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Photo by Lois Pryce, schoolkids in Algeria

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  #1  
Old 14 Apr 2015
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Hello Ash:

I've been touring Europe for between 6 and 8 weeks every summer for the past 10 years. I always stay at hotels. I've never had any cause to worry about the security of my motorcycle.

I stay at all sorts of hotels, ranging from €40 to €400 a night. I really don't think that security - or the procedures one follows to find a secure parking place - varies all that much regardless of the price of the hotel.

When I arrive at the hotel, I ask the reception staff where the best (most secure) place to park the bike is. The reception staff will always give you a good answer, an honest answer. Often, they will suggest an 'out of sight' location such as in the back yard, or inside a small garage where they store garden supplies, that kind of place. If the staff don't have any good ideas, I will ask if I can park the bike within sight of the front door. 99% of the time this request is approved.

I have a Honda ST1100 (a PanEuropean) - it is a large, heavy motorcycle, 300 kg, hence it would be difficult to steal without raising a fuss. I remove my GPS from the handlebars, and take into the hotel the items I want to have with me (clothes, toilet supplies, tablet computer), but I don't make any special effort to empty out the moto, nor do I go to the trouble of emptying out the little (non-lockable) compartments in the front fairing.

I have a very robust Kryptonite cable & padlock, but I only use it about 10% of the time - typically, only if I am in a port city in a questionable country (Romania, Ukraine, Albania, far eastern Poland). If I do decide to lock the bike up, I attach the frame & rear wheel to a fixed object like a lamp pole.

Best advice I can give you based on all my experience is to either put the bike somewhere where it is well out of sight (in the back yard, in the garden shed, inside a garage, etc.), or; put it in the most visible location you can find (near the front door).

If you elect to stay at smaller hotels or pensions, you will probably find that the owners will offer you the possibility of storing your bike in their own personal garage.

Basically, unless your bike is something that just cries out to be stolen (like a heavily customized Harley-Davidson, for example), I don't think you have much to worry about.

Michael

PS: For goodness sake, don't stay at low-end ratholes like F1 or Etap. Life's too short to put up with that kind of suffering. For the same price, you will be able to find a pension, or a really good restaurant that happens to have a few rooms upstairs, and stay there instead. If you have not done so already, get a little app called 'TripAdvisor' and put it on your phone, use it to find the pleasant, smaller, non-chain hotels to stay in.
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Old 14 Apr 2015
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Originally Posted by PanEuropean View Post

For goodness sake, don't stay at low-end ratholes like F1 or Etap. Life's too short to put up with that kind of suffering.
If you have not done so already, get a little app called 'TripAdvisor' and put it on your phone, use it to find the pleasant, smaller, non-chain hotels to stay in.
Ha Ha. That just about sums them up. They really are the fast food of the hotel world. Many many times given a choice between a night in an Etap and camping I've paid the same money in a decent campsite and been happy with the decision. I've turned up at an F1 (with my family) to be greeted at the entrance by the police with someone sprawled over the bonnet of their car and being handcuffed, and another (Etap this time) where I was woken up in the middle of the night by gunfire. Somewhere I have a picture taken from the room window of an F1 where the view is straight over a scrap yard. That's one place where I didn't park the bike under the window.

Both those chains have gone increasingly downmarket over the last decade or so, particularly as the buildings etc have aged. F1 is now almost unusable even for an arrive at midnight, leave at 6.00am overnight stop and the low price is pretty much irrelevant. Out of the tourist season Etaps are where white van man spends the night. We stayed in one where only vehicles in the car park were half a dozen (white) minibuses. Next morning we watched as the rooms emptied and the vans filled up with French riot police.

Like fast food they are just easy to use when you've spent a day on the road and your brain no longer functions. They may be really low end but at least you know what you're getting and usually they're easy to find - just head for the industrial estate. I still use them (Etaps anyway) but just for transit stops where I'm too tired to be sociable. It's a bit like pulling in for fuel on the motorway, simple and impersonal. Just do what you have to and get on your way.

