Formule 1 hotel chain

Helen, traveling by car is the #1 prerequisite for staying at Formule 1's. Formule 1 hotels and Etap hotels are the same with the one difference that you don't have your own bathroom at a Formule 1 which you do at Etap. All Formule 1 rooms come with a French bed (a bit less wide than a queen) and a twin on top of the head board of the French bed. There is a tiny TV mounted to the wall (mostly French stations. I discovered 2 German ones and I'm quite unsure but I think there was BBC World and CNN). And there is a sink and a table. They offer free parking especially since they're almost always located in dark industrial or at least commercial areas. You check in at a self-service computer terminal and you need basic French for it. I found their German language version to be too confusing ;-)

The one outside Paris I stayed at a few months ago had two toilets and two shower rooms per floor. Of course as a guy the sink also functions as... well, you see that staying at a Formule 1 requires some kind of flexibility. Etap hotel rooms are the same BUT they include your own tiny but functional bath room. It's one of those bath rooms where you can sit on the toilet, shave, take a shower and brush your teeth at the very same time if you see what I mean ;-)

Kent, in the States you have plenty of areas where there are huge parking lots with e.g. a Wal Mart, a Home Depto, a Linen and Sheets, a McDonald's and an Olive Garden around it. In France add a Formule 1 hotel to that kind of collection. It's practical, no doubt about it. By the way, "Quick" is the French counterpart of McDo/BurgerKing and Co. For some strange reason even though it looks so much less clean the burgers do taste much better. I was at one of those shopping areas last Saturday just outside of Straßburg/Strasbourg.

Another chain is Fast Hotels. In-room bathrooms (small), landscaped grounds with a restaurant and usually an outdoor patio. Last year a double room was around 35-40 Euro.

Andreas , you have offically turned me off shared washrooms for life. I brush my teeth at the sink and do not need to imagine that some piggy man was too lazy to walk to a toilet. I think I will go and vomit now.
I also think there are many cheap hotels with private bathrooms when you are outside of Paris, so don't just consider these chains Helen, and don't prebook everything, since you have a car you have a lot of flexibilty. We would just drive till about 2 or 3 and look for a room . We did stay at a few side of the highway type places, but we always had private facilities.

Thanks to everyone who replied. I especially appreciate the mention of other chains as I was unaware of them. I had tried the Ibis chain, but they were somewhat pricey.
Helen