I have already booked a bus tour through Globus (for September)in France and chose it over Cosmos for several reasons, one being the hotels are supposed to be in the heart of things, not on the outskirts. I have recently discovered that the hotel we'll be in in Paris is on the other side of the peripherique!! That is not at all what I consider centralized! Has anyone been with Globus in Paris or any part of France? Where were your hotels situated?

I have not toured with Globus in France but have toured with both Globus and Cosmos in other European countries. Generally speaking the hotels on both tours tend to be centrally located (Globus more so than Cosmos). On every tour, however, it seems there was at least 1-2 exceptions, usually when in a large, expensive city. Remember, the tour companies negotiate special rates with hotels to fit the tour budget which means they aren't always centrally located. The good news about Paris is that, assuming your hotel is near a Metro station, you can be in the heart of the city within a few minutes. I still think you made a wiser choice with Globus because they offer more upscale accomodations than Cosmos.

Yes, we went to Paris with Globus. We stayed in the Sofitel. I'm not sure where we were, but it DEFINITELY was not close in. It was a nice hotel, but none of the hotels we stayed in were centrally located. All required getting a taxi or tram to see the sights. We were very disappointed in the location of the hotels. Hope you have better luck!

Hi Michelle-- <BR> <BR>having been similarly disappointed, I now always ask the tour company or travel agent for the name of the street (and the arrondissment if in Paris) where the hotel is located. Both Fodors and Frommers guides for most countries and cities have maps on which you can generally locate your hotel. Do it yourself, don't depend on the tour to tell you.

Hi Michelle-- <BR> <BR>having been similarly disappointed, I now always ask the tour company or travel agent for the name of the street (and the arrondissment if in Paris) where the hotel is located. Both Fodors and Frommers guides for most countries and cities have maps on which you can generally locate your hotel. Do it yourself, don't depend on the tour to tell you.

Hi Michelle-- <BR> <BR>having been similarly disappointed, I now always ask the tour company or travel agent for the name of the street (and the arrondissment if in Paris) where the hotel is located. Both Fodors and Frommers guides for most countries and cities have maps on which you can generally locate your hotel. Do it yourself, don't depend on the tour to tell you.

Hi Michelle-- <BR> <BR>having been similarly disappointed, I now always ask the tour company or travel agent for the name of the street (and the arrondissment if in Paris) where the hotel is located. Both Fodors and Frommers guides for most countries and cities have maps on which you can generally locate your hotel. Do it yourself, don't depend on the tour to tell you.

<BR>Uh Oh Michelle, more bad Globus news. I recently did the Taste of Britain tour and every hotel used was a poor location. In some small towns, I guess I can forgive it. One time, we staying in this po-dunk town called Darlington and once we got to the hotel there was NOTHING around and NOTHING to do. The next morning we drove about 1 hour to York which is extremely beautiful and a very popular destination point. Here, we get 2 hours to sight see. No local tour guide, not even enough time to do a tour offerred by the tourist office. This was in May and I still have no ideas as to why we didn't stay in York and just drive that extra hour. Must have been the cost. in Edinburgh, our hotel was 5 miles outside the city center and in London a 20 minute tube ride to Victoria station. I agree with the other poster who said find out specifically where the hotels are. You'll just have to use a taxi if you need to and try not to get too aggravated about that. <BR>Ellen

Michelle-- The quaintest, most typically French hotels, the ones the French call "hotels de charme" are not really set up to handle tour groups. Likewise, the older hotels in the city centers usually have more business than they can handle with independent travelers. (In Paris, incidentally, these hotels are almost always freshly redecorated.)This is also true of most of the best restaurants. This is a problem which every tour company has to deal with.

<BR>Michelle, hope I can offer some reassurance. Did a Globus trip in July in Switzerland, very satisfied with quality and location of hotels (and we always prefer better hotels with good location) There was just one I didn't care for. And while you are not close in, in Paris, the Metro is so easy and convenient to take, hopefully, it wll be ok. Also, the hotels are subject to change (due to availability/tour pricing) even up to last minute, so perhaps it will change. We had a couple changes at last minute on ours, and the hotels were better. I'd think that since you're going in Sept., you'd end up with better locations since it's not really tourist season.

Michelle, <BR>We took a Globus Tour to Italy April'98. We stayed in Rome, Florence, and Venice. All 3 hotels were definitely NOT centrally located. <BR>Also, we found out that staying away from the Tour Dinner extras and going off on our own saved money and gave us better food. Best of luck , Feel free to e-mail for more specific Globus info. <BR>

Whenever booking a tour, it is prudent to look up each hotel for location and recommendations. We switched from Globus to Trafalgar when we went to Paris because the hotel (while very centrally located) was not in a good neighborhood. I became wary when the hotel was listed in only a few guidebooks and was steps away from the metro station the guides advised avoiding altogether (which turned out to be very good advice). Before booking any tour, I look up each hotel on a map, then in all the tour guides at the bookstore. Not a simple task - and there's the old disclaimer "subject to change". If hotels and their location are a priority, this is just another factor in deciding between tour companies and going on your own.

