Is there a specific website/app to use?
To go back to basics, there is no official organization that manages the Camino or even all the albergues. The Cathedral in Santiago decides who to give its credenciales to. Various volunteer organizations and municipalities, and some church parishes, operate some albergues, with their own policies and requirements. Some can be booked in advance, and others cannot. Some require that you be a pilgrim with a credencial, and stay only one night; others do not.
Beyond that, the Camino is basically a free-for-all of pilgrims/visitors who walk across Spain and interact with businesses, residents, other visitors they encounter along the way.
Various businesses and volunteers provide services and information, including this forum. Several tools have been suggested above in the thread. Just as you would when travelling elsewhere, getting a guide book or app will be helpful.
In fact, you would probably want to use all of the following:
- Guidebook such as those written in English by John Brierley.
- Excellent website www.gronze.com - in Spanish, but the information is easily understood.
- Phone apps such as Wise Pilgrim, Buen Camino and others.
- Lists that various people or organizations may develop (although none of them will be 100% accurate or complete).
It is your decision how far ahead you might want to book, but it seems wise to book as far as Pamplona, and re-assessing once you are on the Camino. For communication with lodgings in Spain, it is very useful to have WhatsApp on your phone, as a way to get and give information.
