Travel Destinations Flexotel - anyone used it?
Discussion
I thought it (Flexotel) was £750 per cabin, which would have been worth consideration. It's £750 PER PERSON, based on two people in a car and sharing a cabin
Freaking hell
How can they even justify it? For that, I'd want Butler service, a private bathroom with gold-plated bath, all-in food and drink, a laundry service, lounge area with leather settees and persian carpets, chauffeur.....
Freaking hell
How can they even justify it? For that, I'd want Butler service, a private bathroom with gold-plated bath, all-in food and drink, a laundry service, lounge area with leather settees and persian carpets, chauffeur.....My wife and I used the Flexotels from Travel Destinations this year (2011). We are from the USA (PA). For us, these were perfect and one of the best things we did for our Le Mans trip. Now, if you are in the UK or Europe, then maybe the price will seem too high for what it is, or if you are already experienced at camping at a race track, then yes sure these are too expensive.
We flew from Philadelphia to Paris (CDG) and then took the TGV to Le Mans, and then the tram down to the track. From the start of our day driving from our house to the airport, till the time we got to the Flexotel Village, it must have been about 20 hours of awake or travel. We could not have easily taken any camping supplies with us. By the time we got to the track, we had already stood in line for train tickets, waited in line for the trains, had to ask for help to buy tram tickets (thank God my wife speaks some French) and we were sort of frazzled and ready to sit, nap, and have some food. If we needed to go buy a tent at the Decathalon store and set up a tent after being up 20 hours, it would have been a wreck. I wanted our trip to be free from serious concerns about rain or weather or where we were staying. We started planning in about August 2010 and it seemed like all hotels were already full. I also was not going to stay far away and commute into the track (from Paris or other cities, Grand Prix Tours has a package like that), I wanted to get the whole experience of being right there, just a short walk away from any part of the track. The price was well worth the experience.
The Flexotels themselves are small, just enough room for the beds, your bags, and a table inside. Seriously only 2 x 4 meters inside. Not claustrophobic, but not a place where you hang out a lot. But they do have lockable doors, and windows that tilt open and have shades built in. They are not air tight, there are gaps. They provided towels and blankets. So since the 2011 weather was quite cold overnight, inside the Flexotel it got chilly. But they had very warm down blankets that just about kept us warm, we did sleep with some clothing on. The Village area had a large tent with a breakfast bar and about 8 tables with chairs set up underneath, and a few more tables not under the tent. There was a big screen TV (always on) showing all practice and qualifying and playing Radio Le Mans not the TV commentary.
The food-bar was staffed almost all the time by the very nice Brits. They had bacon sandwiches, chips, carrot or apple juice, some wine and beer, some fruits like apples and bananas, and muffins. So food was not the best selection, so it was right there, but you did have to pay for that also. There were a set of private bathrooms for the Village guests, 3 mens stalls + 3 urinals, and I guess 4/5 ladies stalls. The shower rooms were a separate portable building, with 6 or maybe 7 showers, with good hot water and good pressure. The Village was just a block away from the Antares tram stop (the last one on the line) at the track. The rear of the track entrance to the track village and grandstands was about 2 blocks walk away. We could walk from our seats (in Michelin grandstand) back to our room in about 15-20 minutes.
On Friday, Travel Destinations had invited the whole Radio Le Mans crew to be our special guests at the village. I met John Hindhaugh and got a picture, and they also had some drivers from Team Lotus there. We did not stay long to talk since we were going to town for the parade.
The folks at Travel Destinations were always pleasant and helpful, and everything was well organized and professional. I felt comfortable there the whole time, and they were able to help us out with most anything.
I would whole heartedly recommend the Flexotels to anyone from the US who hasn't gone to Le Mans before, and anyone who really isn't into camping/sleeping in their car or on the ground. Since this was probably our only trip to Le Mans for several years, I did not want to skimp or have a bad experience. It was surely more subdued at the Village, so if you like to get drunk and be loud and rowdy, it's not the place for you; the crowd there is more reserved. It was well worth the money paid (my wife completely agrees also) and I'll do it again if/when I go to Le Mans again. Now if you can get a hotel in town, that's a great experience too (great town) and the trams are very efficient, but for me, I wanted to be on track all the time day and night.
I have photos from our trip online, there is only 2 or 3 of the Flexotels or village.
http://www.paveglio.com/europe2011/index.html
Chris
We flew from Philadelphia to Paris (CDG) and then took the TGV to Le Mans, and then the tram down to the track. From the start of our day driving from our house to the airport, till the time we got to the Flexotel Village, it must have been about 20 hours of awake or travel. We could not have easily taken any camping supplies with us. By the time we got to the track, we had already stood in line for train tickets, waited in line for the trains, had to ask for help to buy tram tickets (thank God my wife speaks some French) and we were sort of frazzled and ready to sit, nap, and have some food. If we needed to go buy a tent at the Decathalon store and set up a tent after being up 20 hours, it would have been a wreck. I wanted our trip to be free from serious concerns about rain or weather or where we were staying. We started planning in about August 2010 and it seemed like all hotels were already full. I also was not going to stay far away and commute into the track (from Paris or other cities, Grand Prix Tours has a package like that), I wanted to get the whole experience of being right there, just a short walk away from any part of the track. The price was well worth the experience.
