Skiing mid-January -- how long can I wait to book a room?

A snowHead

Hi,

I'm an American who just booked tickets to Munich for 12-21 January. I realize that the long-term forecast is not great but I have decent flexibility in terms of how far I can range using train and bus -- most of Austria, southern Germany, even eastern CH and western Slovenia.

What I don't have a lot of flexibility in is about where I'd like to stay -- I need to be in a town center, close to a bus station/ski bus/grocery store, and in a B&B or pension in the 45 euro a night range. By "town center" I'm looking at places like Shruns, Landeck, Zell am Ziller.

Question: traveling in this time period, how long could I reasonably wait to book a room and not run into a lot of trouble finding available space.

Thanks!

CC

A snowHead

@cloud cult, Hello American friend- welcome to Snowheads.

Great question to which there is a delightful answer.....

From Munich you can easily get to lots of places by train /bus / taxi. Direct trains to Innsbruck, that carry on to the Dolomites. From Innsbruck you can ski from the town / city itself or get to any number of places; St Anton, Ischgul, Obergurgul, Khutai, Mayerhofen, Zitteral, Stubai..........

Stay on the train a bit more and you get to Italy- the beautiful Dolomites.

How long could you leave it to book accommodation.....?

erm erm...

12 January 2017- up till about midnight.

You'll have blast. Clarky999 seems to know everything worth knowing about skiing in Austria and I'm sure he'll be along to help in a moment.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@cloud cult,
Welcome to Snowheads!

There would be no need to book accommodation until just before your trip. You could in fact turn up in most (if not all) Austrian resorts in mid Jan and find reasonably priced accommodation on the spot.

€45 would be a very decent budget for Austria, as you can still widely find B&B in lovely guesthouses for €30 or less.

If you would like to check prices, have a look at www.booking.com - you could in fact book now (to get something in the bag) and cancel, if need be, as the majority of properties will let you do so without penalty.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

I am less optimistic about the ease of finding general availability of rooms at 45 euros per night in the town center and convent to the slopes.

I recommended Ischgl in another thread the OP started.

I think you would be pushed to find a room at 90 euros a night anywhere in Ischgl. But maybe there are hidden cheapies. Perhaps peeps can come up with specific hotels/pensions in major ski resorts at about 45 euros per night.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

You'll need to Register first of course. · 12 January 2017- up till about midnight.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

You can stay pretty much anywhere in Austria on that budget at 24-48 hours notice in mid Jan. Ischgl may be the only resort that would be a challenge but stay in Mathon, 5 minutes by free bus and it will be possible. If you are trying to do things on a sensible budget then stay away from Switzerland.

After all it is free

I would pre-book your accommodation at least a couple of weeks in advance.
You are spoilt for choice for access and resort.
All the ski areas will be in full swing by then so I wouldn't worry about conditions unless you are looking to do a lot of touring or are trying to hunt the fresh snow during your stay!

You have some specific requirements (near to train station etc..) which will be reflected in the price.
IMO/E you will not find a single room for €30 a night near enough to a decent sized ski area in mid January (happy to be proved wrong!)
Around €45 is certainly more realistic but is nowhere near 'generous'.
Many places will not advertise a single room until very close to arrival and only if the room is unsold as a double, which at that time is pretty unlikely.

Thanks for the responses, everyone. I really appreciate it. It's very helpful.

I'll be posting some more questions later.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

@cloud cult, I've just re-read this thread and really would like to stress that, IMO you should book accommodation pre-arrival.
Many places that use online booking systems set a '1 day release' which means you can't book on the same day of arrival.

It would be stupid to add the extra stress of not having pre-booked accommodation after such a long journey.
You'll also find that there aren't many 'last minute' deals when booking privately owned accommodation providers (certainly in Austria).
You will also loose any advantage on looking for a decent single room deal.

I think booking a week or so before departure (or a few days if you have made a shortlist) would be cutting it fine enough.
I suppose it depends how much you like a gamble for a few euros a night potentially saved.

(oh... and for any cynics out there... I'm already full so not punting!!)

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Thanks. I'll definitely book at least a week or so in advance. I don't have the stomach for last minute booking like that in a foreign country and anyway I probably won't have a data plan for my phone which covers Europe.

Also, what does 'punting' mean in this case? Americans would use it to say they are cutting their losses, more or less.

snow reports

In this context it means pimping.

@cloud cult, I've never really looked at accommodation here so I've no idea if €45/night is realistic.

But my perception of western Austria is that it's v quiet in mid Jan and I'm 95% there will be plenty of rooms available.

BTW I lived in Schruns for 1.5 years - it's very definitely not a town and in a totally different league to Landeck and Zell in terms of size! But it's quiet pretty much all season, let alone mid-Jan.

Btw is there any particular reason you're looking at a 'town centre?' Is this to save money, or to be somewhere lively? If it's to save money, you might also want to look at small villages just down the valley/without their own lifts too.

You know it makes sense.

@cloud cult, where are you getting your long range forecast from? Puzzled

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

I wouldn't leave it until very late. I have booked my mid Jan ski trips earlier and earlier each five last years. I have a similar agenda, Munich and then a reasonable connection with public transport. These have included Sölden, Serfaus and Ischgl. I never had any doubts or issues with snow. This year I'm going to Gerlos, Zillertal arena. By looking at your dates you will face some troubles finding a non Sat-Sat accommodation, especially if you need a single room. At least that's my experience. A typical round of inquiries involves at least dozen emails, sometimes many more. And my latest time of booking has been September. It's doable of course, especially if you are flexible with the location and the quality. I got quickly fed up with the buses/walking and this year (again) the hotel is next to a lift.

A snowHead

@Dave of the Marmottes, but does it?
Pimping is the selling of....
Punting is the searching for...

A snowHead

I sometimes travel to Munich for work and sneak in a cheeky weekend in Austria. I have never had much choice of accom but always found something, try local tourist boards as well as booking.com etc. Mid Jan is usually pretty quiet so don't stress about leaving it until the last couple of weeks.

Help!!

Skiing mid-January -- how long can I wait to book a room?

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