With so many low-cost airlines offering inexpensive flights to Italy, many people are moving away from booking holidays through travel agents and venturing on holiday under their own steam.
With many travel sites like Travel Ticker on the internet makes looking for somewhere to stay a simpler process and most of the bigger cities hotels will have websites in multiple languages, making booking a room easier for someone with little or no Italian language skills.
Booking a small family-run hotel that may not have a website page in your language needn’t be a daunting task and will give you a chance to practice your holiday Italian before you get there.
So you’ve chosen your destination and found the hotel, l’albergo that you like and now you need to enquire about a room and make your booking. Simply begin by asking, have you a room please, which translates as, ha una camera, per favore? If the hotel has vacancies you’ll be asked if you require a single room, singola, or a double room, camera matrimoniale.
Other things to consider at the time of your enquiry are what facilities the room has. For example, if you want a double room with a shower ask for camera matrimoniale con doccia. If it’s a twin-bedded room with a bath ask for camera doppia con bagno or camera a due letti con bagno.
Once you’ve established that the hotel has vacancies, the next question you’ll be asked could be, per quanto tempo? for how long; to respond, simply add the number of nights you require to the simple sentence, per… notti, so for three nights you’d say, per tre notti, for five nights you say, per cinque notti. For a week you can simply say, per una settimana.
Mezza pensione o pensione completa? Half board or full board is a question you will possibly be asked if the hotel has catering facilities. Some smaller hotels don’t provide lunch and dinner but many do provide breakfast, so it’s always best to ask if it is included in the room price, la colazione è compresa nel prezzo?
When you have booked your stay, il soggiorno and received written confirmation, you can sit back and congratulate yourself on a job well-done.
NB: When booking a hotel room in Italy it’s always advisable to book in advance, particularly for alta stagione, high season.