The Flexotels themselves are small, just enough room for the beds, your bags, and a table inside. Seriously only 2 x 4 meters inside. Not claustrophobic, but not a place where you hang out a lot. But they do have lockable doors, and windows that tilt open and have shades built in. They are not air tight, there are gaps. They provided towels and blankets. So since the 2011 weather was quite cold overnight, inside the Flexotel it got chilly. But they had very warm down blankets that just about kept us warm, we did sleep with some clothing on. The Village area had a large tent with a breakfast bar and about 8 tables with chairs set up underneath, and a few more tables not under the tent. There was a big screen TV (always on) showing all practice and qualifying and playing Radio Le Mans not the TV commentary.
The food-bar was staffed almost all the time by the very nice Brits. They had bacon sandwiches, chips, carrot or apple juice, some wine and beer, some fruits like apples and bananas, and muffins. So food was not the best selection, so it was right there, but you did have to pay for that also. There were a set of private bathrooms for the Village guests, 3 mens stalls + 3 urinals, and I guess 4/5 ladies stalls. The shower rooms were a separate portable building, with 6 or maybe 7 showers, with good hot water and good pressure. The Village was just a block away from the Antares tram stop (the last one on the line) at the track. The rear of the track entrance to the track village and grandstands was about 2 blocks walk away. We could walk from our seats (in Michelin grandstand) back to our room in about 15-20 minutes.
On Friday, Travel Destinations had invited the whole Radio Le Mans crew to be our special guests at the village. I met John Hindhaugh and got a picture, and they also had some drivers from Team Lotus there. We did not stay long to talk since we were going to town for the parade.
The folks at Travel Destinations were always pleasant and helpful, and everything was well organized and professional. I felt comfortable there the whole time, and they were able to help us out with most anything.
I would whole heartedly recommend the Flexotels to anyone from the US who hasn't gone to Le Mans before, and anyone who really isn't into camping/sleeping in their car or on the ground. Since this was probably our only trip to Le Mans for several years, I did not want to skimp or have a bad experience. It was surely more subdued at the Village, so if you like to get drunk and be loud and rowdy, it's not the place for you; the crowd there is more reserved. It was well worth the money paid (my wife completely agrees also) and I'll do it again if/when I go to Le Mans again. Now if you can get a hotel in town, that's a great experience too (great town) and the trams are very efficient, but for me, I wanted to be on track all the time day and night.
I have photos from our trip online, there is only 2 or 3 of the Flexotels or village.
http://www.paveglio.com/europe2011/index.html
Chris
@SMG Thank you very much for the insightful review
I don't know what it is about travel companies in this space. I'm truly fed up of them treating you like you're an annoyance, and behaving as if they're doing you a favour allowing you to book with them - so I'm interested to find out about people's good experiences in general. With all the ones I've dealt with so far, there seems to be a general air of arrogance, and it has been a fight trying to give them my cash. I haven't even travelled with Grandstand Motor Sports (although I've tried to book on a number of occasions), and my various experiences of them are awful (except for one person, who has sadly left); and Speed Chills customer service could definitely do with improving. Have dealt with TD over email so far, and it has been ok - but nothing more than that. The somewhat shirty email from them trying to justify the exorbitant cost of the boxes - and comparing it to the cost of a hotel (?!) - made me raise an eyebrow
Any other good experiences, of companies who actually treat you like a fee-paying valued customer?
I don't know what it is about travel companies in this space. I'm truly fed up of them treating you like you're an annoyance, and behaving as if they're doing you a favour allowing you to book with them - so I'm interested to find out about people's good experiences in general. With all the ones I've dealt with so far, there seems to be a general air of arrogance, and it has been a fight trying to give them my cash. I haven't even travelled with Grandstand Motor Sports (although I've tried to book on a number of occasions), and my various experiences of them are awful (except for one person, who has sadly left); and Speed Chills customer service could definitely do with improving. Have dealt with TD over email so far, and it has been ok - but nothing more than that. The somewhat shirty email from them trying to justify the exorbitant cost of the boxes - and comparing it to the cost of a hotel (?!) - made me raise an eyebrow
Any other good experiences, of companies who actually treat you like a fee-paying valued customer?
spanishchocolate said:
Any other good experiences, of companies who actually treat you like a fee-paying valued customer?
Not on the circuit but http://www.lemob.org.uk/index.html were super when I went to the race in 2010Gassing Station | Le Mans | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff