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On my last trip to Europe with a friend I loved my days traveling around seeing the sites and watching the people but the nights were hell! Why? The typical European hotel. So much $ for so little.
Paris was the worst. I LOVED PARIS during the day but at night I just hated being there. $350 a night for that hotel! OMG! Here was my beefs about the hotels in European Cities (especially Paris)
Small 100 Square Foot Rooms with my head inches from the hall way
Two super hard single beds right next to each other. It was basically like being in the same double bed. This made me and my male traveling companion very uncomfortable. I was so close to him! (I would have loved to be staying in a typical American hotel with two queen sized beds (softer mattress) with each bed 5 feet apart)
No Sound Proofing. I could hear everyone in the hall, in the elevator and outside.
Air Conditioning is only offered during the summer. Even though it was 90 degrees outside in the Fall.
Super Small Elevator
No vending and ice machine
Lights out in the hall and in the room unless I had the key in the slot.
I could go on and on.
These were not historic buildings but new construction.
When will European middle class hotels meet up with the 21st Century?
I was a traveling IT/system administrator for a large owner of IHG Hotels franchises (Intercontinental, Crown Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express...) plus a few private hotels all over Europe and the hotels were at least as good as there American counterparts. The Holiday Inn´s were way better than an American Holiday Inn.
I really can't relate. Here are some European hotels I've stayed in recently:
London:
Living room of suite:
The bedroom (with a king size bed) was even larger, and the bathroom was divine. This hotel was in Westminster (about a five minute walk from Westminster Abbey) and cost about $350 a night.
Hotels in popular cities are often overpriced. Not only in Europe. I would never pay more than 100 dollars per night for a single room.
What matters most to me in a hotel is cleanliness and reliable hot water. Room size is all but irrelevant to me. After all, it is not supposed to replace your home. Europe is old, some hotels are centuries old, so naturally they have small rooms.
Don't the international chains have the same standard around the globe anyway? I remember staying at Ibis in several countries, it was the same standard everywhere. I assume it is the same with Marriott etc. One can find those chains in any city where tourists tend to go.
Why do Americans use the Air Conditioned on always soo cold? this point about AC made me remind how cold I was in American public places.
When I stayed at a hotel in Chicago in May, the A/C was left on and set something quite cold. I found it so cold I turned the heat on.
The San Francisco hotel I stayed at in December had the heat off in the room when I arrived, you have to turn on the heat to get any heat.
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