FREEDOM VS.

SECURITY

29 ~- Sunday, May 10, 1987 ~ North Shore News

Reservation pros, cons

TO RESERVE? Or not to reserve. Now, that’s a question
that pops up a lot more often than the classic ‘‘to be or ---.”’

Many travellers refuse to take
one step out of their front doors
without a pre-paid, signed-in-
blood reservation for every night
of their trip.

These people have a firm belief
that without their precious piece of
paper they will surely end up on
some foreign park bench covered
over with newspapers they can’t
even read.

by Barbara
_ McCreadie

For myself, I despise reserva-
tions, A reservation is a contract
— an obligation to be exactly
where you've paid the rent. How
do I know that by the time I have
to be there that I want to be there?

What if I’m having a lot more fun -

somewhere else?

Reserved rooms are expensive.
Invariably, a traveller can find a
far cheaper hotel for himself. The
reason is quite simple — reserva-
tions are made by travel agents
who must be able to confirm
bookings through some central of-
fice. Only expensive hotels can af-
ford this luxury.

A travel agent must earn a liv-
ing. No small Mom-and-Pop hotel,
no matter how charming, can af-
ford to pay agents’ commissions.

An agent, too, must be careful
about the standards of the hotels
he uses. By dealing with hotel
chains he can be quite sure that the
client is in for no surprises. The
“‘unreserved’’ traveller may get
quite a few.

Now that I’ve criticized reserva-
tions I must backtrack a bit and
admit that I do make certain ex-
ceptions:

* 1 always reserve for the first
and last nights of a trip, especially
when long flights are on the agen-
da. My sleep on these two nights is
far too important to worry about
economy. I prefer to spend the last
night of a vacation in. the im-
mediate vicinity of the airport —
going home is a big enough shock
without missing my plane.

* Only a fool heads for a city
during a carnival or exposition
without a reservation. Ever try to
find a hotel in Calgary during
Stampede or in Rio at Mardi Gras?

* At certain times of the year,
resorts are bursting at the seams. |
would not head for Maui in
January without a reservation.

* When our kids were small, we

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STEFAN BATORY’S

FAREWELL
TRANSATLANTIC
SAILINGS 1987

LONDON
Thur. May 21
Sun. June 21
Thur. July 30
Fri, Oct. 16

MONTREAL
Tues. May 12
Fri. June 12
Tue. july 21
Wed. Oct.7

GDYNIA
Mon. May 25
Thur. June 25
Mon. Aug. 3
Tue. Oct. 20

ROTTERDAM
Fri. May 22
Mon. June 22
Fri. July 3!

Sat. Oct. 17

ST. LAWRENCE, SAGUENAY RIVER CRUISE,
SAILING FROM MONTREAL, JULY Lith to 19th
CAN. $660 - $1,710, 8 DAYS - HALIFAX, ST. PIERRE & MIQUELON

NORWEGIAN FJORDS CRUISES
August 9th 1987 to August 25th 1987 - Fare from $540 US to $14.40 UE
Ports of Call: Rotterdam Landon - Stavanger Andalsnes- | lammerfest Narvik
- Trondheim - Geiranfjord - -Sognefjord - Bergen - London - Hamburg

September 3rd 1987 to September 17th 1987 - Fares (rom $660 US to $1260 US
_ Ports of Call: London Amsterdam. Olso- Haugesund - Sognefjord- Trondhiem
Molde Nordfjord- Bergen - London - Hamburg

Port taxes extra

For more information please contact you travel Agent or:

VOLISH OCEAN LI
McLean Kennedy fn €
310St Nivabis Munters.
Veoh (514) 849-6191

HY LPS Quebe.
Teles 05-25197

ats fad GS CANADY

Vecmutnes Loins te sats

reserved. It’s one thing for two
adults to go shopping for a hotel
but quite another to be dragging
three little kids.

ss +

Now, let’s assume that you and
your companion have arrived in
some foreign city without a city
booking. How do you find a place
to stay?

First, check at the information
desk at the airport or station.
Many have hotel booking services.
They will match you up with a
hotel that fits your budget and
confirm by telephone. Often, you
pay the room rent there and they
give ) you a receipt to hand the desk

Airports are always located
some distance out of town. The
airport hotels, if there are any, are
sure to be expensive so you should
get into the centre of the city.

{In European cities, hotels
generally abound near the railway
Station. We've found it easiest to
leave one of us minding the bags at
the station while the other goes
looking for a hotel. It rever hurts
to ask an employee at the station
for advice.

The worst person in the world to
ask is a cab driver. 1 must admit
that [ once got a good hotel rec-
ommendation from a cabby, but
would you iike to hear about some
of the others? Probably not. One
of the worst came prefixed with

the words, ‘‘My cousin has a nice
hotel * and migawd, what a
dump it was.

Another source of accommoda-
tion is the local tourist office. They
may not make bookings for you,
but they certainly have a list of
available rooms and a telephone.
Government publications may or
may not be helpful. Normally,
they must list every available hotel,
from the Bedbug Arms on up. Bet-
ter have a look at the place before
you spend your money.

If you have found a good hotel
in one city, ask the management
about “‘sister’’ hotels in your next
stop. If the manager, says, ‘‘When

See Don't
Page 30

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