<BR>One of my biggest criticisms of Globus/Cosmos is the situation with their hotels. We are hopping to plan a trip with Cosmos for Europe in the Spring and for months I have been trying to get info on their hotels. Only the one in London is listed in any book, or website I have found. The only info Cosmos can or will give me is the street address but that means they have to do it over the phone for "every"one and then you can't find most except for a basic nearby town. You really seem to have to trust them with the hotels and I don't feel they are doing right by their customers. I can understand why someone would change to another tour company. This is very frustrating! Makes one wonder about their having hotels which for whatever reason aren't listed in books which list most others.

I don't know why everyone is in such an uproar complaining about Cosmos. Have you checked out their prices?? Where could you go for the amount of money they charge you? Granted, they obtain group rates at the hotels they use, but add up airfare, transportation, hotels, food, guides and admission charges and I don't think you can complain. You want better rooms, more central to the city, they don't come cheap. You get what you pay for. I went on a Globus tour, Italian Mosaic, and thought that for the money I paid, I had a great tour. I would have liked some rooms to be more central, but this was what was in my budget. Some hotels were outstanding, I never could have booked them on my own. I think it all evens out in the end. Check out the hotels listed for your tour before you book. On occasion, hotels may change at the last minute, but you can get an idea of where you'll be. You want hotels that are the best, right in the thick of things, go Perillo or Donna Franca, and get your money out. Our Globus hotel in Sorrento,(a last minute substitution ) was far superior to Perillos hotel down the road. Go figure. What ever tour you do, don't harp on the negative, you are in a great exciting country, enjoy!!

Caution: Globus reps, in my case, "misinformed" my travel agent & myself about the hotel booked for one of the tour cities. This was NOT a case of last-minute change. Also told us that Venice dinner was in a Venice resturant -- but ALL scheduled Globus meals are at the hotel. Also told us we could not leave the tour -- untrue, you have the right to leave the group for up to 48 hours. <BR> <BR>Remember all of these tour groups use large 60-passenger busses so many historic areas are unreachable. And they also tend to use the easy way: hotels near interstate exits, American hotel chains for corporate booking, etc. etc. At this point I would not trust any of them. <BR> <BR>Another possible option, especially if you are planning to go next year: I just received a questionare from Lands End about group travel: @18 in a group (mini-vans can go where large 60-passenger tour bus can not), historic hotels, fine food. Check out their web site or call their 1-800 number. Price range was same as Globus/Cosmos/etc. And they do have a reputation for quality & service. <BR> <BR>

We just came back from being on a Free and Easy Globus Tour for 2 weeks of London and Paris. We payed the extra price for the better hotels offered on their tour and we were very satisfied with our hotels in both London and Paris. I did see that in Paris the cheaper tour group was put in a place that was further away from the center of Paris and I was glad I paid the extra money for the better hotels. I was worried about our hotel the Novotel in Paris, however, it turned out to be just fine. We had no problems getting to the Metro which was right nearby as well as many other major attractions. We would not have been able to afford staying there if we booked it ourselves without Globus. I was very satisfied with our tour, mainly because we could do so much on our own as well as adding two extra days to the beginning of the trip and an additional day on the end. My husband and I used Cosmos for a trip to Switzerland a few years ago and I was dissapointed in their selection of hotels and decided to upgrade to Globus. However, within each tour, you have the choice to pay either the premium price or the lesser price. The lower the price, the worse the location of your hotel. <BR> <BR>

<BR>Sherri, I don't think I quite understand your post. It seems to me you are saying that Globus does the same tours with Cosmos except the only difference is that Cosmos is cheaper (hotels especially). I have not found that to be correct. For example the closest tour that Glosbus has to the one we want the Cosmos "Europe at Leisure" is the Globus "The Popular". However Cosmos gives you 2 nights in places like Lucerne, Venice, Florence and Nice and Globus only give 1 night for their similar tour in those areas. So there are many reasons one might feel inclined to book with Cosmos even though they would prefer to pay more and have better hotels. We feel the Cosmo tour would not be as rushed and give us more time to see the area. I got the impression from your post that we could get the same tour with Globus and that is not so. Similar only not alike. I still feel Cosmos fails in not providing more info on hotels especially since they are off site.

Mary: My reference to paying for the higher price for a better hotel was referring to the choice you have on the one tour you finally decide to take. For instance on our last booking which we just came home from with Globus, we had a choice of rates to pay. The higher rate was the DQM tour and the lower rate, for the same tour, was another three numbers. We started off on the bus together, however, the ones who chose to pay the cheaper rate were put up in different hotels than ours. Their hotels were not centrally located in Paris. I didn't check in London to see where they were staying. We payed the extra price mainly because of the location of the hotels. This was all on ONE tour. Not a Globus vs. a Cosmos tour. However, when we toured Switzerland, we did go with Cosmos. It was our first trip with a tour group. We discovered that Cosmos put us up in towns that were really outside of the city. In Lucerne, we were not put up in the town of Locerne. We had to stay in another town close to Lucern. However, it really ended up ok because we discovered a wonderful mountain cablecar there after we had a picnic by a waterfull. We took the cable car, which had 3 or 4 changes to get to the top of the mountain. And I can still hear the cow bells gently ringing in the air as we rode up the mountain. It was a beautiful time that we would have missed if we were located in Locern. But, we wanted to be in the heart of Paris and London and so I didn't want to take a chance with Cosmos again, so I booked with Globus. But when I did, I booked the premium price for the tour we took. I hope this is clear for you. If not, EMail me. Regards, Sherrie <BR>