Affordable Accommodation Chains in Europe
 

Hi - Have not been to Europe in 25 years and am taking husband and 11 year old daughter there in July/August 2014. Am looking at leasing through Renault Eurodrive but need to find affordable accommodation in France / Spain and Italy to make it a viable option. Our other thought was a Motorhome but that means camping everywhere.

Am seeking guidance and / or advice on our options. We don't want to backpack but cannot afford to stay in hotels every night.

You want a chain hotel?

What is reasonable to you? In terms of money?

There's Ibis hotels, they are generally no frills but clean and cheap.

In Italy, you can't drive in many of the cities (ZTL) so maybe you won't need a car there much, but depends on where you are going. There aren't any cheap chains in the central parts of the cities which are mainly historical areas.

On the outskirts of many towns, you can find campgrounds. Many of the campgrounds in Italy have bungalows and cabins so you wouldn't need a motorhome or tent.

http://www.ecvacanze.it/en/camping/c...-michelangelo/

There are also lots of convents/monasteries at budget prices. You would need to list your itinerary before I could make suggestions for those.

What is your actual budget per night. There is a lot of budget accommodations in most parts of Europe.

There are some chains in some city centres eg Travelodge & Premier Inns in London; Ibis in Amsterdam.

Formula 1 provide cheap accommodation for 3 in many parts of Europe.

Many years ago, we camped in Europe with a leased car. We took the camping gear with us. It was lots of fun. Many camp sites had inexpensive cabins.

Accommodation in flats or houses can also be good for budgets. eg in January stayed in a flat in Budapest for $200/week right on river

Some countries are much cheaper than others. Scandinavia is expensive. Eastern Europe countries eg Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia are much more affordable with lots of wonderful things to see.

There's no such country as Europe, and "chains" are a solution to your problem only in some countries.

France is awash with cheap chains, like Formule 1, ibis budget, Campanile and Etap. They generally represent terrific value, though some might find their locations inconvenient for some kinds of tourism: they're typically close-ish to autoroute turnoffs, making them easy to get to, but a nuisance to get into the centre from. French public transport is, by European standards, mediocre. It's all very well having trains from Paris to Marseilles that take only three times as long as planes. But that's not going to help you get from an industrial estate off the A6 into central Beaune, which is the only place near the Etap there's anything to eat. These chains do have outlets in what might pass for centralish Paris (and Lyons etc), but you need to review this location by location.

Such chains scarcely exist in Italy. In any case, for many people cars don't make sense at all in Italy: so much is concentrated in Venice, Florence, Rome and Naples, trains between them are frequent and fast (and compete with each other) and most towns aggressively discourage car-borne travel, so most visitors don't drive, and simply live with the fact that hotels in Italy are relatively pricey.

Spain has a similar density of low-price chain hotels to France, with much the same brands.

Do you have your itinerary planned? What is best for you depends on where you plan to go and the length of your trip. Are you going mostly to cities, or more to countryside? Are you going for the whole two months or only sometime during that time frame? Do you plan on multi-city tickets, to land in one country and depart from another? That is more efficient, but you do incur a drop fee for the car.

Chain hotels in Europe are not always better cost-wise than other hotels. Susannah's suggestion of apartment rentals can be a good deal. The cost of gas, tolls and rental for a car as well as cost of parking even on days you are not using it may come up to the cost of hotels.

With more info about your plans, you will get more specific advice. It is wonderful to be taking your DH and DD on a trip to Europe and I hope you have a great time with all the planning.

It depends on your budget, but we found Ibis to be generally OK, especially in Spain, less so in France. Kyriad were better value for money in France. As previous posters have said, chains seem to be less evident in Italy. We sought advice from the local Officino di Tourismo or simply parked somewhere central and door-knocked, and those methods generally worked well for us. I disagree with those posters who discourage driving in Italy - Veneto and Tuscany are among the easiest and most pleasant regions I've ever driven in, and a car gives access to so many wonderful smaller places other than the "big 3" of Rome, Venice & Florence. Places like Montepulciano, Assissi, Cortona....

For accommodation use http://www.booking.com
Pick location, pick budget, pick whatever.

But if you do your research you can find lots of information in Wiki.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Hotels_in_France
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Hotels_in_Italy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Hotels_in_Spain
Usually chain hotels, in Spain, are not the cheapest.

Hi GLCM

We have travelled very economically in France using the Logis Hotels. They are individually owned, full of character and vary from reasonably priced to luxury. Take a look at www.logishotels.com for details.

My only word of warning would be to make sure you read the customer reviews; we have only once struck a bad one, and if I had read their reviews, we would have avoided that problem! Di

Thanks everyone or your responses. Being a first post, I realise I was not very clear.

We are in the very early stages of planning a 6 week adventure in Europe and are seeking your advice, experiences and recommendations for family friendly accommodation. Hotel or Apartment, Tent or cabins etcnand any other tips or advice that would help us.

