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booking hotels online or in person;pilgrim rate?

emv0816

Member
I will be trekking the Camino Frances starting next week,Sept 5. every 3 or 4 days I'd like to stay in a hotel instead of an albergue. I like being spontaneous and therefore am reluctant to make a reservation in a hotel before I leave here (Florida). I am not taking a phone or a computer.Does anyone know if the rates in the hotels are higher if I just show up at the front desk? if so, by how much? I don't mind paying a little more to keep the spontaneity but I don't want to pay double .also do the hotels in the towns offer a 'perregrino' rate?
 
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My experience with the hotels/hostals/pensiones along the Camino is that they have a set price. They do not negotiate...thus the price is the same if you reserve or just turn up. These are all pretty small towns at best and not a lot of tourist traffic except Pilgrims.
You might call ahead on the same day while you are walking if you have somewhere you want to stay. They do sometimes fill up as they are seldom very large.
I would think that you will always find one in September...maybe not the one you wanted.
 
I don't think I have ever gotten a pilgrim rate, but showing your credential will get you the best rate available. The no-star and one-star places were usually about 25E per night for a single. I have never made a reservation, and never been turned away.
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
I might add to Falcon's comment that the "no-star and one-star" places along the way are perfectly OK. Not anything like big city ratings.
You will find them clean and comfortable with no frills. The 25E for a single is usually the same for two people as they are pricing the room. Can be a real bargain for two people.
A double will almost always have two twin beds and rarely a double.
Just like the albergue bunks...except only two and both lowers....and a private bathroom. :wink:
 
I would not think of asking for a pilgrim rate in pensiones or hostales or casas rurales-- their rates are low and reasonable and to push them further would be unfair. In cities or large towns, I have done so in 3-star hotels (and once in a 4-star) and have often received a discount over the rack rate. Once, the desk clerk could not give me one, but a bottle of cava arrived at my table in the restaurant instead and in Jaca, a bowl of fruit arrived in my room. Off season, there would be more flexibility, and I found routes other than the Francese better for this.
 
Like the previous posters I've not had a problem with availability on the Frances. Prices can vary significantly though - anything from 20 euros to 40 for a fairly basic place. It tends to balance out over the whole Camino. You might want to share with a walking partner as well, which reduces the cost but still means you have a private bathroom and nice bed linen etc!

If you're staying in Madrid, Barcelona, Paris etc on the way or way back it definitely is worth booking. I flew back from my first Camino via Barna and if you just turned up at a basic hostal it was 100 euros! I found an internet cafe and booked somewhere on laterooms for about 60. It still wasn't cheap, but a significant difference!

Buen Camino!
 
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I agree with all of this but I think that in September this year the pilgrim numbers will be still be considerable. Although on some routes I have just wandered into places and found a room in a hostal on the Camino Frances I find it is best to phone ahead. The OP is not taking a mobile phone and so this may prove difficult although one hostal may be prepared to telephone the next for you. I also agree on the prices. Finding a walking partner to share a room with is in many ways the answer as the result is often good accommodation with linen and a private bathroom for just a few euros more than some albergues charge. Also for families or friends walking together some hostals have triple and quadruple rooms making it even cheaper to use them as an alternative to albergues.
 
You don't have to rely on Hotels or Pensiones, look out for signs offering rooms 'Habitaciones'. Sometimes the signs are in three or four languages so you'll find 'Zimmer' 'Rooms' etc.
 
The first edition came out in 2003 and has become the go-to-guide for many pilgrims over the years. It is shipping with a Pilgrim Passport (Credential) from the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.
Thanks for the great replies. I love being spontaneous and I gather from the info provided that I will be able to keep it in tact. I also like interacting with people so I could get info as I walk too.
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
emv0816 said:
Thanks for the great replies. I love being spontaneous and I gather from the info provided that I will be able to keep it in tact. I also like interacting with people so I could get info as I walk too.
Exactly right. You'll have a great time. Buen Camino! :D
 
I only have experience with the Via de la Plata, but a fair number of pensions/casas rurales DID offer a peregrino special -- it was advertised on their websites. And many innkeepers went out of their way to be helpful. I was traveling with work equipment (laptop, cameras, etc.), so I had to travel with luggage and send a bag ahead every day. It was not uncommon for an innkeeper to insist on taking my bags to the next night's lodging, and refusing any kind of payment. The people in Spain have always been just lovely, and so very kind.

Melanie
 
I agree with Johnnie. During June a couple of years ago I was unable to get a room even when calling a day or 2 in advance. With more and more access to cell phones and the internet advance reservations are becoming more common. It is by far best to call for a reservation rather than try to make it online.
 
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Last year in September there was no accommodation to be had between Roncesvalles and Trinidad de Arre (just outside Pamplona) due to a local festival taking place.
The same thing happened between Estella and Logroño - where the harvest festival was being celebrated. Hotels, hostales, pensiones, even apartments were fully booked.
Check the festival dates and plan accordingly.
 
