Hotels seem to charge high prices for doing your laundry, and I hate washing in the bath and hanging the clothes around the room. <BR><BR>Are there often self laundry facilities in hotels (mostly London and Paris but other parts of UK/france too)and if not common then are there really late night or early morning self laundry places in the cities?<BR><BR>Will also be driving through France and germany and mostly staying near smaller towns. Has anyone had problems doing laundry here?<BR><BR>Thanx in advance

I live in Germany and have never seen a laundromat(doesn't mean they don't exist). I would suggest a dry cleaners they may be able to wash your stuff, without breaking your budget. It is worth a try.

I was just recently in Blois ( Loire Valley) and had need of laundry facilities ( sick child). I went to the tourist information building and asked if they had self serve laundromats. They did ( 2) and I was directed to the closest. While in the laundromat I struck up a conversation and found out that the women there had a sister now living in my hometown! Small world.<BR>Also while in Notre Dame in Paris my daughter ran into her high school photography teacher!

Doug that is a great idea, going to the tourist office, I hadn't even thought of that, so the original poster now has some options, dry cleaners and tourist offices.

When I lived in Paris, I did my laundry at a local laundrymat that was very close to my house. My place was in the 8th on Faobourg St. Honore, which is an upscale part of town, so if there is a laundrymat there, I assume there must be one in most neighborhoods. I would think your hotel would be able to tell you where one is, if the tourist office can't.

Comment on cleaning in Germany. There are laundromat type facilities in Germany, look for a "Waschsalon". They have coin operated machines for washing and drying and sometimes a "heisse mangle"- a large roller presser where you insert the items between the rollers and press them really flat. Great for sheets, pants, towels etc... needs a bit of practice if you try shirts and t shirts thru it..<BR><BR>You can get laundry done in most regular cleaning facilities "Textile Pflege + Wascherei", but be prepared to pay by the piece. It can be expensive. Some places will charge by the kilo, but it too is not cheap. (If you do use them be sure to tell them what you want pressed and not !!! They may press everything, including underware and charge you for it!) Also some dry cleaning establishments offer washing and pressing of shirts and trowsers. Currently I pay Euro 2 per shirt and Euro 3 per pant for washing and pressing at the local "Chemische Reinigung"- dry cleaners.<BR><BR>Hope this helps...<BR><BR>Judy in Germany

Re previous post on cleaning facilities...don't expect sameday service at most of these places. Many will psot in their windows that they offer sameday service, but in my experience few really deliver on this. If you need it quick or cannot waint until the next day if they fail to do it "same day", the "waschsalon" (laundromat) is the only way to go.<BR><BR>Judy in Germany

Jared: As a family of four,even though we wash clothes in the sink as we go, we always need to do a "real" wash around the 10th day. Laundromat location is one thing I research before I leave.<BR><BR>We have not experienced self laundry facilities in hotels in France.<BR><BR>One of the reasons for my large guidebook collection is each one offers an advantage over the others. Lonely Planet books offer me listings of laundromats in towns, maps of those little towns and websites of tourist offices. With a little bit of coordination of those resources, we hit town and head straight for the suds.<BR><BR>As to hours, we have not had much luck with late night or early morning self laundry. But each year brings change in<BR>Europe, and perhaps this is the year when laundromats become 24-hour! <BR><BR>My husband is still hoping for the French version of the Seattle bar/laundry.

We have used laundromats in Europe a number of times. The Rick Steves guides usually list a few. Mostly, they don't seem to have late hours, but we haven't found that to be a problem. Doing laundry in the afternoon is a good break, especially in towns like Brugge that are full of day-trippers at that time!

I can't tell you about London as I have never sought out a laundromat there, but therea re plenty of laundries and laundromats in Paris. I agree that your chances are much better if you can plan ahead and use next-day service at a laundry.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

There are certainly self-service laundromats throughout Paris, but not on every corner (as in US, more people have their own machines nowadays so there aren't as many). They tend to be more in quasi-residential areas, of course (eg, not totally residential but not not in mainly tourist locations--you won't find one on the quai in front of Notre Dame). You can look them up in the phonebook (laveries en libre service) or ask at the hotel.<BR><BR>I don't know of hardly any hotels that have laundry facilities -- except a rather cheap place in the Latin Quarter called Hotel Marignan on rue Sommerand (which is sort of like a hostel, hostels will have them, also) see http://www.eurocheapo.com/paris/listings/selection/marignan.asp<BR>and the Holiday Inn Republique which is an expensive hotel good for families. Of course, apartment-hotels (like Citadines or Orion or VIlla) will have them, also.<BR><BR>Laundry takes longer to do in France, machines are smaller and take more time. I think they open fairly early, but probably not 6 am or anything like that and I think I've seen them open in early evening, also (I'd expect hours of about 9 am to 7 pm as typical). I have never seen one in a small town, but wasn't really looking. People in small towns probably tend to live in their own houses and laundromats sort of go with apartment density, I think. <BR><BR>There are laundries that will do your wash for a lot less than a hotel, most likely. Many dry cleaning places also do laundry (look for "pressing" or "nettoyage a sec" shop signs).

Hi<BR><BR>Just a tip.<BR><BR>Many countries in Europe have laundromats near university residence areas.<BR><BR>In Sweden appt complexes have a laundry facility in the basement, so less likely to find laundromats.<BR><BR>Peter<BR>

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