Thank you

Your question really makes little sense. You don't say how long you are going for. What is your total budget--you say you can't afford to stay in a hotel every night but you don't even know what a hotel might cost per night-- maybe you need to go for a shorter time.
You say you are going to rent a car--is that the best way for you to travel for the money--and your itinerary?
If this is your "planning" so far, there would seem to be a real need for more complete planning. How much will you have to spend on food/day/per person. If you rent a car, what about parking? Renting in one country and dropping in another will be very expensive.

GLCM,

Since you have chosen to spend 6 weeks in Europe, you must have already assembled a wih lidt of places to see. Give us your top priorities of cities/sites so we can suggest the best options in those locations. Also, the most helpful information you could offer us is to tell us your budget for your accommodations per night for your family of 3. Everyone is ready to make suggestions, but want to offer options that are realistic for your budget. I'm hoping we can make your dream a reality.

Hi Gretchen, please read my follow up post above yours. I am new at this and only in the early stages of planning so do not have a budget as yet, I am TRYING to get valuable information to allow to me to do so. Thank you for being so kind,

Hi Ellenem - Thank you for your response. Most helpful. My husband like to refer the highlites as "The Big Ticket Items" Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Provence, Venice and of course Eurodisney for the 11yo. We have been told by various people who have been recently that we should budget for about AUD$2000 per week including travel and accommodation and expenses. Does this sound reasonable?

GLCM,

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm assuming your budget does not include your flights to and from Europe.

At today's rates, AUD$2000 is about €1400 per week, or €200 per day. That is indeed a very tight budget for a family of three for travel, accommodation, and expenses. Hopefully with these numbers in mind others can chime in with suggestions.

Also wondering, if your budget is immovable. You stated 6 weeks. If you used the same budget for just 5 weeks, you would have €240 per day.

Big cities like the ones you listed will cost you 30-40€ per day parking plus you usually aren't using the car while staying in those cities so you are wasting the cost of the car. Cars are a hindrance in cities.

>>>Renting in one country and dropping in another will be very expensive.<<<

The OP is planning to lease. The leases (have to be at least 17 days) usually don't have the same conditions as rental cars. Most of the time you can only pick up/return a lease at airport locations.

Based on your list, I would forget the car except for Provence. You can rent a car while on that part of the trip. Rent apartments in the cities and use public transport.

A car is absolutely useless in most European cities. There are areas where a car is helpful or even necessary. But you can justbrentva cer for a few days in thoe areas.

Aus$ 200 is vey little - especially in major cities. Your accommodation plus one meal could easily cost that much. Local transport plus admission charges/ sightseeing would be on top of that.

And Disney will cost more than your daily budget, so you'd really have to economize other places.

Stayiing in the outskirts in a budget motel/hotel won't help that much since you then have extra transport costs.

For three I'd think $300 would be doable. You won't spend that much everywhere, but will spend more in some places.

I'm not sure even E240 will be enough including car/train, hotel, admissions, food for 3 people. As pointed out you might not spend as much one place as you might another, but it will require CLOSE attention, and not allowing for unexpected emergencies.
Why not do a month (a great trip length, I'd think) and give yourself some breathing room.
Have you added in your flight cost, or is that in that amount also?

Gretchen - I agree. I meant $300aus /€240 would be much more doable but still quite tight. More doable than $200 for sure.

I also agree - cutting back to 4-ish weeks would help a lot budget wise.

Oddly enough, Best Westerns in Europe are pretty decent. It's usually a loose affiliation with BW, but independent hotels. The first time I found out the hotel I was staying at was a BW, I couldn't stop laughing.

I've since used them in Switzerland, and several places in France, including Carcassonne. In smaller towns they mey be the best hotel in that town.

HEY, I think you can do it with some careful planning and some compromises.

First sorry, I would so dump the car.

Second hotels for some places,, but a smart person on a budget considers an apartment rental

A small apartment that sleeps 3 and has AIR CONDITIONING ( important for Paris in summer most of the time) and is in a great area where you can walk to many sites etc.. can be had for 800 euros a WEEK... that's cheaper then a hotel , AND you can pick up some snacks and have breakfast in the room and make some picnic lunches.. eating out every day will add up..

So , rent apartments in your big stop places like Rome, Paris and London, then just consider hotels for smaller 2-3 day visits to other places.

Also, consider some hostels, they have family rooms in some of them .

Train tickets or inter europeon flights can be VERY cheap if booked well in advance. For example I paid 35 euros for Amsterdam to Paris.. and 40 Euros for Paris to Nice ( 1st class) on trains, and fly from Barcelona to Paris on Easyjet for 97 euros for TWO of us, all taxes and fees in.. cheap.

Parking in cities will run you about 20-30 euros a day. What a waste of money as you won't drive in Rome Paris or London to site see..

PS Apartment in Paris, check out " ParisBestlodge" their Bourg Tibourg Apartment was one I looked at for you.. even if they raise their prices for 2014 it will still be a deal. I have used their company before and they are awesome. no hidden extra fees either!

