European version of travelodge/premier inn ??

[AJI]

I'll be going for a euro driving holiday this year and was wondering what the equivalent versions of Travelodge or Premier Inn is in the following countries:
Germany
Italy
France


Basically the price of full on hotels will be too expensive, as we will be travelling for 3.5 weeks, but the usual cheapo travel-lodge type efforts will be just what we are looking for.

Anybody in the knowledge on these?

Cheers.

[theboyfold]

France is Formula 1, most have shared bathrooms though.

[Puggit]

theboyfold said:

France is Formula 1, most have shared bathrooms though.

There are many French chains.

We have used Camponile and Village Hotels, with the preference to the former. The Village Hotel bathrooms are one piece of plastic, I kid you not!

[Truckosaurus]

Formula1 is part of Accor hotel ( http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/united-kingdom/index... ) which have several brands (Etap, Ibis, Mercure etc.) that are all reasonable.

There's several other French chain likes Marmotte and Campanille too.

[AJI]

Not too bothered about shared bathrooms.
As long as it is not shared bedrooms !



(shared bathrooms....I'm guessing they have locks on the doors?...or are they kinky and you get to shower with whom ever else happens to be there?) j/k

[Silver993tt]

Intercity hotels are fantastic in Germany. They are always next to a main railway station and are run by Deutsche Bahn you pay by the room, not by the person. If you book at least 1 week in advance you can get rooms for around €60-70 per night (for 2 people). You also get a ticket that gives you free transport throughout the whole of the city (e.g Munich, Berlin etc) for the duration of your stay which is worth around €10 per day per person, so €20 travel ticket freebie per day for 2 people. This allows you to use all forms of transport, buses, trains, metro, trams.

The rooms are modern with en-suite shower/bathroom and free wifi also included. You can also specify 1 double bed or 2 single beds,

Edited by Silver993tt on Tuesday 16th March 16:29

[grumbledoak]

Campagnile, in France, are reliable and the food is decent. Only downside is they are normally on the outskirts of town, not so easy to pop to a restaurant.

[Puggit]

grumbledoak said:

Campagnile, in France, are reliable and the food is decent. Only downside is they are normally on the outskirts of town, not so easy to pop to a restaurant.

The one in SW Rouen has it's own restaurant, and a Buffalo Grill across the road

[grumbledoak]

Puggit said:

The one in SW Rouen has it's own restaurant, and a Buffalo Grill across the road

Pretty sure they all have a 'Grill', thus the advertising phrase "Hotel, Grill? Campagnile". It's decent, but I'd sometimes prefer to wander into town and they are often a few miles out...

[.Mark]

Puggit said:

Buffalo Grill

I don't know why, but these places

[Hawmaws]

.Mark said:

Puggit said:

Buffalo Grill

I don't know why, but these places

Yup agree, my kids (and I) love them.

As far as they are concerned it's the highlight of any French holiday. That,or Leon de Bruxelles mussels/chips places.....

Courte Paille, another chain that loiters by cheap hotels, are merde, in my experience.

Edited by Hawmaws on Tuesday 16th March 17:16

[The_Doc]

grumbledoak said:

Campagnile, in France, are reliable and the food is decent. Only downside is they are normally on the outskirts of town, not so easy to pop to a restaurant.

Although....

1) entire room/bathroom/door is one huge piece of moulded plastic. Think Ripley in her flat in Alien 2 before she goes out.
2) No staff on site, you book yourself in and out
3) Noisy as the clientelle are mostly, hmmm, lively.
4) It feels like a 30E hotel room.

Love them for what they are though....

[Kneetrembler]

Puggit said:

theboyfold said:

France is Formula 1, most have shared bathrooms though.

There are many French chains.

We have used Camponile and Village Hotels, with the preference to the former. The Village Hotel bathrooms are one piece of plastic, I kid you not!

+1 regularly and they generally have an attached restaurant which are generally O.K.

[AJI]

So:

For France it is Formula 1
For Germany it is Intercity
For Italy it is ??





With the very poor pound vs euro rate, cheap accommodation is going to be a priority if we are to enjoy other activities when on our tour.


Just another question.......why do many hotels in europe state per person and not per room?
Surely the price should be per room? (Fair enough for the charge of extra breakfast cost if B&B, but 1 or 2 people per room makes no difference....its still the use of 1 room?)

Starting to ignore the urine extractors who are charging 'per person'.



Thanks for the help so far.

Edited by AJI on Wednesday 17th March 10:10

[itsnotarace]

Formula 1 is pretty grotty tbh. Ibis/Mercure are about the equivalent of Travel Lodge and Premier Inn but to get a decent rate you need to book in advance for each night, which will prove difficult if you haven't planned your route down to the exact detail. The out of town ones are normally cheaper than city centres obviously.

If you book with a no-refund no cancellation room you can get a cheap night in a Dorint which are a good step up in quality (generally speaking) again.

http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/united-kingdom/index...
http://www.dorint.com/go/hotelmap

Like others I quite like the Campanile's I've stayed at - the rooms are nothing special but the food from the grill is pretty good.

When we did our annual Euro tour last year we managed to pre-book most hotels and got a decent rate of approx 60 euros per night but on the nights where we ended up booking something on the day itself, the rooms averaged 80 to 100 Euros per night which is pricey considering the exchange rate, especially when you add on dinner/breakfast and drinks

[LuS1fer]

Per person generally reflects laundering two sets of bedding?

[Puggit]

I think due to some quoting that you are erring to F1 hotels. The majority opinion is that we prefer Camponiles

[AJI]

LuS1fer said:

Per person generally reflects laundering two sets of bedding?

even for 'double room' where the single bed is big enough for two?

I know there will be a few extra costs in it, but to charge 'per person' for double room with the single bed is not really cricket.


It seems a lot of them are pulling this trick on the websites.
I thought I had found a good value hotels on lake Garda, but then found they were all 'per person'....(not knowing any Italian it caught me out first time).


The other option I am thinking about is taking a 2-person tent and pitching up for each night where hotels are not cost effective.

[Bluebarge]

AJI said:

LuS1fer said:

Per person generally reflects laundering two sets of bedding?

even for 'double room' where the single bed is big enough for two?

I know there will be a few extra costs in it, but to charge 'per person' for double room with the single bed is not really cricket.


It seems a lot of them are pulling this trick on the websites.
I thought I had found a good value hotels on lake Garda, but then found they were all 'per person'....(not knowing any Italian it caught me out first time).


The other option I am thinking about is taking a 2-person tent and pitching up for each night where hotels are not cost effective.

Most Uk hotels quote on this basis. In my experience, the "per room" basis is actually more common on the Continent.