Booking Ahead Questions

[ebrandt]

I have to say that this booking ahead thing has me in a tizzy. I have never booked ahead except for our first night off the plane. I do all this planning, but once we start walking we generally just do what moves us at the moment. We are starting in Irun, and I have booked two places on the Vasco. Even that has me a little concerned, but it's the beginning of the route so we probably will be on our plan still. But I don't really know when we will get to the Invierno. If we follow my plan we will be in Las Medulas on June 13, but I really don't want to be stuck with that.

I thought maybe some of you who have booked ahead can share some insight!

1. My biggest question is how far ahead is "ahead"? Do you book before you leave home? Is it like France where you just reserve a day or two in advance? We will be taking a day off in Rabanal to visit friends. That will be 3 days before we get to Las Medulas -- is that enough time? I know there is no good answer -- I'm just looking for the gut reaction of experienced bookers!

2. Do you just book every place that isn't an albergue? Do you also book albergues? I wouldn't normally think I needed to book albergues, but in this pandemic world, maybe that isn't a good assumption. I'm not going to worry about it on the Frances because there are so many places. But on the Invierno we could definitely get to our target place and find no lodging! I guess we would just cab someplace forward or backward and then cab back in the morning, so its not a trajedy, just nicer to avoid the cab.

2. Do you call, use WhatsApp, use their website or email the place you want to book? If so do you wait for a confirmation reply or just assume you have a spot reserved? Or do you use an online service like booking.com. The latter is easy but I think the places pay a big commission for booking.com, so I assume a direct booking is best. So what have folks found to be the best way to contact?

3. Should you be prepared to pay in advance to reserve?

Thanks for your responses to the (probably basic) questions!

LizB

 

[alexwalker]

1. Being a Holy year, and Covid, I am now booking 2-3 days ahead on the CF, starting out a week from now from Pamplona. When I am on the ground, I will look at traffic, talk with hospitaleros, and book/not accordingly.

2 Albergue or not doesn't matter to me.

3. No. If a place cannot reserve without pre-paying, I skip it/change destination.

Edit: I use the Wise Pilgrim app: It has phone no. to all/most places, and since I am able to reserve a place in Spanish, I simply give them a call and talk with them.

 

[naplesdon]

Take this for what it's worth having no post Covid experience on the Camino because I haven't been on the CF since 2019 and have never booked ahead then or many prior years. However, if I see uptick in the number of pilgrims I will ask the host where I am staying to call ahead for me.
Walking from Le Puy in 2019 I pre-booked every day because it was in the heart of the French hiking vacation season.
As far as paying in advance, if you use a company like Booking.com, you are going to asked for your credit card information and if you don't show up on the appointed day you will be paying for your stay whether or not because you probably won't have time to cancel within there proscribed time frame..

 

[J Willhaus]

It think this is up to your comfort level. My husband went last fall and only booked in areas near the holiday times or at pinch points where there were not many accommodations near where he thought he would end his day. He stayed mostly in albergues and many of them did not accept reservations anyway. He said last fall people were "reservation crazy" and would get very anxious without reservations although he did not have trouble finding a space except as I mentioned around the Spanish national holiday time. He booked his first nights in Spain and then left most of the rest to chance over 2 months for flexibility. He did use WhatsApp when he called ahead and people just wanted to know his name and how many beds and sometimes nationality. Usually they remembered him the next day by name. We have used Booking.com in the past, but try not to since we know that there is a cut taken from the owner for this service.

 

[J Willhaus]

I also want to note that during the "reservation craze" last fall, some pilgrims told Phil that multiple reservations were made for each day and the pilgrim would chose one and then not show up or call back to the others. This made the reservation process even more tight and made people even more anxious. We always work at places where reservations are not taken and last fall, the local private albergue's hospitalera would often bring the "over flow" of anxious pilgrims down to the Muni. On nights where he was full, Phil would help pilgrims work out a plan to find a bed somewhere--since he was at a remote town on a variant of the CF, that usually involved calling a Taxi and going to a place where there was a bed open. @ebrandt you seem to be experienced pilgrims and former hospitaleros so I am sure whatever process you chose will work out for you.

 

[ebrandt]

@alexwalker Yikes, I hope you are wrong about the need to book on the Frances! Especially in April -- even given that its a Holy Year. For now, I think we will stick to our no booking approach! Definitely update on your experience.