Any advice on what the equivalent North American chains would be so I can avoid them when I'm over there later in the year.
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Old 14 Apr 2015
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I stayed in F1's all over France about ten years ago. They were clean, quiet and had good breakfast.. Things have changed I see. Are they really that bad ??
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Old 14 Apr 2015
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Thank you all very much for the advice. It is really very much appreciated and wow, what outstanding responses!

It will be a DL650 so not really screaming out STEAL ME!

Pan European, please could I ask what a pension is? I've never heard of it from an accommodation perspective.

Many thanks indeed.

Ash
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Old 14 Apr 2015
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Originally Posted by AshMcD View Post
Pan European, please could I ask what a pension is? I've never heard of it from an accommodation perspective.

Many thanks indeed.

Ash
It's similar to bed and breakfast type accommodation except you usually get evening meals as well. A kind of small scale private house hotel (in rough terms).

You may see signs for "auberge" as well (in France). They're a kind of country inn or modest town hotel with relatively few facilities.

Sticking with France, the nearest to UK bed and breakfast is chambres d’hotes. God knows how to define those; even the French can't make up their mind.
And as for Gites .....

As with all of these things people stretch the definitions until they all merge into one.
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Old 14 Apr 2015
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Originally Posted by backofbeyond View Post
It's similar to bed and breakfast type accommodation except you usually get evening meals as well. A kind of small scale private house hotel (in rough terms).

You may see signs for "auberge" as well (in France). They're a kind of country inn or modest town hotel with relatively few facilities.

Sticking with France, the nearest to UK bed and breakfast is chambres d’hotes. God knows how to define those; even the French can't make up their mind. And as for Gites .....

As with all of these things people stretch the definitions until they all merge into one.
I think that's about right. I stayed in all three types. Bed & Breakfast = chambres d'hotes is right, private home with meals. Auberge is not someone's house ... but not really a full on Hotel either. More like a Pension or Hostel but varies as to set up. I liked them the best.

Quote:
Originally Posted by PanEuropean View Post
Hi Ash:
To me, a pension is a small lodging facility (typically 10 rooms or less) found in extra-urban areas. Sometimes they offer food beyond just breakfast, sometimes not. It's the kind of place that's not quite big enough to be called a hotel. Generally speaking, they offer simple - but fully satisfactory - accommodation.
Michael
I agree! In parts of the world Pensione and Hostal are sort of interchangeable. One aspect that defines both over a Hotel is that many will have a "common" bathroom/shower, so you go down the hall to bathroom. Hotels have bath in your room set ups.

In S. America I stayed in hundreds of Pension and Hostals of varying quality, almost all used the common bath concept.
More upscale places had bath in your room.
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Old 14 Apr 2015
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Thank you for the replies!

The pensions sound great. I mean in a dream world I'd stay at Hostels, I saw that Weronica did it with her Van Van 125 but I think I'd be very concerned about bike security at a hostel although she seemed to do ok!
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  #8  
Old 14 Apr 2015
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AshMcD View Post
Pan European, please could I ask what a pension is? I've never heard of it from an accommodation perspective.
Hi Ash:

To me, a pension is a small lodging facility (typically 10 rooms or less) found in extra-urban areas. Sometimes they offer food beyond just breakfast, sometimes not. It's the kind of place that's not quite big enough to be called a hotel. Generally speaking, they offer simple - but fully satisfactory - accommodation.

Michael
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Old 14 Apr 2015
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Originally Posted by *Touring Ted* View Post
I stayed in F1's all over France about ten years ago. They were clean, quiet and had good breakfast.. Things have changed I see. Are they really that bad ??
Not really; it depends where they are located, like any other hotel chain, doss house etc.
Nowadays, many of the French hotel chains have erected largish fences and gates to the boundaries of their premises - ask the staff for the reason.

Those referring to "Etap" as a brand are out of date; see post number 3 in this thread:-
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...1-hotels-81414

IMO, Accor is fighting the competition that has sprung up in their very own back yard, France.
There are shed loads of other French motel type places all competing for business; some appear to have regional branches only i.e. they can be found only in certain department and not at all in others.

