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.

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 ??

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

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

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.

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 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.

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.

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!

Too much fretting about all of this. Hostels are often fine; pensions likewise, by whatever name; F1/Etap is sometimes the answer to my prayers. Plus rural pubs in France will serve reasonable food and offer some sort of cheap-ish rooms for the night; in Scandinavia the campgrounds usually rent cheap cabins; in Slovakia I kept getting drastic discounts by merely looking a bit sad at the initial price quotes. Etc.

Get too hung up on categorizing stuff and you'll miss the essential point, which is that accommodation is all around you, most of the time. Also that wherever bike theft is a significant problem there are ways to lower your risk to within reasonable limits--just ask around and do what the locals do.

Inquiring politely in your best faltering French (or other language, including German, Spanish, Italian and/or Serbo-Croatian) will open doors you never imagined existed. Assume you're neither the first nor the last who's needed a cheap place to stay and a secure spot to park. If you don't like what you find, accept it as a learning experience and hope to do better the following night.

All IMHO, as usual.

Mark

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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Dave

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

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.

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.

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).

__________________
Dave

I think you have two types of people who will steal your bike.

The opportunist theft from the guy just walking by and spots your bike, a good lock attached to the frame of your bike and wrapped around a structure fitting will stop him from stealing your bike but any attachments (bags, i am sure we have all left them on at one point) on the bike might go missing, this guys will just have a knife attached to his set of keys or a leather-man type device but nothing that will compromise a good lock. Also bare in mind i popped my steering lock open on my DRZ with a small screwdriver in seconds when i snapped the key in it and also i have started it buy jamming a screwdriver in the ignition and turning it with a pair of plies in seconds also. If you are solely relying on your steering lock and bike ignition lock to stop a "opportunist theft" you are very much mistaken



Equipped to steal
The guy who sees's your bike and comes back "equipped" to steal it and a silent deterrent like a lock might not help, even a good lock if he has the right tools

I also agree with these disk lock type alarms, i have had a few and they are hit or miss regarding if they go off and some are to sensitive and go off all the time.

The only thing that is going to stop a guy that comes equipped is being compromised during the attempted theft of your bike, for that an alarm is needed.

Sometimes i leave my bikes in my van at night and on both the sliding doors i have fitted personal attack type alarms, they are basically a 143dB alarm which is activated by pulling the cord out the end, the alarm comes with a bracket that i take off and screw to the van and then clip the alarm on, i have removed the thick cord of the ring pull and fitted strong fishing wire which is attached to the door. Basically anyone who opens the door 5mm activates the alarm at 143dB.

Now i think this would be great for a bike alarm, you could fit the clip bracket to your bike under the lower fairing, when you stop to lock your bike up you attach the alarm to the bracket, you then attach the fishing wire cord to a wheel spoke with a clip device.

This Alarm cost around £7 of ebay

143dB MINDER PERSONAL ATTACK ALARM - PANIC WITH STROBE TORCH LIGHT - FREE UK P&P | eBay

Whilst looking for an open bar in Mumbai a few years ago, me and a couple of guys from my hostel accidentally ended up in the "Banana bar"...

It was Full of men in tight jeans and make up... When the 'fresh white meat' walked in the door, that rape alarm would of come in handy...

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.