KaylaS

Me again! I hope you are not sick of me yet, this time I am looking for hotel recommendations for the following cities. If you have seen my previous posts I am travelling with my boyfriend next May or June (haven't decided yet) and we are soon to be graduated university students with a budget of around $7,000 each at the most. Looking for hotels at around 80 - 120 Canadian $ or Hostel suggestions.

Paris: We will be staying here for 5 nights, main attractions we want to see: Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysees, Louvre, Monmarte, Versaille, Notre Dome (the usual) we will be walking to wherever possible and taking the Metro.
- we prefer to stay at a hotel here, but hostel suggestions are welcome.
- I looked at the Hotel Meridional, the element hotel, and the Comfort Hotel - any comments on these?

Mainz: 1 or 2 nights here

Strasbourg: 1 or 2 nights here, we really want to see the Cathedral and wander the streets. Walking everywhere possible again.

Stuttgart: 1 or 2 nights, my boyfriend has the mercedes and porsche museums as our top priority here.

Munich: 1 or 2 nights. I am not very familiar with the city, but again we'd like to walk to as many top attractions as possible. All suggestions are welcome here as I really haven't got a clue what areas are the best.

Venice: 3 nights here

Florence: 6 nights here, hostels and hotel suggestions both welcome. We want to see:Il Duomo, Piazza della Signoria and Palazzo Vecchio, ponte vechhio

Postiano: 3 nights, as this place is smaller I assume you can walk almost anywhere. I have looked and quite a few hotels are booked up but if we can snag something close to the main beach that would be awesome.

Rome: about 5 or 6 nights here, we want to see: Palentin hill, the vatican museums the pantheon, St. Peters Basilica, The trevi fountain.

Thanks all!

BigRuss

You need to think hostels. Seven of your nine destinations are major cities or tourist havens (Venice, Florence). Positano is a small town in a favorite tourist area (and its beaches are meh - you want beaches, go to the Caribbean).

Hotels in Paris, Venice, Rome, Florence and Munich for $75-110 or 55-80E? Not going to happen, unless you want a flophouse.

nytraveler

Agree that your budget is extremely modest and I think you will need to shop carefully even to get quality hostels.

Christina

I don't know cheap hotels in Strasbourg, the one I stayed in was midlevel.

AS for Paris, there are many. The Meridional may be a good deal but because it is kind of far out for many short-term tourists. It's near the Brochant metro in the 17th, which is a nice enough area, but will be a rather long metro ride to get to things you want to do, most likely. You can see that on a map. If that doesn't bother you, should be fine. But you should be able to find something at the rate more central (is seems to be a bit over 90 euro a night for a double next May). It doesn't have AC, either, which shold be fine at that time, but the rate doesn't seem a super bargain considering that.

TheGoncourt is out towards Belleview, again kind of far out, maybe as much, but that hotel looks even more expensive (119 euro for a double). YOu can do better than that in a better location.

There are various Comfort Hotels in Paris, which one? Some are even expensive. The Comfort Inn Mouffetard would be an excellent location. http://www.comfortinn.com/hotel-paris-france-FR202 but I think it is more expensive than you want (definitely).

IN fact, it is right next to a hostel you could check -- the Young and Happy.

I'm not clear onyour budget for Paris hotels (in euro per night), but there have been recent threads on hostels there. These are some budget hotels in the center which I think are better than your finds (although the one in the 17th is best), and should be about 100 euro or less.

http://marys-paris-hotel.com/
http://www.hoteldaval.com/

https://www.hotel-collegedefrance.com/en/
http://www.commerceparishotel.com/
http://www.france-hotel-guide.com/en...e-des-arts.php
http://www.hotel-marignan.com/find_us.html
http://www.saintpierre-hotel.com/en/
http://www.hotel-odessa.com/
http://www.hotel-cluny.fr/
http://www.hotelwelcomeparis.com/

adrienne

You could try convents in Italy although they usually have curfews. Also check the book "Bed and Blessings."

http://www.santasusanna.org/comingToRome/convents.html

I checked 2 cheap hotels in Rome and Venice and their prices now are way above your budget.

Here's a studio apartment in Paris for E40 per night.

http://www.rentinparis.com/Boulanger.html#.U_OUk2PxyxA

Let's go has good recommendations for inexpensive hotels.

KaylaS

Thanks everyone, I was using the expedia website and randomly looking at hotels for the dates we plan to stay and that's where I found a few for 90-120 in Canadian $, but I will definitely re look at hostels since the consensus is that our budget is too low.

miri76

Hi Kayla
This is a great trip ...you are going to love Venice and Florence!
I would also look at hostels as they have Private rooms and hotel facilities.
I usually book with www.famoushostels.com or www.hostelbookers.com
Enjoy

ekc

For the places you are staying longer, like Paris, Florence and Rome, you should consider renting an apartment. It often is cheaper than a hotel, you save $$ by being able to eat in for some meals, and you often can do laundry.

adrienne

Before booking you need to check the hotel location. Often hotels are marked as "Paris" but are out in the suburbs and not convenient to sightseeing in Paris. I'm sure the same is true in other cities.

Christina

Expedia isn't the best place to look for really cheap hotels. www.venere.com actually has a fairly good selection at the lower end.

I used to like www.eurocheapo.com but they seem to just link to www.booking.com now (they even have 4* hotels listed).

here's another cheap hotel in a nice location in the Latin Quarter in Paris, If you are willing to use facilities in the hall you can get a double room for 60 euro http://www.port-royal-hotel.fr/

Those hall facilities aren't that bad because often you may be the only person using them. You do get a sink in your room.

bigtyke

Stuttgart - Achat , right near Porsche museum

dwdvagamundo

For Paris, Florence and Rome, second the idea of looking at apartments. You have enough time in those cities to make it worthwhile to get an apartment.

msteacher

One way to stretch your budget is to visit fewer cities. As mentioned above, getting an apartment for a week can often be significantly cheaper than nightly hotel costs. With a kitchen you can prepare a few meals yourself to save money on food. Transportation also adds up quickly, so I'd encourage you to think about longer stays in fewer places and eliminate the one or two night stays along the way. I think you'll find your budget will go much farther, and you will likely have a more calm and pleasant journey too!

uncle_bush

for Venice try it here. Hotel Reiter Lido

We slept (stay) 6 years a go and it was ok.

http://www.leagi-travel-hotels.com/r...n=en&HotelID=4

KaylaS

I am curious about renting an apartment. I am from Canada so this notion is really non-existant since we have to sign a lease and there is a lot to renting. It seems like things differ in europe, can someone explain how I would go about renting? Is it similar to booking a hotel? How far in advanced would you start booking?

Thanks everyone!

adrienne

These are short term, holiday rentals. Similar to renting a condo in a holiday area in Canada or US.

Renting an apartment is a bit different than staying in a hotel because of the cancellation policies which are usually far in advance of arrival date. With hotels you can usually cancel up to day of arrival or shortly before.

There are tons of apartment rental sites such as vrbo.com and many more, depending on the country. You're often responsible for cleaning fees and for supplying things like soap, toilet paper, etc.

You may have to either pay an up front deposit or pay the entire amount up front.

There will be no one to ask questions of as you have in a hotel.

Paris, Rome, and Florence would be good places to rent apartment as you're in these cities for 5 or 6 days.

In Italy you can look at sleepinitaly.com or venere.com

KaylaS

Thanks Adrienne that helps clear some things up