Adding extra nights before a guided tour: how does it work?

[jane]

We’re doing a guided tour of Morocco next March and our flights land a full day before the tour officially starts. I’d rather not be jet lagged on day one so I want to book an extra night or two at the starting hotel beforehand.

Can you usually arrange this through the tour operator or do you just book the hotel yourself? And if the tour starts at a specific hotel, do they tell you which one far enough in advance that you can book your own pre-tour room? I’ve heard some operators can arrange it but charge a premium.

[TravelNotes]

The simple answer is ask the tour operator.

They might get a better rate than the hotel directly, or they might add a ‘surcharge’.

Of course you’ll need to know the ‘starting hotel’ to book it yourself.

These aren’t always released too far ahead of time.

Probably wise to book through the hotel website, if you know the hotel, to mention that you’re on the tour; and you might not have to change rooms.

Hotels on tours might change at the last minute though, so there’s no real ‘one reply fits all’.

Michel.