Hotel booking for a Spain visa: a guide for Algerians

To apply for a Schengen visa for Spain, you normally have to show where you will sleep during your stay. For most Algerian travellers, that proof is a hotel booking. This guide covers what the rules and the checklist given to applicants in Algeria usually ask for, the mistakes to avoid, and how to book your hotel in Spain and pay in Algerian dinars. One point first: Nreservi does not sell any visa service. We book your hotel; the file, the appointment and the decision belong to the consulate.

The Schengen visa for Spain in brief

Spain is part of the Schengen area. A short-stay visa normally lets you stay for up to 90 days in any 180-day period across the whole area.

• Where to apply? As a rule, at the consulate of your main destination, the country where you will spend the most days. If Spain is your only or main destination, your application goes to a Consulate General of Spain in Algeria, in Algiers or Oran.
• When? As a rule, no earlier than 6 months before departure and no later than 15 days before. For a summer trip, start early.
• How? Applications are usually lodged by appointment, with the consulate or the service provider it has approved. Only use the addresses listed on the consulate's official website.

Rules and document lists can change: check the current requirements with the consulate or its official provider before you prepare your file.

Accommodation: what the consulate looks at

The EU visa rules list, among possible supporting documents, an invitation from your host if you stay with someone, or a document from the place where you will stay. The checklist given to applicants in Algeria mentions in particular a hotel booking, or a certificate of private accommodation.

To make your booking genuinely useful for your file:

1. The same dates everywhere: hotel check-in and check-out should match your travel booking and your insurance.
2. Exact names of every traveller, spelt as in the passport.
3. The whole stay: if you go from Barcelona to Madrid, book each stop.
4. The right number of rooms: the rooms booked should cover everyone in the file, children included.

The other documents in the file

The hotel is only one document among several. As a rule you will need, among other things:

• a passport valid for at least 3 months after your planned departure from the Schengen area, with at least 2 blank pages, issued within the last 10 years;
• travel insurance valid throughout the Schengen area for the whole stay, with cover of at least 30,000 euros;
• the signed application form, a recent photo, and proof of income and of your work situation.

The exact list, depending on whether you are an employee, a trader, retired or a student, is published by the consulate and its official provider: always download the current version.

Booking your hotel in Spain with Nreservi

1. Search for your city on our Spain page: Barcelona, Madrid, Alicante, Málaga, Valencia, Seville…
2. Choose the hotel and room. Cancellation conditions are shown before you confirm, and a filter lets you see only offers with free cancellation.
3. Send your request. Our team confirms availability and price with the hotel.
4. Pay in dinars, without a bank card: BaridiMob, bank transfer or cash at our Telemly office in Algiers.
5. Receive your booking voucher in the travellers' names, with the hotel and the dates of your stay.

Living abroad? You can also pay online by bank card, and your voucher is sent to you after payment. For details on paying without a card, read how to book a hotel without a bank card. Heading for Barcelona? See also where to stay in Barcelona.

Visa not granted yet: limiting the risk

• Prefer an offer with free cancellation when there is one, and note the cancellation deadline shown on your booking.
• Choose realistic dates that leave the consulate time to process your application.
• If your dates change or your visa is refused, contact us before the cancellation deadline: we will tell you what the conditions of your booking allow.
• Avoid accommodation papers that match no real booking. Present a real stay, consistent with the rest of your file.

Frequently asked questions

I am staying with family in Spain: do I need a hotel? As a rule, no: an invitation or accommodation certificate from your host can serve as proof. Check the exact form required with the consulate.

Can I book in several Spanish cities? Yes, with one booking per hotel and per stop. If you visit several Schengen countries, the competent consulate is normally the one of the country where you stay longest.

Is my booking voucher enough to get the visa? No. It is one document among others; the decision belongs to the consulate, which looks at the whole application.

Can Nreservi book my visa appointment? No. We do not sell any visa service: appointments are made with the consulate or its official provider.

See our hotels in Spain

Nreservi, online travel agency — 1st floor, 116 boulevard Colonel Krim Belkacem (Telemly), Algiers Centre — +213 540 28 40 40.