Is the parking lot at Mont Saint Michel secure?
 

My husband and I are thinking about spending the last night of our trip in a hotel on Mont Saint Michel, so we can be there in the late afternoon and early morning, without the crowds. We can get our bodies up the many stairs but not our bags. I've read conflicting reports: (1) The parking lot is fully secure, so you can safely leave bags in the car trunk overnight; and (2) Never, never leave your bags--the parking lot isn't monitored at all. Has anyone had experience with this? Unfortunately, we can't "pack light" for the entire trip: We'll be on the road for two weeks....

I've only been at le MSM during the day, when there are definitely attendants in the parking lot, so I can't speak to whether it's secure at night.

But I am curious why you can't pack light because "we'll be on the road for two weeks." For trips of up to 5 weeks, I travel with a 22" rolling suitcase and a medium-size messenger bag-type purse. Are you sure you can't pare things down so that you can manage to get the bags up le MSM?

I don't know if there was someone watching portions of the parking lot, but it was not secure.

I didn't leave anything of significant value, but left things in the car after making sure they were not visible. I felt the radom chance of someone breaking in was small enough to risk.

Keith

I definitely wouldn't leave anything in the parking lot at Le Mont St-Michel. It's quite long, and there's no way the few attendants could watch all the cars.

I've never actually stayed on Mont St. Michel. We have stayed four times at one of the smaller hotels very near MSM. The views are amazing!

From what I remember about visiting MSM, most of the hotels at MSM do not involve climbing a huge number of stairs. The ones that I remember seeing are on the path up to the cathedral but are not that high up.

Just to clarify a bit: We'll take a small overnight bag to the hotel, but I'm concerned about leaving luggage in the truck. We never pack anything valuable, so maybe we'll just take a chance. StCirq, I congratulate you on packing so light, but we enjoy taking a bit more with us. It hardly ever causes a problem, but this is an unusual situation. I'm concerned about the steps, since I've heard they can be daunting, but it's nice to hear that most of the hotels don't require a lot of climbing. Has anyone stayed at the Auberge St. Pierre? Would that be a strenuous climb with luggage?

You have yet to quantify the number, size and weight of luggage which you are considering toting up the stairs.

If I were in your situation, I'd probably risk leaving my larger bags in the truck of my car.
BUT
I'd take anything that really mattered with me. I'd park in the most secure way possible (ie. with truck of car backed close to a wall, or under a light post. But most importantly, I wouldn't open the truck after I'd parked the car in the lot. IF anyone is watching the cars as they're parked and notices a lot of stuff in the back of yours, well, you've just made yourself a target!

This may not be the case here, but I know some people who couldn't carry bags for a long period of time due to disabilities and/or age, and I don't think they should be told they can't travel. My mother couldn't carry even a 22" bag for extended periods when she got older, and needed my father's help.

I can't address MSM hotel's in particular, but I would go with the advice to leave your bags in the car (out of sight, of course) if you must, but be sure to take any valuables with you. You certainly can handle valuables which shouldn't take up much (money, CC, passport, jewelry, maybe camera). If all you have is clothes and books, a thief probably wouldn't want it, although I know that won't help if they just take the whole bag without looking. It's also not pleasant to have your stuff just broken open and messed up, but I think the odds are slim. As for hotels, any decent hotel I've been in would provide someone to carry your bags up a flight or two if they were a hotel without elevator.

I appreciate the advice! Since tomboy asked for details about the luggage: We're taking two medium (24") bags, about 50 lbs each (when full). We're in our mid-50s: I'm fairly small, and my husband is prone to arthritis attacks, so I'm thinking ahead. It will be taking a chance, but I like the approach that highledge suggests. And hey, we're doing this at the end of our trip: If someone runs off with our dirty clothes, so be it!

We parked overnight and only took a couple things with us up the Mount. But we were cautious not to stand in the lot and display the contents of the trunk to all the world. We got the things we wanted out earlier and put them in the back seat. There was no reason for anyone to think if they broke into the trunk they'd find anything. I'm convinced that most thieves who break into cars have seen that there is something to steal. How many people have empty trunks broken into?

When we visited MSM a few weeks ago..there was a special parking lot for the hotels..which is small and much closer. It may have security..maybe email your hotel and ask.

Mincepie, I wonder if that is something new, or just something I missed?

Keith

Keith, I looked at the official MSM website the other day and there was an oddly worded little note about contacting hotels for where to park, so maybe it is something new.

I echo highledge's thoughts, except that last September I perceived NO ONE watching the cars. As to the lot being secure, it's about the size of a Walmart lot. The attendants, when they weren't out of sight, both looked as interested as any civil servant. We had no choice but to leave luggage in the car (as did my bro in his separate car) since we weren't staying there.
We're in our mid 60's, and if we had stayed on the Mont, we could have carried two 50# suitcases up the stairs, arthritic joints and all, IF there weren't any people to avoid. There were lots in September, maybe not so many whenever you're planning to go. Frankly, we were glad we stayed at a nearby pension, as the view from on high wasn't as romantic/beautiful as we had read about. But each to his own. As to

We were there 3 weeks ago and stayed in the last hotel up the "path". We left our big bags in the trunk and took backpacks to the room. I believe the hotel charges a fee to carry bags. There is indeed a special parking lot right next to the entrance. You get a special parking tag when you check in which works electronically to open the gate. It is reserved for hotel patrons. Also, there's a wooden door cut into the wall right at the end of the parking lot. I watched many people walking through there (I think they were employees and workers) and when we tried it, we found it cut off quite a bit of walking around to the left on the raised ramp. As for stairs, the only ones we encountered were the ones in the hotel itself. If we'd known, we would have dragged our rolling suitcases up the concrete path to the hotel and would have been OK with carrying them up the one flight of inside stairs to the room. But no one broke into our car, and it was nice not having to schlep the bags around for a change.

I'm confused: are we talking about a truck or a trunk? Clearly an open truck bed would not offer much in the way of security.

truck, trunk, boot whatever...either way parking close up to a wall probably won't help because your hire car most likely will have a boot that is accessable from the inside by pulling down the rear seat. a thief breaks the back side door window and then gets into the boot. a very common scenario.

I'm glad to hear there's a special parking lot. I have a question, though. Dabodan said: "You get a special parking tag when you check in which works electronically to open the gate." Do you get this when you check into the hotel? But how do you get it before parking? Please forgive my confusion....

We parked in the regular lot first, explored the island, then checked into the hotel and moved the car into the special hotel lot after check-in. The last thing we did was take our luggage to the room after we'd parked close to the entrance.

If you plan on making a reservation prior to your trip, why don't you ask the hotel what their procedure is? Maybe there's a way to park in the hotel lot first without having to move the car.