Because of our very limited budget and the low value of the Australian $, my wife, son and I are intending to stay in the lowest possible priced accommodation on our trip to France in July/August. Our rationale is that we would rather stay in cheap accommodation than not go at all.
On this basis we are thinking of staying at Etap chain hotels. I would be interested in the views of any Fodorites who know anything about these hotels.
Thank you
Lonhro

I am not familiar with Etap hotels. However, I don't think you'll be critcized for staying at a budget chain to save money. I agree with you in that I'd rather downplay my accomodations in order to have an opportunity to visit France. In fact, we're thinking of visiting next year if possible and instead of paying over 200 euro/night we'll be staying at another hotel that's just as central yet much cheaper.

lonhro,

I have to agree. While it's nice to stay at a more upscale hotel if you can afford it, the reality is, you spend very little of your awake time in your hotel room.

As long as it's safe, clean and relatively convenient don't worry about the low cost of your accomodations.

True travelers know that the joy of an adventure doesn't have to lie in the pocketbook.

~ Sheryl

I don't know the Etap chain, but I agree that going to France is worth making sacrifices in accommodations. I have stayed at a Formule 1 once, and it was very interesting (furniture that folded down from the walls and all), but just fine.
Also keep in mind that France has some stellar camping grounds that are star-rated, and at the 3- and 4-star ones there are almost always small apartments or rooms to be had for $30-$50 a night. In some cases, this is a better deal than the cheap hotels because you can enjoy the countryside and lovely inexpensive cafés and restaurants and not be stuck in the commercial zones where the Etap and other really inexpensive hotels are located.

lon, some bread and breakfast are more attractive than some hotels. Get the Fodor's RIVAGE book of charming B & Bs. I was satisfied everytime.

Only the Fodors SnobPatrol members would criticize you for your decision...they rarely ever go anywhere beyond their keyboards themselves but they love to travel vicariously I suppose.
I hope you thoroughly enjoy your trip and let bus knw how it went when you get back, too. Cheers!

lonhro,
Where are you going in France?

I've got family in the business in the French Alps (own an Inn/Restaurant) that would be more than happy to suggest good, low cost accommodations. They've got plenty of contacts all over France.

Believe it or not I have stayed in an Etap hotel. It was in Beaune,it was inexpensive,it was the only place left in town with rooms available,it was clean,it was terribly small with a double bed and a single bunk bed above that. The mgr. told me that all Etaps are the same. Don't remember the cost but it was just fine for the night. Yes, it did have toilet and shower in room but no tub.
Again, for the price it was just fine.

If you're going to be centrally located, you might consider staying in a gite or two. Spend some time on this web site: http://www.gites-de-france.fr/eng/index.htm

Try Karen Brown's books. I think she has two that describe B&Bs, one is for more upscale rooms than the other. She also has a website at www.karenbrown.com

Also, if you share your itinerary on this site, those of us who have stayed in inexpensive lodging would be willing to share our experiences. Suggest a specific descriptive title, such as "Looking for Low Cost Lodging in France."

Hi, Ionhro!
I had exactly the same problem with our Aussie dollar when I started planning our June/July trip.... finally I decided to forget hotels altogether and look for apartments, in Paris and everywhere else. This way you get your own kitchen and can self-cater, which will help a lot with the costs of food. I know French restaurants are an experience not to miss, but with a family in tow, I think there's much to be said for buying at the market and cooking your own for much of the time.
There are literally dozens of sites for apartments in Paris, and a few for outside-Paris locations also... a search on Fodor's will turn up more than you could possibly want. We finally chose www.beau-paris.com, where we scored what sounds like a great little place for around 60 euros a night for the four of us; but there are others, and some even cheaper, especially if you are just three (the cheapest we've managed to book anywhere is one in Switzerland which equates to 70 Australian dollars a night.... I have paid more for motels in squalid country towns in Australia). I found that the best deals were where you deal directly with the owner; as soon as you go through an agent, the price goes up and there are "extras" added onto the renatl price.
Lastly, can I recommend a book to you: "Paris for Families" by Larry Lain, an American who takes his kids to Paris every chance he gets... and seldom uses a hotel. Just about every piece of advice he gives sounds fine with me (except he takes too much luggage). Have a great trip!

Also look into www.logis-de-france.fr for inexpensive hotels. Choose *,**, or***. We stayed in Logis every night during a three week trip in 2000, and will use them again in 2005.

