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General
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Small
or big hotels?
"New"
interesting hotels
The
big cities
The
"design hotels"
Hotels
in different European countries
s
Spain
Austria
Portugal
France
Italy
UK
Germany
Scandinavia
How
to book a hotel
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How to choose a
hotel
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Topics
►General
advices
►Hotels
in different European countries
►How
to book a hotel
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Where to stay over night is an
important part of your holiday. Most tourists try to find an affordable hotel,
but often end up with a big and impersonal hotel or a cheap and pretty shabby
one. To find the real good hotels isn't always easy. We can help you by
presenting more than 1300 interesting hotels in Spain and Portugal. And a
selection of other European hotels will be launched pretty soon.
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In general, small hotels are
more interesting than the bigger ones. The big hotels do often have many
facilities, but they are often impersonal or very expensive. Some of their
facilities aren't important for us as guests. Do we really need a restaurant at
the hotel? If the hotel is centrally located, to dine at a restaurant outside
the hotel is a much better choice. Some hotels with many rooms do have a
pool/SPA. This will be a very interesting facilities for many guests. Another
aspect which can make a big hotel interesting is if it's located inside a grand
historical and old building. But remember: When staying at a huge hotel, you may
end up paying for many facilities you don't ever use.
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"New" and interesting small
hotels are popping of all over Europe these days. Old buildings at a farm or an
old town house are transformed into delightful hotels. In Spain hundreds and
hundreds of these hotels are available, often for a pretty low charge. But many
of these hotels are located at the countryside. If you like to stay in a town,
there may be a bit more difficult to find interesting and affordable hotels.
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The interesting and
affordable hotels in the big cities are very hard to find. The prices on real
estate tends to make even the simplest hotel pretty expensive. But some hotel
owners to today understand that many tourist (and some business men) would like
to stay at nice and small hotels with a good service and pay a medium price.
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More and more so called
"design hotels" are popping up in Europe. "Design hotel" is really a strange
word. All hotels do have a design! The design hotels do often have a very
"modern" design and tends to be be expensive. And an expensive "design hotel" is
no guarantee for a very good service! Some of these "design hotels" will give
you value for the money spent, but many of them do just offer a "modern" interior
and a very high charge.
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The prices and the quality of
European hotels do show a great variation, both inside each country, but even
more between the countries. Before we have a look at each country, we can say
that the hotels of Austria and Spain are hard to beat, when talking about
quality compared to the prices.
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120-130
Euro per night for this room in rural Galicia.
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The
historical Paradors offer unforgettable accommodation.
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Spain: No other
European country do have as many tourists accommodated at their hotels as
Spain. During the 60ies and later on Spain built many big and uninteresting
beach hotels. Most of these hotels are still operative, but many of them have
been refurbished and got a higher quality than before. But much more interesting
are all the "new" and often small hotels popping up in Spain. Old farm
houses and town houses are getting transformed into lovely hotels. In very
popular tourist areas like Mallorca, north east Catalonia and Sevilla these new
hotels are pretty expensive, but not elsewhere in Spain. Another very
interesting accommodation option in Spain is the Paradors. Castles and convents
(and new buildings built in traditional style) have been made into very
interesting hotels. The historical Paradors will offer you accommodation you
never will forget. The prices has risen lately, but there are some good offers
if you buy several nights at different Paradors.
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Many
delightful hotels in the Austrian Alps..
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and classical hotels in Vienna.
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Austria: Every hotel
employee should have been at an Austrian hotel a year or two for training! Few
other places (if any) in the world will offer you a better service at their
hotels. Everyone is professional and offers the guests a delightful stay. At
many Asian hotels you will get a very good service, but the Austrian hosts can
more than doing the practical work and smile! They are not servile, but
professional and offering a warm kindness. When staying at most Austrian hotels,
it's like being home with your "Mother of your dreams". The most beautiful
hotels and the best service are offered at the hotels in the Austrian Alps.