When you're budgeting for food, remember that even if you're in a hotel, you can still make a DIY breakfast - we usually have just banana & yoghurt & sometimes a small pack of cereal from the supermarket. We take plastic bowls and spoons, sharp knife & tiny plastic chopping board - not much weight or space, but huge financial savings.

You also don't need to eat in restaurants for other meals - in France, baguettes & cheese, or pannini, or crepes are available for take away at lunch and dinner. You can save the restaurants for special occasions.

You might like to look at www.seat61.com for advice on train travel between cities and countries. Mike is an expert, and gives excellent advice about how to make bookings etc. I've done this several times from Australia with no problems.

If you can manage to travel with minimal luggage, trains are a great option in Europe. Di

Yes, you can "do" that for breakfasts. Ir requires absolute diligence==don't do anything like going to a café for breakfast (be sure if you do to stand at the counter, for example, lest you incur the extra tariff for sitting at a table).

Well I often " do " breakfast like that quite easily in hotels ,, most I have stayed at have a mini fridge, and so yes, eat in room, then go out for a coffee.

There are quite a few chains that have locations in many European countries. Best Western, Holiday Inn, the afore mentioned Ibis. Sometimes you can get a deal by staying more nights with one chain. Check into and see.

To save a little cash, you can always picnic and there's a lot of pretty good street food. Food is not a huge focus for my husband and I.

You may consider staying in one place and renting apartments. You can prepare some meals at home and store other things.

Train travel in Australia is pretty ordinary, and so there are many Australian posters on here that automatically think “lease a car”.

The thing is that rail travel in Europe is fast and relatively cheap. Also train travel puts you right into the centre of things when you arrive.

Cars can be a real hassle – trying to get parking in larger cities is really hard and expensive.

Leasing used to be a real $ saver. It isn't now.

We use a combination rail to cities, (esp London, Florence, Venice, Rome, Paris) and car hire for sojourns & travels in countryside. Cars were OK in Budapest, Vienna, Lisbon although generally I prefer no car in cities.

On the other hand cars does allow one to see all of the wonderful countryside locations and trains tie you down to a regimented schedule. So there are balances one should look at. No doubt there are more.

Hi GLCM
As a fellow Aussie who's been to the European countries you're planning to visit a few times, I'll take the liberty of making a couple of suggestions & comments.

Budget: I think you're well on the skinny side at AUD 200/ day for 3, if you don't want to spend the whole time concentrating on skimping & saving.

BTW - use Euro as that's the currency you'll be using and the currency the Europeans & others answering your queries will be looking at on their sites. ( I figure if I'm too lazy to do the conversion to the currency of the destination, I can't really expect them to convert it to MY currency)

Transport: I like to drive but don't do it in the major cities. Provided you're not overburdened with luggage, I'd suggest using the excellent Spanish & Italian train system (can't speak for the French- haven't used it) for your long legs, and rent a car for country jaunts that aren't conveniently covered by trains or buses. Or if you just feel like a drive.

Remembering that you'll be there in Summer/ holidays, it may well be quicker to use trains & buses,too. Possibly less stressful if you haven't driven on European roads for 25 years.

You'll need to run the numbers to see how the costs: benefits stack up, factoring in parking, fuel, tolls etc.

I usually use trains & rent from, say, Florence or Milan when I'm staying in villas out of town. There are few lovelier experiences than wandering around the Italian countryside in your own car.

Accommodation: I was very pleasantly surprised at the good deals I got through Booking.com in Germany over Christmas & New Year last year. One was an ensuite double room with breakfast in a small hotel in the Black Forest for less than. Aud 60/ night.

Apartments represent excellent value in terms of price, space, convenience & especially & kitchen laundry facilities ( check that they have washer & dryer).

So do a pensiones, small hotels.

Having said I think you've under budgeted, I was also pleasantly surprised at the reasonable cost of meals and food generally, compared with costs here in Australia, and particularly in our capital cities. I wasn't staying or eating in " tourist alley", so no doubt prices in those areas would be higher.

Best Western quality standards tend to be all over the place with weird owners and there expectations. The Logis chain (mainly in France) all suffer from variation but generally (apart from the odd line of deer horns or waitresses in odd dresses) seem to temper their quirks and focus on the customer and their need for good simple food.

I would not count on having a fridge in a budget hotel. Just a thought. But croissant or roll (continental b'fast) would keep without it.

In Spain you could consider the Room Mate chain - http://www.room-matehotels.com We stayed at several of those a few years ago and liked them.

Good point, Gretchen. Neither refrigerator nor tea & coffee making facilities in many European hotels.

Take a power board - saves time & number of international plugs you need.

Coffee and tea making facilities are common in UK but not on the continent, even in hotels that a step up from budget.

Personally I don't like to use them anyways, god knows the maids just used the rag to wipe down your coffee cup and powdered milk substitute for the coffee or tea is gross.

Mini fridges are not as hard to find,, I usually do, and at budget moderate hotels.. but I look for that feature in particular.