Pre and post trip hotel question

It's personal choice--I certainly understand some might choose to save money.
I almost always choose the convenience of staying in the tour hotel, but twice I've decided to move to a hotel close to the airport after the tour because I knew I wouldn't be doing anything in town the next morning before my flight home.

Is the Paris Hotel the Beaugency on Rue Duvivier? If so you’ll probably get a decent rate for the neighborhood. Go to their website to check. If you’ve emailed them this weekend sometimes the English speaker is not there until a weekday to reply in English to an email.

https://www.hotel-beaugency.com/en/

I would also check the Haarlem hotel on Booking.com to compare the rates. Otherwise, what do you think you will want to do on that day? If you want to look around Haarlem no problem staying at another location in the city.

BTW, I usually just book on the hotel website without emailing them. I will indicate I am with a RS tour starting on “Xx” night and would like to stay in the same room.

This is a WONDERFUL tour! One of my favorites!

Also…can you add another day on to your front end? If so, since it’s tulip season you could go to Keukenhof Gardens on one if your days and see Haarlem the other day.

I have a mixed response. I do it both ways. Last spring I chose to stay in a lovely B and B 2 blocks from the tour hotel in Palermo. I saved $150 and it did not impact my enjoyment of the tour in any negative fashion. I have also chosen to stay in tour hotel for convenience if nearby hotels did not offer significant (greater than $50) savings. It is really entirely up to you. It works fine both ways.

I’m with Liz, it’s mainly a matter of convenience and worth it to us to not have to check out, store your luggage somewhere and then check back in. We normally come in two days early to get thru jet lag and stay one to two days after the end of the tour. I don’t remember ever having to change rooms maybe because we tell them we are with the RS tour.

I’m on the first BOE21 tour next year. I’m arriving two days ahead of time and staying at the Hotel Amadeus, which was cheaper than the tour hotel.
On the day the tour starts, I’ll just drop my bags there and explore until the group tour meeting.

I’m also staying a couple of extra days in Paris at the end of the tour. I had extended my reservation at that tour hotel but that hotel has since changed. Instead of changing hotels I’ve decided to keep the original reservation at the previous hotel as it is MUCH cheaper and it’s in a different arrondissement, which I figure would get me out of my comfort zone.

But since you are only staying one extra night, the convenience may be worth the extra cost.

Once in Haarlem, I would enthusiastically suggest you book free tickets to the Corrie ten Boom museum NOW! It's a heartwarming tour of a Dutch Resistance fighter. The tour is personally led by a guide, and is only fifteen people. I liked it much better than the Anne Frank House, which was very crowded, (and our tour was by headphones.)
The free tickets are fully booked about 8-10 months out.
Haarlem is a charming city on its own merits .
What is the name of your Haarlem hotel?
If you come in two days early, you will have time for Keukenhof, which is fantastic, and would work for two nights at another hotel.
We loved Hotel Malts B&B, the owners are fantastic, we also liked Hotel Staats, a little more expensive.
The NL raised hotel taxes in 2026, adding to the cost.
Have a wonderful trip!

The problem I find is that, though I may ask to be able to stay in the same room I'll have for the tour, it doesn't happen. If I'm going to have to pack up after one night and move to a different room, there's no convenience to having stayed at the tour hotel and I might as well have stayed at a different (cheaper sometimes) hotel. I find it difficult to get this pinned down ahead of time.

We have booked directly on line with the Hotel for the three RS Tours we have taken. We have never had to change rooms - perhaps we just had good luck. When we had a question about the type of room offered vs what the Tour provides we emailed the Hotel before making the on-line reservation. We avoid booking through a 3rd party.

This is a “time vs. money” question. How much time and how much money can vary greatly, so you really have to evaluate it based on what’s more important to you and what options are available. If an acceptable but less expensive hotel is a block away, so you don’t waste time or transportation costs in the transition, that may be worth it (as long as one of the hotels will hold your luggage after check-out or before check-in). Personally, we used to be much more careful about pinching pennies, but we’re retired and in good financial shape, so we generally go for the simplicity of staying at the same hotel. We’ve done 2 RS tours and were able to keep the same room on both; ditto for several tours done with other companies.

One aspect to consider: when choosing a hotel, I put more credence in one selected by a tour company I trust than one that got lots of good reviews on tripadvisor (or whatever).

I have always stayed at a different hotel for my pre-tour days. I search on Booking.com with filters for a rating of 8+, a hotel, and then look on the city map to find exactly where I want to stay. I like to be in the center of the city and typically try to pick a different location that gives me shorter access to something I want to do during the pre-tour days. Or for Haarlem, I might pick Leiden, instead - close to the airport, and it’s a nice smaller city & 20 minutes by train to Haarlem.

Post-tour, I would probably stay in the same hotel. You will be more tired at the end of the tour, so simplifying would probably be appreciated. I have never stayed at the last city of a tour longer. We either flew home that morning, or I flew to another country.

Have a great time!