If you’re booking hotel rooms online, you’re a fool. I’m sorry—I’m just the messenger. I’ve been doing it, too, for longer than I’m willing to admit, tapping my way to a long weekend at Hôtel de l’Abbaye in Paris and, embarrassingly, paying whatever I was told.
A small fortune: squandered! And it would have gone that way forever, except some of us are getting desperate. This summer, as newly jittery Americans are marveling at the borderline-offensive cost of European vacations, tightfistedness is a prevailing trend. And that’s where things are getting interesting.
In fairness, the prices have gotten out of hand, especially in Italy, where a 358-square-foot room with a king-size bed at Il San Pietro di Positano now starts at $4,500 per night in July.
According to John Voigtmann, the proprietor of La Bandita Townhouse, a hotel and restaurant in Pienza, “a lot of it had to do with the spasm that people had after Covid. The money didn’t matter.”
But things changed, especially for the Americans who have seen their wealth and confidence eroded dramatically in the last 100 days. “People came home and said, ‘Hmm, I spent 80 grand in Positano last year,’” says Voigtmann. In early April, when the stock market crashed after Trump’s tariff bombshell, La Bandita Townhouse didn’t receive a single booking for two weeks—the first time in Voigtmann’s 20-year career as a hotelier.
The American outlook has somewhat rebounded. Last Friday, as Memorial Day weekend kicked off, he received 17 reservations. “It was like [clients] hadn’t had a chance to talk to their husbands until they finally got out to the Hamptons,” he said. “They realized that the ceiling wasn’t falling, the roof wasn’t on fire.”
La Bandita Townhouse is shaping up to have a strong season, and its reasonable room rates, which start at $495 per night in the summer, are among its virtues.
Things are a little different at the five-star hotels in European capitals such as Rome, Paris, and London, especially the many new corporate arrivals that have yet to find their footing. “They’re all under strict instructions to keep their rates up and then not talk about how empty they are,” says Voigtmann. “But if you catch the right person at the right time, and they haven’t sold any of the rooms all week, they’re definitely being flexible.”
Better yet—enlist your travel agent or credit-card company to haggle on your behalf. “The old adage ‘Don’t ask, don’t get’ feels particularly apt,” says Carolyn Addison, head of product at the travel agency Black Tomato. “It helps to understand hotels’ strategic position—this could be knowing a property is keen to increase occupancy in a specific month,” says Addison, who hears that August this year is “unusually soft.”
Agents can help navigate these negotiations, often along with complimentary extras like food and beverage credits, room upgrades, and airport transfers. “The dumbest thing you should do is book off the Web site of any place that’s charging 2,000 euros a night,” says Voigtmann. “Kind, normal people who plan their own holidays get punished, thinking that they’re avoiding the high-paying services of travel agents and credit cards.”
It will require a little extra legwork, but there are deals to be had if you’re willing to pick up the phone—or e-mail the reservationist. Be polite and direct with your request, and don’t forget to look further afield than the usual hot spots. Addison’s clients are especially enjoying Scandinavia, the U.K., and the Alps, and, she says, “this leaves opportunities in the southern Mediterranean.” Last year, she adds, “hotels were already fully booked for the season by now.” So get clicking—and calling.
london
Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park
June 13–16
Online price
$1,760
Haggled price
$1,496, a “plan-ahead rate” for a superior king room
Paris
Hôtel de Crillon
June 13–16
Online price
$3,081
Haggled price
$2,888, with complimentary room upgrade, additional 15 percent off, and a $113 voucher applicable to either food and beverage offerings, or the spa
Rome
Hotel de la Ville
June 13–16
Online price
$2,388
Haggled price
$2,200, with a further 15 percent off at checkout, free breakfast buffet, two tickets to a museum of your choice, and aperitivi for two upon arrival
venice
Hotel Danieli
June 13–16
Online price
$2,418
Haggled price
$1,244, the “Venetian hideaway” rate
paris
Four Seasons Hotel Georges V
June 13–16
Online price
$3,600
Haggled price
No dice. An A.I. bot replied immediately to my e-mail: “We are pleased to confirm that we offer the same rates as those listed on our website for direct bookings.”