Compared to Switzerland, the Austrian hotels are cheaper, nicer and with a much
warmer service.
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Delightful countryside hotel in
Portugal.
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Portugal: Portugal is a
very interesting country to visit and it's unlike most other European countries.
Portugal has been a poor country and even today there isn't much money around.
Like in most other poor countries, this has meant many simple hotels and some
luxurious and expensive ones (for the few rich people in the country and the
tourists). But during the last years more and more small and nice hotels have
emerged. We have listed 350 selected hotels in Portugal (see "Accommodation").
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Many French countryside hotels do
have an enchanting exterior with beautiful gardens.
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But like this can some French
hotel room be.........
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France: France is one
of Europe's most popular tourist destinations. With such a good market (many
tourists) we should have expected plenty of very good hotels. But many of the
French hotels are still pretty simple and uninteresting. And the hotels who are
really delightful tend to be very expensive. But among the thousands and
thousands of French hotels there are of course many interesting ones as well.
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300 Euro?
No, 90-120 Euro pr night. There are some affordable luxurious accommodation at
the Italian countryside.
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Italy: Italy is perhaps
the most interesting country on earth to visit. But the hotels aren't any
outstanding. There are several grand hotels in Italy which are very interesting,
but very expensive. Most hotels are simple, uninteresting and with a very small
breakfast. The reason for this is: Lack of competition in the hotel business, a
tradition with small breakfasts and a country divided economically (they don't
try to make high quality facilities for everyone like in Germany, Austria,
Scandinavia and the Netherlands). An exception is the hotels in Süd-Tirol, the
German speaking northern part of Italy. They have "Austrian" standard at their
hotels. And like in other European countries, nice rural hotels are popping up.
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Luxurious
rural accommodation, but at a charge of 200 Euro++!!.
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Small and
uninspiring rooms like this for 150 Euro ++ are common in London.
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UK: UK do have some of
Europe's most expensive hotels (together with Scandinavia and Switzerland). In
London the hotels are very expensive and with small rooms. This is because of
the extremely high property prices in London. The best option when available is
to choose a high quality Bed & Breakfast. A nice thing with the UK Hotels is
that many of them are located inside enchanting historical buildings and full
English breakfast is a plus. But the service, tidiness and cleanliness are
better in many other countries.
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Plain and
very dull rooms are pretty common at German hotels.
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But the
exterior is often magnificent.
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Germany: In Germany
you'll get much accommodation for the money spent. The hotels are clean and with
a good breakfast. Many of the hotels are inside historical and atmospheric
buildings. But the interior (the rooms) is often very outdated "1970ies". An
extensive upgrading of the rooms will make German hotels much more attractive.
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Some
Scandinavian hotels offer this........
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But too
many Scandinavian hotels look more like this......
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Scandinavia:
Scandinavia is a region where hotels are expensive, especially in Norway and
Denmark. Most hotels in Norway and Sweden are big and uninteresting. But the
Historical Hotels of Norway may be a good option. In Denmark there are several
smaller interesting hotels and "Kroer", but also plenty of the modern and ugly
ones. Cheap and nice accommodation is extremely difficult to find in
Scandinavia.
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Some years ago most people
used a Travel Agency to book their holiday hotels abroad. Nowadays we use the
Internet. But if you just use the big Hotel Search Engines on the Net, you'll
probably end up with a big and uninspiring hotel. Most tourists will enjoy a
small and cosy hotel with personal service far more than the big chain hotels.
This Home page and several other have made selection of European hotels which it
is wise to browse through before booking a hotel.
When you have browsed through
the selected hotels and are going to make a booking, it will often be best to
contact the hotel directly. Then you can come with special requests and the
price will seldom be lower through a big Hotel Search Engine. But of course it
may be wise to make a search for lower prices on the Net. If some Hotel Site
offers lower prices than the hotel do directly, please mail the hotel with your
questions/request and then make a booking through the Booking Site later on.
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