Advance deposits for Albergue reservations

[lbpierce]

I recently emailed Albergue Las Aguedas in Murias de Rechivaldo to reserve one double room plus two plazas (for our group of four) in July. They confirmed availability and said they required a 50% deposit into their bank account to make the reservation. This is the first time I've heard of an Albergue asking for the deposit, which I don't want to do. Have any of you come across this requirement of an advance deposit for an albergue?

 

[Tia Valeria]

A sign of the times and the changes of recent years I think.
Private places have not asked us for deposits in the past but many have been let down by pilgrims who book, don't turn up and don't cancel, so that the room is kept for them, others are turned away and income lost. This year a pension has asked us for a deposit but has waived it due to the cost of paying into a bank account. (We cannot pay them by credit card as they do not have the facilities, if they did have facilities that would be the easiest way to pay.) They have now asked instead that we confirm our booking again when arriving in Spain and again a couple of days before arrival. You could ask if that would be acceptable.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Have any of you come across this requirement of an advance deposit for an albergue?

Yes. If you use booking.com, though, you can use a credit card. In Spain it is much easier to transfer funds in a manner similar to a debit card than it is in the U.S. They are a bit ahead of the U.S. in that respect. You may have to spend on a bank wire, which may be more than the deposit.

 

[ramble-on]

I recently made a reservation at a private albergue in Santillas del Mar on the Norte through booking.com. The albergue has a non-cancellation policy and I gave my credit card to secure the reservation. I didn't like doing that but it's understandable and I guess it'll be an incentive to keep to my "schedule"! At another place (in Campiello on the Primitivo) they just asked that I call or email them a week or so before the reservation to let them know how I was doing. I suspect the first hospitalera may have had losses due to no-shows in the past, just as Tia Valeria says. So it seems to becoming more usual on lots of different Caminos.

 

[Deleted member 34316]

This is the first time I've heard of an Albergue asking for the deposit, which I don't want to do. Have any of you come across this requirement of an advance deposit for an albergue?

"The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was, is lost, for none now live who remember it"

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Which is why carrying a cell is becoming more and more necessary: to confirm your booking or letting thrm know you are still coming but will arrive an hour or two later than expected. That and phoning the hospitalero to,ask them to come and open the doors (on less travel routes).

 

[GettingThere]

I recently emailed Albergue Las Aguedas in Murias de Rechivaldo to reserve one double room plus two plazas (for our group of four) in July. They confirmed availability and said they required a 50% deposit into their bank account to make the reservation. This is the first time I've heard of an Albergue asking for the deposit, which I don't want to do. Have any of you come across this requirement of an advance deposit for an albergue?

Yes, and sometimes the "deposit" is 100% - ie they require full payment in advance. Easier as @falcon269 says if you can do it with credit card via booking.com, but not many albergues are on there, and some of the small places don't take credit cards anyway. Or of course if you don't book and they have space available when you turn up, you can just pay on the spot, but that doesn't help if you want to book ahead in a small place that might fill up.

 

[GettingThere]

I recently emailed Albergue Las Aguedas in Murias de Rechivaldo to reserve one double room plus two plazas (for our group of four) in July. They confirmed availability and said they required a 50% deposit into their bank account to make the reservation. This is the first time I've heard of an Albergue asking for the deposit, which I don't want to do. Have any of you come across this requirement of an advance deposit for an albergue?

Hi again
I've just checked, and Las Aguedas is in fact on booking.com - so you can book that way using a credit card, and they will just charge the deposit to your card.

 

[lbpierce]

Thank you all for your responses. With booking.com for this albergue, if you need to cancel, you still pay 50% of the cost. I am hesitant to commit so far in advance before reaching Spain. I have emailed the owner to ask if I can pay them the 50% deposit about 10 days in advance once I arrive in Spain. That way, if I do cancel, they would still have at least 10 days to accept another reservation. Hopefully that will work for them. Vamos a ver.

 

[GettingThere]

Thank you all for your responses. With booking.com for this albergue, if you need to cancel, you still pay 50% of the cost. I am hesitant to commit so far in advance before reaching Spain. I have emailed the owner to ask if I can pay them the 50% deposit about 10 days in advance once I arrive in Spain. That way, if I do cancel, they would still have at least 10 days to accept another reservation. Hopefully that will work for them. Vamos a ver.

@lbpierce it will be interesting to know what response you get to your query. Generally when places have this deposit requirement, they won't confirm your booking until they receive the deposit. So while you could pay the deposit 10 days prior, it would not be until then that your booking was confirmed. Which may be fine, unless they're booked up by then. They have the deposit requirement because of people not turning up or cancelling at short notice - so it is a non-refundable deposit, whether paid via booking.com or directly into their bank account. It makes it very hard to be flexible about your planning. I came across more than one place which had a 100% deposit required at the time of booking and it was non-refundable. Fine if you're only booking a day or two ahead, but not if you are booking so far in advance. You may be lucky - it will probably depend on the time of year. But if they think you want to delay paying the deposit because of a high likelihood of cancellation, they may not agree.

One other consideration - if you have to arrange a bank transfer direct to the owners rather than credit card through booking.com, it may be easier to do this from home rather than once you are in Spain, although that would depend on your bank.

Good luck anyway!!

 

[Anniesantiago]

I recently emailed Albergue Las Aguedas in Murias de Rechivaldo to reserve one double room plus two plazas (for our group of four) in July. They confirmed availability and said they required a 50% deposit into their bank account to make the reservation. This is the first time I've heard of an Albergue asking for the deposit, which I don't want to do. Have any of you come across this requirement of an advance deposit for an albergue?

Yes, I made a booking with them also, and paid half up front. I think they require it because people make reservations, then don't show up.
Can't blame them, really . . .

I met an American guy a few years ago who was bragging about doing this very thing.
He said he had reservations in 3 different villages for the night.
When asked if he would cancel the other 2, he said, 'Naw... I just won't show up."
I said, "you do realize that what this means is OTHER pilgrims will be turned away because they expect YOU?"
I felt like hitting him over the head with my stick and knocking some manners into him.
It's folks like that who have made this happen.

Other places, like El Tesin in Rabanal, ask you to call the night before to confirm.

 

[GillRichardson]

We recently had to pay a deposit when we booked a private room in an albergue in Lorca - this albergue wasn't on booking.com. It was a bit of a nuisance because the bank charged us quite a steep fee to process the deposit. I can see why they want the deposit though.

 

[MickMac]

I recently emailed Albergue Las Aguedas in Murias de Rechivaldo to reserve one double room plus two plazas (for our group of four) in July. They confirmed availability and said they required a 50% deposit into their bank account to make the reservation. This is the first time I've heard of an Albergue asking for the deposit, which I don't want to do. Have any of you come across this requirement of an advance deposit for an albergue?

Tried to book RONCESVALLES monastery in August was asked to give my credit card number or transfer into there bank account .
I don.t like doing this so I will take my chances, pity the last time I ended up in the overflow old monastary because I was late.
Beilari sjpp much better said as long as I contact them two days before arrival it will be o.k. compliments to them.

 

[lbpierce]

I did hear back from Albergue Las Aguedas after explaining that it was impractical for me to make a bank deposit from another country (in this case Mexico) and asked if I could make it once I arrive in Spain. They said fine to that. They will give me their bank account number and I will make the deposit by walking into a branch of their bank in Barcelona (where I will be prior to starting the Camino) and making the deposit in Euros into their account. I will make the deposit about 10 days before I arrive at the albergue. In the meantime, my reservation is secure. I am very pleased with this solution.

 

[GettingThere]

I did hear back from Albergue Las Aguedas after explaining that it was impractical for me to make a bank deposit from another country (in this case Mexico) and asked if I could make it once I arrive in Spain. They said fine to that. They will give me their bank account number and I will make the deposit by walking into a branch of their bank in Barcelona (where I will be prior to starting the Camino) and making the deposit in Euros into their account. I will make the deposit about 10 days before I arrive at the albergue. In the meantime, my reservation is secure. I am very pleased with this solution.

That's great news - good to know, thanks for posting the outcome here @lbpierce !