Etap hotels are from the Accor chain (www.accor.com). They include Formel 1, Ibis, Mercure, Novotel and Sofitel. Have a look at the website and see if you can afford the Ibis. These are extremely clean, comfortable and have rooms a little bit bigger than the Etap (although they are still very small).
One piece of advice is to skip breakfast at the hotel as you will pay around 6 Euros each extra. Get your breakfast locally in town where a croissant and coffee or orange juice should set you back less. Be carefull as these hotels will assume that you have had breakfast and will add it to the bill regardless but are more than happy to remove it if you say you didn't have it.
One other piece of advice. If you are going to Paris, try the Ibis at Marne la Valey Champs or Marne la Valey Noisy (not Emerainville). There is a convenient RER (rapid train) station nearby (Champs is closest) which will get you into central Paris within 20 minutes. The price will be 54 Euros per room (just under Aus$100). This is very cheap for the paris region.
There is an Etap locally called Marne la Valey Bry sur Marne. The RER is 800m away and the rate is 38 Euros per room (Aus$68). It's worth the little extra for the Ibis, but remember the rooms are small - the standard is spotlessly clean.

The site has auto corrected my names above. It should be marne la Valee.

Thank you all for your comments/advice.
mj and Betsy - we have 5 nights in Paris. Then we go to Nantes for 10 days where we will be staying at our daughter's fiancee's apartment. We plan to hire a car and use the Nantes apartment as a base to explore Brittany and the Loire Valley.
From Nantes we plan to meander through Burgundy, the Dordogne and Provence to Cannes where we will visit our daughter's fiancee's parents. From there we will go up through the Alps and finish up in Geneva where we will be dropping the car off. All up, we have 3 weeks between Nantes and Geneva.

Last Sept. we stayed in an Etap in Germany for two nights. We were traveling without reservations and found ourselves in a bind late at night. It satisfied us and so we stayed two nights. It was clean, bright and the staff very accommodating. We got a big kick out of the experience! They give a sticker for each night you stay and when you fill the card I believe you get a free night. Of interest to us-we were the only non-European guests. Breakfast was nominal. Stay there and enjoy your trip...

OK, this is a silly and unproductive post but I've got to do it...

Did you realize that Etap is Pate spelled backwards? Be careful what you eat there!

Have a wonderful time, and make the best use of your bucks!!!

I would definitely recommend the IBIS chain while in France-even the one by CDG airport was great with a wonderful breakfast buffet and transport to train into the city,etc. (I know that I will be shot down for this but I personally do not think that most of Karen Brown's recommendations are inexpensive. Her suggestions in parts of France and Italy have proven to be rather high in cost when I have checked.)Do remember that the time of the year that you are traveling would warrant getting premade reservations in many parts of France as August is a very busy month for holidays for alot of the French. Have fun!Remember-cheap hotel but good wine!!!!

Hello - can't help you with your question on ETAP, but just wanted to lend support to your question - I remember last year when planning my trip to Europe I made a post very similar to this and got absolutely lambasted by some vicious sole for being a whinging aussie who was as much to blame for the state of our $ because of the gov't we voted in etc. Thought about never posting to Fodors again. But I stuck to my guns and stayed at very reasonable priced hotels all over Italy and in London (around $A200 a double in Venice and around $A100 in Rome and everywhere in between in Florence and London)and was more than pleasantly surprised at the level of accommodation in most places.

All places provided a reasonable breakfast - and yes, I would have preferred 5 star but all in all appreciated the extra spending money when we were only there to sleep! You may not necessarily have to stay in a hotel chain as there are a lot of very pleasant independant pensiones and hotels in Europe.

Have a nice time.

how about getting a triple room at a youth hostel?
A couple of years ago i got a double here: www.villagehostel.fr with my mom and we were more than happy with it. Clean, comfy, safe, and a tiny kitchen area so we could pack a lunch every day.
I've read a review of this hostel recently and it's been remodeled and is reported to be quite nice.
Breakfast is included - that oh so important cup of coffee must be had!

You may also want to consider www.hotel-bb.com and www.fasthotel.com. We often stay in these when we want a cheap long weekend. The only draw back to these chains really is that they are usually located near ugly commercial centers some distance from town centers and you need a car. The advantages are they are usually close to main routes, they are extremely affordable, and near the excellent "hypermarches" where you can pick up lots of cheap picnic food.