I’m trying to plan my next trip down to Portugal and I’m getting a bit discouraged trawling through various websites looking for suitable accommodation en route.
I’ve done the drive twice before with stops every 800km, but this time I want to stop every 600km. I would need somewhere around Tours and another one at the Spanish border, so if any of you own an establishment or can recommend somewhere that would be great. I’m travelling with my dog so it will have to be pet-friendly and I’m thinking of leaving some time next week.
Choose towns you are interested in and look up the tourist offices. They will have lists that are verified, amd you can book direct.
For example towards Spanish border
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Thanks, but I was kind of hoping that someone on here would have a nice little place to propose without me having to cross-check lots of different sites.
Sorry! We are other side of France. I like using the tourist offices for me it cuts out cross-checking - they should have done that. Well ours does as they have inspected us before including on their site…
To do these long haul, non-touristy trips - over the years I have done numerous UK- Valencia runs - I made my life simple if somewhat utilitarian by staying at Hotels Premier Classe, as favoured by men who go to work in vans.
Of course, premiere classe they are not but you get secure parking, a clean quiet room, a comfortable bed and in the case of the one at Bayonne, I see that dogs are OK at +3€. From the hotel it’s 30 mins on the m/way to the ES border.
I’ve not stayed at the Tours one. I stayed at the Poitier one, in ‘Futurescope’.
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If it was just me I could probably make do with something like that, but it’s a bit more complicated with the dog. These budget places tend not to have a restaurant so you have to get the car out again to go and eat. If I leave the dog on its own in the room it might bark and taking it into restaurants is not always an option.
I guess I’m looking for something with a more personal touch.
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Most of the Prem Classe joints have a Hotel/Restaurant Campanile across the car park. The one at Bayonne is, unfortunately, on the other side of the big roundabout. But ‘upgrading’ to the Campanile chain will get you a better room and a restaurant on site.
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Therese said she was trying to avoid having to search through listings….
Yes but as she’s not getting much input and has rejected what she did get I thought that would at least be something. Fully prepared to be told it is rubbish, of course!
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https://hendaye.campanile.com/fr-fr/
I haven’t been to this hotel but we have used Campanile in Carcassonne, and had no problem with taking our dog.
Hi I have traveled thousands of KM when working in France, I always stop at ETAP / IBIS depending on budget. always spotlessly clean, friendly reception first class breakfast, pay on arrival. Highly recommend, but avoid Formula 1.
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I think I would have to be desperate to go to one of those things. Used to have to use chain budget hotels for work as not allowed to go elsewhere and hated them. Far prefer to spend 20 minutes looking for individual places and booking direct.
(Myself and colleagues did eventually wage and win a battle with our employer allowing us to book localB&Bs or small hotels directly)
We stayed in a Campanile hotel in Guéret just before Xmas as we were visiting some friends who were unable to put us up due to having family arriving too. I had low expectations considering the price, but it was absolutely fine - and dog friendly too!
Admittedly the building on the outside looked like it belonged in an old Butlins holiday camp, but inside was more than adequate… And the pillows were extremely comfy.
We ate with our friends so I can’t comment on the on-site restaurant. Considering the price we paid, I’d stay there again without any concern.
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When we have the dog with us we have always used ibis and like yorky we have always found them spotlessly clean, great with our dog, with friendly reception, a first class breakfast and there are so many to choose from.
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I don’t put Ibis in quite the same category. I use the Ibis in Dijon when I have an early rdv with my specialist and the breakfast is excellent. It’s city centre, modern but has some character and is not on the edge of a commercial centre in a parking lot.
If I’m doing a massive long drive with a sleep+eat stopover the last thing I want is to have to get into the city centre so those ZA or ZI hotels are fine.
Arena do some which have fantastic showers and beds, what more does one want.
Breakfast looked terrible, but no skin off my nose as I don’t eat it.
Never had to take my animals along so can’t comment on that.
Me and the dog travel by train….
But if I were travelling by car then agree -although would still search for something smaller.
Why? They fulfill a function and that as well in their sector as a decent supermarket in comestibles.
Having spent a life on the road, from staying for a month at the Waldorf NYC ['Will guests in sporting attire please use the exit on E 50th St] and the Beverley Hills Hotel, LA and the sublime Hotel Raphael, Rome, to bed-bug city, B n B, Dover, I know there are accommodations to suit the gig.
It’s true that these chain hotels are not going to give you that Copacabana/Ipenima buzz [I have stayed in hotels on both beaches and have the room service tariffs to prove it - a bottle of Moet and Chandon US $250 in 1980!] but there is nothing about them as places to stay that one could objectively complain about.
As someone has commented, they are accessible, parking is ample. I noted that diners at the Campanile restaurants were there only to eat. The food is perfectly acceptable, in its class.
The idea is to get the job done. Check in, clean up, eat, crash out, coffee and a croissant at a buffet, roll on. Anything more is an indulgence. Or, to put it another way, trying to dial holiday style accommodation to a working situation.
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I have a lot of difficulty with air conditioned rooms, and ones where I can only open the window a minuscule amount. Plus the times I used to stay in them they were far too hot, and even turning the room thermometers down did not bring them to a liveable temperature for me. That combined with an excess of cleaning fluids made my stays in these sorts of places a very miserable experience. My mine criteria for an overnight stop is firstly to be able to sleep. If I can’t do that because I am stifled then anything else is irrelevant.
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