CathyM writes:
Well, after faxing and/or emailing my final 2 hotels in Llanes and Luarca for my upcoming trip (leaving next week )and receiving no response, I broke down and telephoned them yesterday. My spanish is very limited but I managed to get the reservation made and gave them my name. They said they did not need a credit card number to hold the reservation nor did I need a confirmation number - everything was OK. Is this normal?
The situation you descrribe is not unusual. I have had it happen several times and called from the airport or bus or train station on arrival to make sure they were holding my reservation. Most recently it was in VilaGarcia de Arousa (Galicia). In one or two instances, I arrived a day early: the Hotel Santa Maria in el Puerto de Santa Maria (Cadiz) and the Hotel America in Vigo (Pontevedra) were able to accomodate me.
BTW
You write:
I'm a little uneasy about this but it is off season in 2 cities that are highly seasonal so I should be fine.
My last September visit to el Sardinero (Santander, Cantabria) the high season didn't end until
el Día de Cantabria, 15 September, so I just assume the case would be the same for Llanes (Principality of Asturias), which is just across the
rio Deva (i.e., less than 80 km west from Santander).