.

I realized, looking at the map, that I just booked a hotel on Tenerife! I mean I'm a good walker, but walking on water is not in my skillset!

Luckily I immediately noticed the error and messaged the hotel through booking. Happily, they refunded my purchase, understanding my confusion.

Sadly, this happens to me every once in a while when I think I know what I'm doing. Too confident maybe. Now I always double check before hitting buy now... I mean, unless it's a place I've stayed before.

We found it difficult on Bookings to cancel or change reservations using our cell phone. Open Bookings map to see locations and if possible cross reference your Camino Guide. Bookings is unresponsive to any phone link, we had to eat fees for paid reservations . We had one albergue leave a critic note on their door when they were not open after 2M and didn't answer their phone (we were charged for the night). If possible make daily reservations, be flexible with your distances, enjoy your Camino. (We made advanced reservation because we were five old men 75+)

 

[barryfr]

Also, beware of albergues with similar names. Last May on Camino del Norte, I booked a day ahead for Albergue de Estación in Llanes using a Whatsapp link from one of the popular Camino apps. We arrived at the albergue when it opened and discovered they were fully booked but didn't have our reservation. It turned out there is an albergue with the same name in Santiago, and the app listed the number for that albergue instead of the one in Llanes. We had unknowingly booked two beds in Santiago, a place we would not reach for several weeks. The hospitalero was kind enough to find us a spot in a nearby albergue and to cancel the reservation in Santiago. (Postscript: Back when this happened, I sent a message to the wise people who produce the app to let them know about the error. I just checked the app and the number is still wrong.)

 

[bergmannfamily]

We almost booked a hotel in Santiago, Chile, for the last night of our camino. Thankfully we caught it before committing the dollars. We couldn't figure out how far it was from the cathedral.

 

[BROWNCOUNTYBOB]

I've made reservations on Booking.com for our last four caminos. Besides checking date, room price, photos, I always click the "Show on map". You can see exactly where the location is, which is great. Some places are far removed from the camino. It's nice to see places that are close to/ in town, and therefore bars, restaurants, grocery stores. Bob

 

[K_Lynn]

Also check the distance to the city centre! I booked one location that was on the far side of town which was annoying at the end of a long hot day, and one friend had booked a place that was 6km north of the trail - he was very unhappy adding that distance to two days!

I made one mistake of booking a bed in a town hundreds of Km away from the trail but luckily noticed immediately and managed to cancel it and rebook in the right location.

 

[trecile]

If you use Gronze, and use the booking.com links on their site lots of these mistakes can be avoided.

 

[witsendwv]

I know of at least one occasion when a professional (or at least they claimed to be a professional) travel agent made this mistake. The travellers double checked to the hotel booking and were surprised to have a person with a Canadian accent answer the phone. Obviously there was a very quick adjustment to their flights (not to mention the additional costs).

Another occasion when a professional made a mistake- we were supposed to fly from Charleston, WV to Tulsa, OK. Arrived at the airport and they had no clue about our flight- until someone noticed that the booking was for Charleston, SC.!!