Timing of reservation requests

[Gilson]

I AM A PLANNER... I was 10 days in on my last camino before I was able to "relax" - that was when I finally had all of my nights booked. Please, do not make this a discussion about "to book or not to book." And yes, I know to try to book direct rather than use a booking site... To each his/her own - walk your own walk and all that.

For me, a legitimate question... and perhaps @wisepilgrim or those with albergue management experience can assist...

Easter is late in 2025, followed closely by the May 1 holiday. I am planning an early April start. When is it appropriate for me to begin contacting the albergues for reservations?

I plan to walk the Portuguese from Lisbon, follow the Litoral, Coastal, and then, Santiago-Muxia-Finisterre-Santiago... [And yes, I am aware of the Espiritual variant, no need to recommend it...]

 

[ratherbefollowingflechas]

Greetings to you, my fellow planner. I am totally anal about how far I am willing to walk and what my lodging entails, so I understand your mindset more than most. To me, nothing is more stressful than having to walk another 5-10k to the next town, or sleeping on a mattress thrown on the floor in the corner. That being said, our last Camino (the Primitivo) was May/June 2024 and I had 14 of the 20 nights booked by the middle of October of 2023. Almost all of those stays were booked directly with the alburgues (most of which we had stayed at the year before) through their websites. I did book a few places on booking.com but only for ease of use. There were several places that politely let me know that they did not accept reservations that far in advance and asked me to reconnect after the beginning of the year. In one instance, they replied that the new year's prices had not been established, so I booked on the contingency that the price increase wasn't too drastic.

I would say that it is okay at this point to reach out, especially if you have locked into some key places. The worst they can say is to check back, and at best you will have one more lodging confirmed. We did the Portuguese from Porto in 2016 when the infrastructure was still limited, and I booked most of our stays at hotels through booking.com. Back then, I was not as learned in discovering alburgues, but I still did that at least 4-5 months in advance.

Best wishes and happy planning!
Bom Caminho!

 

[Flog]

Ah, the not so old age question:
to book or not to book, should you? Many recommend the Variant Espiritual, have you considered going that way?

Bom Caminho

 

[TravellingMan22]

Greetings to you, my fellow planner. I am totally anal about how far I am willing to walk and what my lodging entails, so I understand your mindset more than most. To me, nothing is more stressful than having to walk another 5-10k to the next town, or sleeping on a mattress thrown on the floor in the corner. That being said, our last Camino (the Primitivo) was May/June 2024 and I had 14 of the 20 nights booked by the middle of October of 2023. Almost all of those stays were booked directly with the alburgues (most of which we had stayed at the year before) through their websites. I did book a few places on booking.com but only for ease of use. There were several places that politely let me know that they did not accept reservations that far in advance and asked me to reconnect after the beginning of the year. In one instance, they replied that the new year's prices had not been established, so I booked on the contingency that the price increase wasn't too drastic.

I would say that it is okay at this point to reach out, especially if you have locked into some key places. The worst they can say is to check back, and at best you will have one more lodging confirmed. We did the Portuguese from Porto in 2016 when the infrastructure was still limited, and I booked most of our stays at hotels through booking.com. Back then, I was not as learned in discovering alburgues, but I still did that at least 4-5 months in advance.

Best wishes and happy planning!
Bom Caminho!

I only book through booking . com and you can book as soon as the inventory is available, as long as there is a cancellation policy in place. Most places do have a cancellation policy even if it is not the first option on the pricing list. Many places that offer dorm rooms, may also have cheap private rooms if you scroll down. It may be a few € more. Many places offer inventory from a year out, some less, and some even more. I am holding hotac a year out at moment (non Camino) obv. with a cancellation policy.

 

[davejsy]

Not Camino specific, but just a heads up to anyone booking accommodation in Spain when it comes to booking direct or via booking,com.

I have always tried to book directly with the accommodations as opposed to booking,com in Spain, and have never had a bad experience until recently. I'd made a booking well in advance (with somewhere I'd stayed before), and sent half the cost as a deposit. I had to cancel and did so 2 months before the booking - but the owner refused to return the deposit which was not an insignificant amount. If I'd have booked the accommodation via booking,com then I would have got a full refund up to 2 weeks before the booking as those are the terms the accommodation has on booking,com.

So I guess if booking in advance with a property directly which requires any form of cash up front just make sure you get the T&C's off them before just incase (if not on their website) - don't assume you will get the same as what they have on booking,com or such.

 

[TravellingMan22]

Not Camino specific, but just a heads up to anyone booking accommodation in Spain when it comes to booking direct or via booking,com.

I have always tried to book directly with the accommodations as opposed to booking,com in Spain, and have never had a bad experience until recently. I'd made a booking well in advance (with somewhere I'd stayed before), and sent half the cost as a deposit. I had to cancel and did so 2 months before the booking - but the owner refused to return the deposit which was not an insignificant amount. If I'd have booked the accommodation via booking,com then I would have got a full refund up to 2 weeks before the booking as those are the terms the accommodation has on booking,com.

So I guess if booking in advance with a property directly which requires any form of cash up front just make sure you get the T&C's off them before just incase (if not on their website) - don't assume you will get the same as what they have on booking,com or such.

Yes indeed! I use booking all the time, a few hundred nights a year, and one of the key reasons, is the transparency of the T and C’s. I probably cancel/change over 50% of my bookings so this is pretty much a key part, alongside the product range.

I wouldn’t necessarily assume most hotels prefer direct bookings. Some will do of course! The ‘cost of sale’ for a direct booking can be higher than an indirect booking.

 

[David Tallan]

Ah, the not so old age question:
to book or not to book, should you? Many recommend the Variant Espiritual, have you considered going that way?

Bom Caminho

Since OP specifically requested:

Please, do not make this a discussion about "to book or not to book."

I don't think they were raising the "not so old age question" but rather asking a different one. For the question you pose, contrary to their request, they already have an answer that satisfies them.