JudyC

My parents are off for their yearly 5 weeks European trip next month. My mother decides to travel light for change, but I can't persuade her to let hotels do their laundry(Too Expensive). Could anyone suggest some laundry services near their hotels?

Brugge: Hotel De Tuilerieen (near Gruuthuse Museum).

Lucerne: Palace Hotel Lucerne

Deauville: Hotel Normandy

Paris: Hotel Lutetia (on Boulevard Raspail)

London: somewhere around Trafalgar Square.

Many thanks in advance.

WillTravel

I don't blame your mother for not wanting the hotels to do it. 3 Euros for a pair of underpants (or whatever) is just a bit much.

We did our laundry in Paris at 75 rue l'Ouest in the 14th, and I think this one may be reasonably close to your parents' hotel. The woman there (who only speaks French) seemed to be taking laundry from people and doing it for them. She was very helpful to us, but of course it helped that my son was able to converse with her in fluent French.

Here are a few others in the general Montparnasse area:
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm...;output=gplain

Also, here's another post from USENET:
"We used one on Rue d'Odessa, one block over from Rue du Depart, on the west side of the gare. . ."
I think I saw this one while walking around but it wasn't a self-service one, so it might work for your mother.

WillTravel

Also, your mother can just ask the concierge at each hotel. I'm almost certain he or she will try to help, even though it takes away from the hotel laundry business. That's how I got the 75 rue l'Ouest address and I also got instructions to a laundromat from the concierge at our hotel in Berlin.

djkbooks

Having laundry done is very pricey. Doing it yourself at a laudramat consumes valuable time that could be better used seeing and doing, and it not necessarily cheap.

Best bet is to pack the ubiquitous layers. The slacks/skirts and tees that can be easily laundered in the bathrooms sink, will dry overnight, and require no ironing.

Microfiber/polyester underthings are much more practical than cotton for laundering during travels.

WillTravel

It does take about 3 hours in total to do the laundry, which is okay on a moderate-paced trip where you have several days at least in each location. I've always found it to be an interesting experience everywhere I've gone and I usually meet someone to chat with (not in Paris, though). Otherwise, it's just a chance to take a slight break from constant activity.

Of course if you leave the laundry to be done, you can avoid any waits at all and just go have dinner while it's being done.

The cost for two loads of laundry, including washing, drying, and soap, was 9 Euros at the 75 rue l'Ouest location.

jody

In Paris, there is a laundromat on Rue de Grands- Augustin, which might be fairly close to theirhotel. You can do it yourself or they do have wash and fold service.

I know of a few in London near S>Ken tube but not Trafalgar.

WillTravel

In retrospect, I think it actually takes more like 2 hours to do the laundry.

Patrick

WillTravel, have you ever used a UK dryer? Two hours and the stuff will still be wet!

I can't tell you about ones close to your hotels, but I've used laundrys in Luzern, Paris, and London from your list. You should be able to find one near your hotel in Paris -- the one I use at Rue Seine and Rue Buci is a little far, but there are lots of them around. In Luzern twice I've gone to the only one I could find, which is across the river from where you are -- pretty good walk. There, both times I ended up leaving my stuff and a girl did it all, folding it neatly when done. When I compared the self-serve price, I think it cost me about $2 more for her to do it for me (and no charge for detergent), so that was a great deal and I didn't lose precious travel time. That said, an attendant doing it is often a good possibility in Europe and not much more. Just make sure they fold the stuff, not jam it all into a bag as the guy did for me at Lake Garda -- some of it became totally unwearable, even after trying to iron it until it was washed again.

WillTravel

Patrick, I did use a UK dryer at a hostel in London. It worked just as well as a North American one. Maybe you had one in an apartment?

ggnga

Hello, I would like to add a question to this thread. My friend would like to have his shirts done in the middle of our trip to London and Paris. Do you have a rec for a dry cleaner/presser in Kensington and/or near Rue des Ecoles. How much for a man's shirt, cleaned and pressed?

Thanks.

Patrick

Well, yes WillTravel, the one in my flat in London takes forever -- but that's because it's an unvented washer/dryer combination in one machine. But I've also been to laundramats and I've used dryers in two different private homes in UK -- all very slow. When my Brit guests stay in my home, they've all commented they can't believe how quick they can dry clothes, so I assumed what I experienced was the norm.

jody

There is a dry cleaner/laundry right next to the the South Kensington tube station..when someone says Kensington, I never know if they means South Kensington or Kensington High Street. As I recall it was pretty pricy for shirts, but then I think $3.00 for a shirt here in FL is pretty pricy! Too bad I remember the days when it was 25 cents a shirt!!

JudyC

Many thanks for the replies.

My Mom is looking for places where she could leaves the load for them to do it.The one on Rue de Grands-Augustin seems perfect.

I know one laundry srvice on Gloucester Road quite reasonable, but it is a bit too far from Trafalgar Square.

Any more suggestion?

WillTravel

Patrick, the dryers I've used in 4 European countries all worked very quickly, and at top settings were really scorching hot.

In Copenhagen and Paris, the laundromats had a quirk that you had to put the laundry through an extractor, after putting it through the washing machine.