Reserving beds—or not

[WGroleau]

A blurb in a book I'm reading calls to mind the frequent discussions here about reserving or not reserving beds:

 

[C.C.]

I am a 71 year old very slow walker and I often reserve a bed to ensure I have one when I arrive later than the faster pilgrims

 

[aidan macdhorcaidh]

This could be useful .... especially during the busier months

 

[Trekker One]

Other than airport hotels,my wife and I have never reserved a room or bed in an albergue in six Camino's. We haven't slept outside yet. We have had on a few occasions had to move on to the next town to find sleeping arrangements.
We like figuring it out as we go along each day as it adds a little adventure which is sorely lacking in today's world.
If eventually we end up sleeping outside, well it will be something to tell the grand kids.

 

[Bradypus]

The idea of being part of a holiday tour group is usually right up there with root canal treatment on my list of least favourite experiences. Something I would normally only consider when DIY arrangements are just too complicated or expensive - such as a 4WD camping trip in outback Australia a few years ago. But if I did ever go down that route one of the main reasons would be the convenience of having things like hotel reservations done for me. Seems fairly reasonable to expect a tour organiser to have taken care of that some time in advance.

 

[MadisV]

I was doing Camino Frances last year in July/August. From Pyrenees to Astorga you can walk freely without making any bookings. Even if you arrive a bit later. From Astorga onwards the pilgrims numbers did pick up significantly. Sarria pilgrims tended to stay in the main stops and for them booking places ahead was an issue. There were no issues in finding a place to stay between the traditional spots.

I did hear that on the Norte the bed race was an issue. Number of albergues went down with Covid, but popularity of the trail seems to have recovered.

When I walked Portuguese from Lisbon to Porto and then along the coastline in May (pre-Covid), I never needed to book in advance.

 

[travelwithgrace]

We will be a group of 4 females with ages from 15 to 63 starting June 1 from Valenca. We booked albergues to insure we could stay together. I booked when I walked the Primitivo during covid times. I am looking forward to a solo camino sometime in the future that is totally unplanned beginning with no return ticket until I arrive in SdC.

 

[AnneMarie1]

I was doing Camino Frances last year in July/August. From Pyrenees to Astorga you can walk freely without making any bookings. Even if you arrive a bit later. From Astorga onwards the pilgrims numbers did pick up significantly. Sarria pilgrims tended to stay in the main stops and for them booking places ahead was an issue. There were no issues in finding a place to stay between the traditional spots.

I did hear that on the Norte the bed race was an issue. Number of albergues went down with Covid, but popularity of the trail seems to have recovered.

When I walked Portuguese from Lisbon to Porto and then along the coastline in May (pre-Covid), I never needed to book in advance.

Good to know, thanks. I'll be walking from Somport to Santiago via the Invierno when I get to Ponferrada. I'm going to try to stay in pensiones/hostales as much as possible (but will need to make exceptions if there aren't any decently priced ones in a town) just to reduce Covid risk and also simply get a better night's sleep. But I expect to be staying in some albergues, especially the ones with a lower number of people per room. I wonder if hostal/pension availability is also pretty good up until Astorga. I guess I'll find out!

 

[mattythedog]

Other than airport hotels,my wife and I have never reserved a room or bed in an albergue in six Camino's. We haven't slept outside yet. We have had on a few occasions had to move on to the next town to find sleeping arrangements.
We like figuring it out as we go along each day as it adds a little adventure which is sorely lacking in today's world.
If eventually we end up sleeping outside, well it will be something to tell the grand kids.

AMEN!!

 

[jeanineonthecamino]

People are funny on what the focus on. I once joined a tour group to Peru. We headed to the Sacred Valley near Cusco Peru - and were supposed to stay in what was a former Monastery from the 1500's. It was late when we arrived, so we couldn't see anything but the building. My good friend and I went to our room, gleeful and happy, setting out our new found "treasures" we had acquired so far in the trip. We are clueless about the firestorm of angry tourists from our group until we went to dinner. There - we were made to realize everyone was unhappy with the accommodations because there was 1 water heater per 2 rooms (4 people) and hot showers could not be had back to back... and it was chilly and management said they couldn't plug in all the space heaters at the same time... they would have to stagger when they turned them on. So at dinner - the tour operator informed us that the people who owned the monastery also owned a more modern hotel in the same village and we would be moving to the other accommodation after dinner was complete. I was angry - I paid to stay in a Monastery built in the 1500's - not a modern hotel. I was looking for history and experience where they were looking for comfort. With the blessing of the local business owner - my friend and I along with one other person were "permitted" to stay ONE night at the monastery. I have to say - we had hot showers, a warm room, and THE BEST NIGHT SLEEP in the most peaceful serene location we could imagine. When we woke up - the Andes were towering over us and the staff gave us a private tour - including into the bell tower and allowed us to ring the bell and everything. It was AMAZING. Then the cranky tour group arrived and took all their tourist pictures while we were told we had to move over to the modern hotel for the next 2 nights. Where we didn't have the history and experience and we took cold showers and our room heaters weren't working. It was so sad how "entitled" the group was and how they expected a 5 star hotel experience in a 3rd world country in a building that was built in the 1500's. At least we got to stay the one night, it was a night I will never forget! After that (and many other experiences like it with the same tour)... I vowed to never again take a multi-day tour. Never. Again. They were quite miserable most of the time, but my friend and I got away from them every chance we could and had so much fun when they weren't around.

 

[RJM]

I never have and never plan to, but if I were to pay to be part of a tour group I certainly would expect the guide/management to have pre arranged all accommodations beforehand. That's not unreasonable. I mean that's part of the PAID tour.
That person getting holier than thou about their paying clientele wanting accommodations for the night needs a crash course in business management.