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I've been to Europe a few times and stayed in fairly decent, but older motels. The one thing that scares me the MOST is that they aren't up to North American standards for safety. The ones I've stayed in are fire traps and I just prayed that there wasn't a fire. I doubt we would have gotten out of them alive... no sprinkler systems, confusing winding hallways, no windows, or tiny windows that didn't open, (too far to jump anyways), and tiny old decrepit elevators. The emergency exit stairs were halfway across the building through a maze of hallways.
I must say though, that Europe is FAR ahead of NA when it comes to energy conservation. The lights in the hallways in modern motels were motion sensitive. It was black as the ace of spades when you stepped out of your room or elevator, but one by one each light flicked on and quickly shut off behind you.
In Catalonia, if you build a hotel from scratch you must abide Fire Safety Regulations, a xerox copy of American Fire Safety Regulations. But if you have a hotel in a very old building, they have to make allowances and accomodate regulations to your buildings. In many cases, such buildings are "catalogued", they can't be tore down. Really, it's far cheaper to build a hotel from scratch than refurbishing a 18th Century building with wooden infrastructure, frescos, etc.
If it matters, the OP said the hotel was new, not an old building.
Anyway, I travel on a budget and the only time I stayed in a London hotel was back in the 70s. Needed something cheap--the bathroom was down the hall, the building was old. I can put up with that in a hotel. It was also clean and quiet.
What I can't put up with is the place we stayed in Amsterdam. All the rooms were taken and we would have slept on the ground but a man reluctantly let us stay in a horrible room. It was down beneath sea level and it smelled or REEKED of mold. It was cold and clammy, the bathroom (just a toilet) was down the hall again. It did have a sink in the room and that's where I tried to wash up the next morning but never did feel good until we got to a better hotel and took a real bath.
Of course you can find some reasonable hotels in some places, especially in small towns or cities in Easter Europe. But I was talking about places like Paris. Small rooms, two single beds right next to each other, noise, and very expensive.
Of course you can find some reasonable hotels in some places, especially in small towns or cities in Easter Europe. But I was talking about places like Paris. Small rooms, two single beds right next to each other, noise, and very expensive.
You didn't see the posts by people who said they'd stayed in nicer hotels in Paris at much less than you paid?
If you only wanted to talk about hotels in Paris, why did you title your thread "European Hotels"? You asked for a discussion of European hotels, and that's what you got.
Of course you can find some reasonable hotels in some places, especially in small towns or cities in Easter Europe. But I was talking about places like Paris. Small rooms, two single beds right next to each other, noise, and very expensive.
So you failed to choose a good hotel. Stop the whining and get over it...
This whole thread remembers me of the one about Europeans and dental care...
Of course you can find some reasonable hotels in some places, especially in small towns or cities in Easter Europe. But I was talking about places like Paris. Small rooms, two single beds right next to each other, noise, and very expensive.
You found one lousy hotel in Paris and that makes you hate most hotels in Europe?
Part of the difference might be accounted for in the setting. With an exception or two, I have always stayed in suburban motels when in the US. One I stayed at for the Minnesota State Fair and my cousin's baby shower was almost the antithesis of a stereotypical "European hotel" ... new construction, flat-screen TVs (this was in 2009), comfortable, plush beds, a microwave and refrigerator right in the room, $80 / night ... but it was way out in the exurbs. That was really not a problem for us, as a shuttle bus took us from a church parking lot (about 10 miles in!) to the fairgrounds.
However, in Europe, it's different. Having a car in the cities can be a PITA there, and while cheaper suburban hotels do exist, they are generally more inconvenient, for an American at least. I could not imagine, for example, driving in Madrid. As a result, staying in the city center is much more enjoyable, but often more expensive and without as much "creature comforts" as one could expect in even a suburban Super 8. Perhaps hotels in the city center have to live up to the standards created by their less expensive suburban counterparts, so the average hotel quality / price ratio in the U.S. is higher than in say, France or the Netherlands.
when you stay in europe, you better off in a small Bead & Breakfast. A € 60,= B&B room, will be more comfortable than a € 150,= hotelroom. And $ 350,= a night??? Why would one do that? Those prices are set for buisenessmen travelling and payed by the company.
Why would you spend that kind of money on a holliday? For 350,= i could stay allmost a week in a nice comfortable room anywhere in Europe, no matter if it's a big city or a small town.
You found one lousy hotel in Paris and that makes you hate most hotels in Europe?
Paris was just one example. I have been to most of the major cities in Europe and did lots of research on the best places to stay but always come up short. Nearly every place ends up noisy, very expensive, two very hard single beds right next to each other and lacking in creature comforts us Americans enjoy such as a large HDTV, Ice Machine, Vending, Large Elevator, etc.
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