 

[Gypsywoman]

My daughter and I start the Francis 20 August. So far I have booked 7 days ahead. Most have been via Booking.com who seem to have non-refundable bookings. Pretty much all accommodation I have booked have asked for money in advance. It could be in previous years as mentioned, without paying people often did not let their "reserved place" know they had changed their minds, this would cause chaos. You can't blame them for asking for money up front. We have little room for manoevre re our walking days because of our return flight home. Time is tight, so we have to stick to our daily plan, and I will probably book well ahead. I am already finding that many places are close to fully booked, if not already. I am using mostly private albergues, either a small dorm or two singles and being guided by what I find in my guide books by a Sandy Brown. We are slow walkers, so arriving later than most pilgrims, it suits us to prebook. Cheers, Diane

 

[Former member 92300]

I have to say that this booking ahead thing has me in a tizzy. I have never booked ahead except for our first night off the plane. I do all this planning, but once we start walking we generally just do what moves us at the moment. We are starting in Irun, and I have booked two places on the Vasco. Even that has me a little concerned, but it's the beginning of the route so we probably will be on our plan still. But I don't really know when we will get to the Invierno. If we follow my plan we will be in Las Medulas on June 13, but I really don't want to be stuck with that.

I thought maybe some of you who have booked ahead can share some insight!

1. My biggest question is how far ahead is "ahead"? Do you book before you leave home? Is it like France where you just reserve a day or two in advance? We will be taking a day off in Rabanal to visit friends. That will be 3 days before we get to Las Medulas -- is that enough time? I know there is no good answer -- I'm just looking for the gut reaction of experienced bookers!

2. Do you just book every place that isn't an albergue? Do you also book albergues? I wouldn't normally think I needed to book albergues, but in this pandemic world, maybe that isn't a good assumption. I'm not going to worry about it on the Frances because there are so many places. But on the Invierno we could definitely get to our target place and find no lodging! I guess we would just cab someplace forward or backward and then cab back in the morning, so its not a trajedy, just nicer to avoid the cab.

2. Do you call, use WhatsApp, use their website or email the place you want to book? If so do you wait for a confirmation reply or just assume you have a spot reserved? Or do you use an online service like booking.com. The latter is easy but I think the places pay a big commission for booking.com, so I assume a direct booking is best. So what have folks found to be the best way to contact?

3. Should you be prepared to pay in advance to reserve?

Thanks for your responses to the (probably basic) questions!

LizB

Well... I am doing the Frances for the 2nd time. I recommend at least booking the first 2-3 nights to get a lay of the land - how crowded it is and how the bed race is going. Because I know they extended "Holy Year" and because I know after 2 years of COVID people are very anxious to get back to the Camino - I am a little more concerned than I was last year and went ahead and booked until Estrella - knowing I do not want to walk beyond the "stages" the first week so that I don't injure myself because I pushed to hard as I re-acclimated to the trail. After Estrella - if the situation allows - I won't pre-book, or at least not more than 24 hours in advance if it can be avoided. I don't know what that translates to for your route - but you would probably be fine to just book the first couple nights and then see if you can wing it beyond that.

Municipal albergues USUALLY don't allow you to pre-book. Private albergues usually do. So, when booking ahead you are probably looking at more private albergues. But - if you go on gronze . com - the website will tell you which albergues accept reservations and give you their website if they have on and email if they have one.

For booking - I used a combination of methods. Sometimes I used to website booking . com. Other times booked through the alberuge website. And other times I emailed or called, sometimes via Whatsapp.

Prepaying varied. Booking . com often gives you a choice whether to prepay or not - but not always. Booking through the albergue website most often required pre-payment. Via email and phone call most did not expect pre-payment, but some did. Yes, direct booking is usually preferred. I found that a few places that I booked through booking . com even "cancelled" my online booking when I arrived and had me pay in cash.

 

[Bob from L.A. !]

My "comfort zone " is to book every leg of my trip well in advance of arriving in Spain.
This especially holds true since this is a Holy Year, post Covid and no one can predict the greater or fewer numbers of pilgrims that will be walking due to both of the aforementioned.
One must also consider how many accommodations have closed due to the pandemic and will never open, thus minimizing the number of available beds.
In conjunction with the above some still operating accommodations may also be minimizing the numbers of pilgrims they may take on due to pandemic restrictions still in place.
The bottom line is......There is a lot to think about for the foreseeable future on a camino...

 

[Former member 92300]

My daughter and I start the Francis 20 August. So far I have booked 7 days ahead. Most have been via Booking.com who seem to have non-refundable bookings. Pretty much all accommodation I have booked have asked for money in advance.

Just curious as to which route you pre-booked for? On the Frances, there are definitely some non-refundable pre-pay places, but I also find plenty of free cancellation and chose whether to pre-pay now or pay later options. Wondering of the non-refundable places are more abundant on other routes. I think the only non-refundable place I have right now is Orisson which was booked directly through them.

 

[Former member 92300]

My "comfort zone " is to book every leg of my trip well in advance of arriving in Spain.

The only downside to this is it doesn't give us the spontaneity to see where the day takes us. Last June I walked with a gentleman from Orisson. He was the only one in our group to pre-book his entire Camino. For the a little over the first 2/3rds of the trail, it didn't matter because we were all walking the same stages for the most part. I would get a head one day and then slow down next day- so I might not see him for a day and then he would reappear the next. We had discussed celebrating arriving in Santiago then walking all the way to Finisterre together many times. Then one day, I hadn't seen him for 2 days so I asked about him - I found out he stopped in a town behind us and he never caught up. The rest of us had kept going. It was especially sad since I never got a chance to say a proper goodbye! But, I totally get the need to know you will have a roof over your head every night! Being spontaneous is against my nature in other circumstances. That is why I broke down and reserved until Estrella this time haha... totally didn't want to do that, but couldn't help myself.

 

[J Willhaus]

As I mentioned above, each person has a certain comfort level with booking or not booking. It is important to know that smaller places and many private albergues are run by only one or two people or a family and they may not have a website with a reservation option. You may need to WhatsApp those people or call and during busy times they may not check email in order to see a reservation request. Generally calling the day before is sufficient. Many times even if they don't have a room, the hospitaleros will help you with looking at options. Some albergues don't take reservations or don't even have a regular phone, but other albergues also have private rooms, so you may wish to check that out if a bunk room isn't your thing.

Places that do use Booking.com generally do not release all their beds to that site due to the increased cost so while things may appear booked up, it might be worth a call or WhatsApp text to see what is still available. Also if you are trying to book months in advance, you might find that they are not yet taking bookings out that far so it may look like all beds are full.

All of this to say that there more beds out there than just the reservable ones just in case you can't find one. In the smaller villages people are usually very kind and will try to help you get a room/bed should you arrive and find your reservation has been cancelled or if you aren't able to find one online. We have had a bar owner or a community member in more than one town "bring" us pilgrims who they found weeping with despair. Often they could not communicate in a common language, but townspeople are usually very proud to be located on a Camino and also want to care properly for pilgrims. If you do need help, ask for it.

 

[ebrandt]

Thanks for all the input. Its really interesting to read these posts and see the different philosophies at work. In the end we love to dawdle and to be completely free of a schedule and expectations!

So I think our comfort level is to not book ahead on the Frances. We are starting in Irun, so we will have our legs well under us by the time we get to Santo Domingo de la Calzada where we join the Frances. Also, as I said in my post, our preference is to stay in municipal, parochial and association albergues most of which don't take reservations anyway. I guess, regarding the Frances, I think the worst that will happen is that we walk a few more kms or cab forward or backward.

My tizzy is really about the Invierno, at the end of our walk. The timing (mid June) will be closer to the busy season. There are fewer albergues, so we will have to stay in pensions and casa rurals. The camino passes through at least one big tourist attraction (Las Medulas), and, finally, there are a couple of big pinch points. Oh, and Brierly just came out with his English language Invierno guide which might make for heavier than expected pilgrim traffic.

My take-away from all of your helpful comments is this. I think I will go ahead and either use WhatsApp or just call the places. As an aside, this is the first time we will actually have a phone with us on the camino -- a concession to pandemic times, I guess. My Spanish is rudimentary at best, but I can probably limp through a call to book a room. I'll be ready to pay upon reserving, but it sounds like most places will not require that.

I'm still a little on the fence about how far in advance to book. Walking the Frances is not going to tell me much about how busy the Invierno will be. But if the Frances seems super busy, I guess I will book Las Medulas and Torre Vilarino on the Invierno just to be sure...

The uncertainty will only bug me during this planning phase! My husband loves the camino in part because once we start walking, I have to release my inner control freak and go with the flow!

LizB

 

[J Willhaus]

There are a couple of pretty long stretches on the Invierno, but there a couple of hacks you can consider I think. On the really long days you can book two nights at one place and either get a cab to pick you up or take the train back or forward to your hotel. I have the details at home as I planned out stages for my husband last fall. I will PM you the details later. (We try to only walk 10 o 12 miles a day.) In the end, he left the Camino at Ponferrada and went to volunteer at an English language school near Salamanca (Pueblo Engles) for 8 days so he did not end up walking the Invierno. We hope to do that one day in the future together though.

 

[trecile]

Thanks for all the input. Its really interesting to read these posts and see the different philosophies at work. In the end we love to dawdle and to be completely free of a schedule and expectations!

And lots of people feel more comfortable dawdling if they they have reserved a place to sleep for the night!

 

[Former member 92300]

I'm still a little on the fence about how far in advance to book. Walking the Frances is not going to tell me much about how busy the Invierno will be. But if the Frances seems super busy, I guess I will book Las Medulas and Torre Vilarino on the Invierno just to be sure...

Once you start walking - you will undoubtedly start hearing about the bed hunt is going ahead of your current location. I found that some of the reports were slightly exaggerated states of alarm, rather than providing less caution than the situation really calls for. Meaning - If I was hearing that people were "fighting" for beds - it was crowded but not usually as dire as it sounded. Still - I found booking ahead when hearing those reports was wise. As opposed to - I never heard there was no need to worry and found that the opposite was true.