Ibis or Ibis Budget?

Stayed at an Ibis in France many years ago. It was a suitable chain hotel room. Ate at a restaurant nearby. Slept OK and was ready to continue on to Bordeaux the next morning.

I imagine there weren’t Ibis Budgets back then. Are they cheaper? Better value at one or the other? I can’t say, but the Ibis worked for that night.

It depends upon your needs and expectations. Ibis are always very clean. They are almost always very conveniently located. They have a decent layout and working internet. Breakfast is adequate. I have stayed in them often and never had a problem.
You can save a bundle of money by choosing Ibis.

We’ve stayed at a few Ibis over the years in France and Spain. It is a budget chain and I’ll admit I have no idea what the difference between Ibis and Ibis budget is. The rooms were basic, clean, (although the decor was interesting) and the breakfast adequate as someone else stated. I’d have no issue with staying at one.

I've stayed in a number of Ibis Hotels in the UK and in Dublin, (but not Southampton).
I've always been very happy with every aspect of them. If there was an Ibis and a PI in the same town at broadly the same price I would stay in Ibis every time. Full disclosure I am a loyalty member.
The budget ones, I've stayed in the one at Salford, Manchester several times. It's a simpler room with no floor covering, no tea making facilities and tiny kind of capsule style separate toilet and shower rooms, within the main room, a bit hard to describe on 'paper'.
But the rooms at Manchester, at least, are huge, bigger than a PI.
Breakfasts are very adequate and start very early, internet works and is fast.
Nothing to complain about- I have snagged Manchester for under £25 a night in the past.
I'm there to sleep and shower only.
For me I'd have no qualms about taking it. If the normal one and the budget one are the same price I would take the normal one.
If the budget is much cheaper I'd say take that so long as you aren't expecting the ritz.
They are part of the huge Accor group, a French company.

Ibis and Ibis Budget are part of the Accor hotel chain, which also includes midrange hotel Mercure and higher end Sofitel and Fairmont hotels, as well as lower end F1 hotels (among lots of other brands).

Accor has grown by acquisition, and chose to group certain hotels under the Ibis name. What I've read is that Ibis started as a budget hotel. When Accor bought the Etap Hotel chain, they renamed it Ibis Budget. Similarly, when Accor acquired the All Season hotel chain, they were rebranded as Ibis Styles.

Although they're all budget hotels, Ibis is usually a little nicer, perhaps with slightly larger rooms, than Ibis Budget. And Ibis Styles is slightly better than Ibis. They're all pretty plain without much character, tend to be clean and a bit sterile feeling.

The decor in the Ibis line differs by group. Ibis hotels tend to highlight music in their decoration choices, Ibis Budget highlights sports, and Ibis Style hotels tend to have a different decor theme running through each hotel, such as pop art, nature, etc.

I've never been to Southampton, though.

The Ibis budget is more basic.. It only offers a cold, continental breakfast. There is no kettle in the room.

The regular Ibis has a hot buffet breakfast and a kettle in the room.

They are next door to each other and share the same management team.

I wouldn't eat at an Ibis hotel. I made the mistake of doing it once when I didn't find a convenient alternative (Ibis Bristol Temple Meads) and was served what I now assume were mishandled, undercooked bar snacks. I became so ill I couldn't take the prepaid tour of the Cotswolds I had planned for the next day.

I had no problem with the room and have subsequently stayed once or twice at an Ibis Budget property. The rooms are plasticky but in my experience have been clean. At a comparable price point I'd choose Premier Inn, but I'd expect the latter to be more expensive.

The surroundings may be bland but, in the budget range of lodgings, reliability matters more than character. Over the years I have found the Ibis staff always to be efficient and friendly. Usually the air conditioning works and so does the wi-fi. Good value for money.

When my kids were young we'd stay at the Ibis Budget, then called Étape. Beds were bunk with a double on the bottom, single on top. Capsule bathroom in the room, cold breakfast with awful coffee and bread. The Ibis rooms are for two, a little larger, well designed counters and storage. Buffet breakfast offers a huge variety. Both chains are simple and clean

The descriptions above are pretty accurate compared with what I've found.

For many many years I was a high level Accor member and stayed at everything from Sofitels to Étap (now Ibis Budget). I've now switched my allegiance to IHG (Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express (my usual level) so my data may be a little dated.

I remember Étap the way Bets does with the bunk bed over, a combination on the door and self-check-in, and everything at breakfast wrapped in industrial plastic - and very very good prices. Only stayed at them in France.

I've stayed at the main brand - Ibis - dozens of times in Switzerland, France, Belgium and Luxembourg. Always acceptable, nothing flash, very predictable, a good breakfast for the money. In fact when various Accor properties were co-located we would just get the room at the other property and go for a cash breakfast at the Ibis. The breakfasts were all similar but slightly different. My favourite one was at Basel in Switzerland, next fav Calais in France at Cité Europe. Worst was in Colmar (each morning we drove to Germany for McDonalds coffee because it was so bad at the hotel and not much better at a nearby boulangerie).

We stayed at what is now called Ibis Styles a few times but preferred it when it was under the banner of Suitehotel and Novotel Suitehotel. A bit of redecoration has happened that is less appealing to me.

My favourite hotel in the Southampton/Portsmouth area is the Holiday Inn Express at Gunwharf Quays next to the Portsmouth and Southsea train station. Good folks, magnificent hazelnut croissants along with the usual full English included in the price. Great location for boats.

I haven't yet stayed at an Ibis product in the UK but would if it were in the right place at the right price. I have stayed at UK Novotel, Mercure and Sofitel hotels, they are a few to several steps up from Ibis.

Well, I book through booking.com with free cancellation. So whatever I book, I can keep looking for a better deal or a choice that I like better.

My memory is that Ibis gets a better rating than Novotel in Southampton. Ibis gets a 7.2. Novatel a 7.0 as well as Ibis Budget. This is all on booking.com

I will book something and keep watching.

There is one very upscale hotel with high ratings, a magnificent atrium and beautiful architecture. it is more money but only like $30 more. Do I want to splurge? Maybe. It has fabulous pool and steam room, etc. etc, hot tubs. Maybe I would like to do this before embarking on a cruise. As anyone knows who has taken a cruise, it can be very stressful embarking or debarking.

I went ahead and booked the Ibis Budget which cost me about $109, refundable and with continental breakfast.

It is for one night I will be arriving mid afternoon and leaving early morning the next day.

Location is great for me.

I am across from a nice shopping center if I need to buy something to eat. There are other restaurants close by including a McDonald's.

I think that it will be a good place to relax before embarking on a cruise.

Sounds like a good decision, bostonphil7. You’ll have an extra $30 to splurge on a meal, after not going with the pricier lodging.

Will your cruise boat have a pool, hot tubs, steam room, etc.? Maybe that’ll all work out.

Bon Voyage!

Good move, Bostonphil! And you'll wake up after that one night with an extra $30 to spend on the cruise! (Or maybe you'll have already spent it in London.) Bon Voyage! ;-)

Hi Cyn,

The ship will have a pool and hot tubs but they will be outdoors. They will be heated and people do use them but I am not certain. They do have attendants who have huge, fluffy, terry cloth towels waiting for you but .....

There is an indoor spa with a pool and hot tubs but they are extra money and not worth it when you are going to be in port every day except if you choose to stay on the ship. I prefer to do shore excursions.

Hi Dick,

Well, I might also choose to spend the extra $30 at the West Quay Shopping Center in Southampton. I am going to need to eat in the evening.

There is a 24 hour McDonald's very close to the Ibis Budget but the West Quay Shopping Center has many really nice restaurants from what I have read.