pasquale

Has anyone stayed at the above hotel which is on the Grand European Tour? Anyone had any experience with that tour? Comments on this forum certainly talked us out of a Cosmos Tour.

onthego

We took the Far & Wide / Grand European Tour last summer and stayed at the Sofitel Porte de Sevres. It is at the very last stop of the #8 Metro train or a $30 taxi ride. The accommodations were fair. The distance from the central part of the city was unfortunate. The rest of the trip with them was a big disappointment as well -- crowded, uncomfortable bus and the hotel in what we thought would be Venice was actually in Mestre, which is a train ride away. Lots of other dissatisfactory things as well. Keep looking.

Lesli

I believe onthego is the same woman who has posted negative comments about Far & Wide on every Europe tour thread (and little else.) Text search "Far & Wide" for a thread that explains her complaints in great detail, and people's responses to same. While I don't disagree with some of her comments, much of her disappointment is a result of lack of research prior to booking the trip. Any guidebook explains that Maestre is not in Venice proper, and some perfunctory research re the hotels included would have found the locations.

It is quite common for hotels booked by coach tours to be away from the center - easier for the bus to load/unload and get onto the next location. Another reason why I prefer to travel independently.

Lesli

Sorry; you will have to search "far and wide" (the search function does not like symbols or punctuation marks.)

In any case, here is the URL of the thread to which I referred: http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...2&tid=34367924

Gayle

I stayed at this hotel with a colleague for a week in July 2001. We had to go to Paris for client meetings for 3 days and decided given the distance we'd traveled to stay a week. Had we have known how far off the beaten track it was we would have switched to a more centrally located hotel for the duration of the trip, but this was right before Bastille Day and the height of the tourist season and we were unable to find another hotel.

The hotel was very, very far from anything. We walked to the metro (last stop on #8 line) which took about 10-15 minutes each way. There is absolutely nothing around the hotel at all. It's in a very commercial/industrial area.

The hotel itself is large, clean, newly decorated and just fine, though nothing special. The service was very good and they spoke English. The restaurant was fine.

onthego

You can view a few photos from our Far & Wide trip last summer at:
http://travelphotos.home.mindspring.com

Now, for trips I can recommend:
- Try the Galapagos Explorer II
- The RSSC Paul Gaugin to Tahiti (incredible)
- CIE tours in Ireland

As Leslie stated above, however, research everything before leaving.

Happy and safe travels to you!

Christina

I wouldn't want to stay that far out from the center myself. There are some other tour companies with more central hotels from what I've heard.

I read onthego's rants and thought they had little to no merit, were frankly disturbing to the extent that she spent money and started a web site to complain about factors on a tour that she had willingly bought but never bothered to check out (such as the hotel location) and that she is not someone whose opinion I would seek on anything.