Personally, I prefer Logis places which are family owned and they will find a good parking place for a bike.
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Old 15 Apr 2015
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Originally Posted by Walkabout View Post
Personally, I prefer Logis places which are family owned and they will find a good parking place for a bike.
Good point. Logis (logishotels.com) are a loose association of smaller, family owned properties who share a common marketing system, most notably by way of a rather thick directory of participating properties that you can pick up at any Logis.

Be aware, though, that the common marketing and the label on the bar of soap are about the only things these properties have in common. Some are delightful, some are not. The size of the properties varies, although most are about the size of independent motels in North America (20 to 40 rooms, in other words, bigger than a pension, but smaller than a typical hotel).

By all means pick up a Logis directory, it is useful. But, check to see what previous guests have to say about each individual property on TripAdvisor before you make your decision. This will help you identify the winners, and avoid the losers.

Michael
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  #11  
Old 15 Apr 2015
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Originally Posted by Walkabout View Post

Those referring to "Etap" as a brand are out of date
That's true; Etap has morphed into Ibis budget, presumably to make the familial connection between themselves and the posher Ibis and Ibis styles more obvious. Other than the sign outside the building nothing much seems to have changed though and (in my defence) I've been Etaping my way round Europe for long enough that the word has become a shorthand for cheap chain hotels. Some of them are ok and some of them are genuinely dreadful, both in their fixtures / fittings and their location. I've stopped using F1s as without exception I've felt uncomfortable in them - even when turning up soaking wet and covered in crap on a bike.

Without wanting to get hung up about whether a pension becomes an auberge when they add an extra toilet or something it's been worth mentioning that they're all forms of accommodation. In my early travel days (pre internet and even pre stuff like Lonely Planet) I had no idea that an auberge was a kind of hotel and that chambres d'hotes were BnB. In fact someone told me that auberges were private business accommodation - a bit like a conference centre, and not open to passing trade. So for many years I'd just ride / drive on by - and on one occasion slept rough at the side of the road less than 200m from an auberge, convinced I couldn't get in.
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Old 15 Apr 2015
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Originally Posted by backofbeyond View Post
In my early travel days (pre internet and even pre stuff like Lonely Planet) I had no idea that an auberge was a kind of hotel and that chambres d'hotes were BnB.
Hey man, there was NO LIFE before the internet and Lonely Planet! Didn't you know that?

I was in S. America in 1975 ... the only good reference book at the time was
The South American Handbook. A great guide but updated maybe every 3 or 4 years. Now ... we've got TOO much information with too many un-vetted "experts".

Question for the France travelers/residents out there:
Does anyone remember a chain of State run low budget (but generally very nice) Hotels. I encountered a few in the South of France. Usually old classic buildings ... very reasonable prices. I was told they were all shutting down. Can't recall the name? Was I dreaming? This back in 2001 to 2003.
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Old 15 Apr 2015
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Originally Posted by mollydog View Post

Question for the France travelers/residents out there:
Does anyone remember a chain of State run low budget (but generally very nice) Hotels. I encountered a few in the South of France. Usually old classic buildings ... very reasonable prices. I was told they were all shutting down. Can't recall the name? Was I dreaming? This back in 2001 to 2003.
I don't recall the French government doing such business.
Maybe you wandered over the border into the Paradors.
Paradores Spain - Spanish Paradors - Parador hotels - Spanish hotels
(they are not low budget though).
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Old 13 Jul 2015
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Originally Posted by Walkabout View Post

IMO, Accor is fighting the competition that has sprung up in their very own back yard, France.
There are shed loads of other French motel type places all competing for business; some appear to have regional branches only i.e. they can be found only in certain department and not at all in others.
From my last couple of visits to France I feel sure that Accor are updating their premises, including building brand new facilities such as the Ibis budget that I describe in my last post here.

Accor rebranded their range of hotels a short time ago and are still reacting to the competition; I noted a couple of more chains but I haven't tried them as yet.

B&B Hotels in France and Italy - Booking hotels online

Brithotel home
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Old 13 Jul 2015
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Talking of competition ...................

....................... I see that Tripadvisor has started to act as a booking site, just like booking.com, hotels.com and all the rest.

For a long time there have been questions about the veracity and accuracy of tripadvisor reviews; maybe this development of theirs will make their site more trustworthy to find a decent, secure hotel room for the night?
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