If you call and make a reservation at a hotel or pension one or two days in advance, do you need to give them a credit card number to guarantee the reservation? And if something happens, an injury or for some other reason your plans change, do they charge your credit card? Of course, I would definitely call to cancel a reservation as soon as possible, but I wondered what the typical policy is for making reservations. Thanks.
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
Only potential problem calling ahead is that especially in the small towns, only Spanish is spoken. I ran in to that problem more than 50% of the time. I could converse in the basic, but once I was asked several questions, it became very difficult for me. Also, even though they very seldom requested a credit card, I always felt committed regardless of my situation, not wanting to possibly knock anyone out of potential income after reserving the room for me.
 
Fortunately, I speak Spanish. I hope that I will be able to help non-Spanish speaking peregrinos with translation on my Camino.
 
I have always found someone willing to take my cell phone and make a reservation for me, since I speak no Spanish beyond cafe con leche.
 
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My own personal experience from the booking online Ive attempted to do, has not been great (apart from Le Espirit du Chemin :D ). Have emailed Casa Marcelino in Valcarlos 4 times, first in English, then at attempt at Spanish with some Basque words from a guidebook, then in both Spanish and Basque using Google translate. No response so perhaps they feel more comfortable taking phone bookings, which is fine, perhaps they have experienced no-shows in the past - Ill get someone to help me with the Spanish by calling from SJPP. And wing-it if they are booked out!
 
FaithandGratitude said:
My own personal experience from the booking online Ive attempted to do, has not been great (apart from Le Espirit du Chemin :D ). Have emailed Casa Marcelino in Valcarlos 4 times, first in English, then at attempt at Spanish with some Basque words from a guidebook, then in both Spanish and Basque using Google translate. No response so perhaps they feel more comfortable taking phone bookings, which is fine, perhaps they have experienced no-shows in the past - Ill get someone to help me with the Spanish by calling from SJPP. And wing-it if they are booked out!
I can't remember what time of year you said you're walking, but when I was there mid-April last year it seemed like a fairly sleepy place. I'd be surprised if the town was booked out, unless it's peak season or the weather is terrible and many more pilgrims are staying off the hill. I may be wrong but I think there's another hostal there too, and one in Arneguy. Valcarlos is big enough that the bar should be able to get you a taxi to take you somewhere else if push came to shove. Buen Camino!
 
I can't comment about Casa Marcelino in Valcarlos, but I sometimes found that hotels in both France and Spain accepted e-mail bookings, but would not reply or confirm. I would arrive into a place, sometimes quite late in the day, and fearfully enquire if they had a room for me, as I had sent an e-mail message, to be told that the room was waiting for me. Once in Toulouse noting that I had not heard back, I was rewarded with a perplexed expression on the desk-clerk's face-- why on earth would they?
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
In Valcarlos the Casa Marcelino has a very good, inexpensive menu de dia. If no rooms are available just walk across the plaza to see the sign for the nearby municipal Albergue de Peregrinos. Here is their web >>http://www.spain.info/fr/antes_del_...eregrinos_municipal_de_luzaide_valcarlos.html. With 24 bunks, good showers, washing machine and a nice kitchen it is a BARGAIN at 10 euros. They take reservations. Well heated and with blankets in late autumn/winter it has been a cozy place to stay on all my caminos ever since it opened in 2009. After Valcarlos the alternate camino is 16 km through the mountains upto Roncevalles.

Buen Camino,

Margaret
 
Faithandgratitude wrote:
"Have emailed Casa Marcelino in Valcarlos 4 times, first in English, then at attempt at Spanish with some Basque words from a guidebook, then in both Spanish and Basque using Google translate. No response so perhaps they feel more comfortable taking phone bookings, which is fine, perhaps they have experienced no-shows in the past - Ill get someone to help me with the Spanish by calling from SJPP."

I had the same experience trying to get a reservation at Casa Marcelino in Valcarlos. Luckily, I found the Casa Rosa, operated by Rosa Arrosagarai and her beautiful Basque family. They were truly hospitable and let me use their internet connection to check my email. Here's the link to them: http://www.vacation-key.com/location_8506.html

My wife Judy and I thoroughly enjoyed our visit with them. And, in May and June, 2012, I often got a small discount (10 Euros) when I asked for a peregino rate as I was booking hotel rooms.
 
sillydoll said:
Last year in September there was no accommodation to be had between Roncesvalles and Trinidad de Arre (just outside Pamplona) due to a local festival taking place.
The same thing happened between Estella and Logroño - where the harvest festival was being celebrated. Hotels, hostales, pensiones, even apartments were fully booked.
Check the festival dates and plan accordingly.

I was able to find info about the Logrono festival online: "Around September 21, 2012 Fiestas de la Vendimia Riojana . Logroño (La Rioja). Wine harvest festival. Yup, that means more grape stomping." I am unable to find info about the date of the other one you mention. Does anyone know when it is?
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
I added a post about Spanish Fiestas on the Camino Frances on my blog today.
Of course it isn't complete because there are thousands of smaller fiestas and festivals held all over Spain.
amawalker.blogspot.com
 
Thanks sillydoll--this should be really useful!
 
In 2002 we arrived in Hospital de Orbigo in the middle of the Passo Honrosso, a medieval festival with jousting knights, ladies in medieval gowns, flags flying everywhere. The albergues were full and there was no room at the inn. A very kind person offered to put a couple of mattresses in a house that was under renovation. We slept in the living room with no electricity but there was running water and we could use the loo.
The bigger and more popular the fiesta, the less likely you are to find a bed!
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.

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