I will be in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and France for a month with just my wife. We're under 25 years old. When I search for hotels I find a lot of "Ibis" hotels that seem cheep. Any thoughts about cheep hotels vs. just staying at hostels?
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
The Ibis hotels are part of the huge French-based Accor chain, and I use them extensively. They are basic, but clean and comfortable and, as you point out, on the inexpensive side. They probably aren't cheaper than hostels, but they are about as cheap as you will find for hotel space. Another suggestion might be the Etap chain of hotels, again part of the Accord chain. They're a little more basic but, as with the Ibis hotels, have their own en-suites...clean and reliable accommodations. You can search them all at accorhotels.com. Their Formule 1 hotels are even more inexpensive, but no en-suite bathrooms.
Posted by
Anaheim, CA, USA
1455 posts
Kurt, I've used www.hrs.de for many of my German hotels. Before picking a hotel, go to www.tripadvisor.com for general feedback.
Posted by
OH, OH, USA
1158 posts
If you 2 are going to stay in a hostel, you will need to pay for 2 beds, unless you want to stay in a private room, which might be quiet expensive in a hostel.
If the prices for a hotel sounds good to you, then book a hotel. As the other poster said, tripadvisor.com is a good site for chechink reviews. Some of the reviewwers post candid pictures of the hotels, which will help you a lot in evaluating a hotel.
Posted by
Calgary
2297 posts
In some places youth hostels are located in historical buildings like castles. Where available I'd prefer that compared to a sterile Ibis style hotel. The other question is which option provides the better/more central location in the town you're visiting.
I'd make a decision for hostel or hotel on a case by case basis.
Posted by
NYC area
2980 posts
Hi Kurt,
In response to your post "Any thoughts about cheep hotels vs. just staying at hostels?" I'd suggest looking into Pension's, Gasthof's and Private Rooms, at least in Switzerland and especially Germany. I don't know about France and Italy, but we've stayed at very reasonable places which were very nice. Much cheaper than hotels (I don't know anything about hostels) and breakfast is usually included.
Paul
Posted by
OP
Summit
6 posts
Thanks everyone for your responses! I've started looking at some of the websites you've mentioned and I've found some great offers.