Do you pre-book a 'cheap' 'en route' motel in France or just turn up and hope for the best?

[LittenTree]

I mean if you go Dover/Calais but are heading for the South of France, say, thus need to break your journey.

Which names are 'good'? Which to avoid? ON the motorway or a few miles off in a small town?

Bit of a Europe virgin, here, sorry! I could tell you how to find good lodgings in rural Thailand, mind!

When are you travelling? If French and British school holidays, i would book ahead.

If you tell us where you are travelling to, i'm sure you'll get recommendations. The south of france is a big area and several routes to get there.

It's be for the last week or so in August and no, I don't actually have a destination in mind yet!

Am thinking just possibly south Brittany. We could get a ferry to St Malo but it costs ££, I'd say a lot more than a night in a motel going Dover/Calais.

South of France usually refers to the Mediterranean coast. Brittany is in the opposite direction, west/atlantic coast.

Try www.viamichelin.com for route planning.

Hotel chains are plentiful - accor have several brands ranging from roadside motels to more luxurious hotels. I used the Etap ones last year, basic but clean and comfortable.

we book ahead to be on the safe side - if it's cheap you're after etap is basic but does the job and are all over the place.

To be honest I would book.
We did a couple of years where we got to France the day before our camping site was ready (due to Ferry times) and had a night in accomodation and just turned up. Usually we got turned away from one or two and then got somewher.
Then one year we went expecting the same and some huge festival was on and we couldn't get a room anywhere and ended up sleeping in a Ford Focus with a 5 year old and 2 year old and a load of camping gear!!! The Joy!!!!

I'm interested in Thailand lodgings though - hoping to go there next year!!!

We're doing north of England to South Brittany in a day becasue fo the extra cost of booking an overnight stop.

We usually stay in Formule 1 which are very cheap, but this year we're biting the bullet and going for it.

Book . We went off season one year and planned to stop at Reims, only to find no rooms available. I was 3 months pg and it wasn't funny. Fortunately there was a no-show at an out of town one but that was pretty late in the evening.

Had the two worst sleeps of my life in Formule 1. On the way south, there was an extremely loud group of very drunk men in the room next door, and on the way back there was a bit of a heat wave, and the room was oven-like all night. Afterwards we wished we had just driven straight through - we were so unsafe on the roads from having had a bad night's sleep that we would have been just as safe sharing the driving and napping in the car.

Of course, somewhere that costs more might have been better

I second the booking ahead advice, particularly if you're travelling in August. I've used Ibis, the cheap end of the Novotel chain. V basic, but they're usually clean, comfortable and with a modest restaurant for your steak hache, frites and a big glass of house red wine beverage. Usually better rates if you book in advance.

We always book as we also go in August.

Well there's cheap and then there is Formula 1.

Avoid!

Dear god don't go to a Formula 1.

Logis are good, very basic rooms but clean and comfortable and always a fantastic restaurant - these are our preference.

If we can't go to one of those for whatever reason then Ibis are good.

I would definitely book ahead, we have seen too many tired, sad looking families getting turned away from full hotels.

Logis are good but can make the stop more expensive as you are expected to eat in the restaurant.

A chain we have used many, many times is www.hotelbb.com they are generally close to motorways. Book now and you will be able to get a family room for 4 (often with a mezanine for DCs). You will often find a cheap restaurant nearby or takeaway. Breakfast is good value and worth having once DCs are of an age to manage their own tray.

An alternative is to buy some picnic stuff and picnic in your room, done this as well.

We always book in advance (far to stressful not to) but NEVER cheap motels, which are usually awful. Even if they're clean, they're inevitably soul-less.

If you do a bit of research you can find some amazing B&Bs, just off the motorways, which are generally as cheap as the 'cheap' motel option but which provide fantastic hospitality and really make you feel as if your holiday has started.

It takes a bit more planning but it is so worth it!

We usually aim to get to Limousin for a stopover. If you google French B&Bs you'll find loads of websites but try this one

French B&Bs can be weird though - bolsters anyone?

I prefer the predictability of the soul-less chain and no encounters with the proprietors.

I think it depends what you want Emmalina, we prefer soulless after a long day's driving with another ahead. Characterful is fine if you want to engage with it but not if you just want to get your head down.

We have done both BTW.

This year we are staying in a chalet in the south via Eurocamp and on the way down are stopping off in another Eurocamp site for the night. Did this last year and it worked out to be pretty good value for us. We are a family of 5 and dont fit in the standard family room so have to book an extra room which does bump up the cost.

Gnome you have just saved my bacon with that website!

No Logis available for the night we need to stop off on the way home from Burgundy after half-term - we need a room for 4 of us!
Nothing in the Ibis in Reims....

Just found somewhere on that site - phew!

I have vivid memories of driving around various bits of France in the dark as my parents went in and out of hotels that were full - we stayed in some weird and wonderful places in the end! The worst was arriving somewhere at 11pm and there was nothing to eat - miserable night.

Thank you LittenTree for starting this thread and prompting me to get my arse in gear with booking something!

We could get a ferry to St Malo but it costs ££, I'd say a lot more than a night in a motel going Dover/Calais.

It is 300 miles from St Malo to Calais - so that will be 600 miles worth of petrol. If you are careful you will not need to go on the payage - but you probably will have to at one point on that route down and so you need to add that to the cost.

You could be looking at 120 pounds for petrol and payage and then 50 pounds for a room add that to a ferry crossing and are you sure it isn't cheaper to sale to Cherbourge or St Malo - the former is 100 miles from St Malo

Good news Alibaba!

Depending on the hotel, the family room for 4 could be:

• mezanine
• a large room
• 2 linked rooms but without doors between them

As we are 5 we often book the extra room then just shift bedding and towels into the family room so that we stay together.

Other times when family rooms arent available we book a room for 3 and a room for 2 and split up into a boys room and a girls room.

We always take the short crossing as nothing on this earth would get me to spend a night on a ferry and have done long day crossings (the last word in utter tedium!)

We always book ahead because DH hates not knowing where he'll be sleeping at the end of each day. In August I would anyway.

Soulless for me too please. They usually have their own free car parks and are always conveniently clustered together alongside one of the chain restaurants, just outside the city or just off the autoroute.

All the chains are fine, except Formule 1. They're clean enough etc but don't usually have ensuite toilets or showers. The couple of Euros you save isn't worth it IMO.

We've used Premiere Classe (very basic but better than F1), Campanile, Etap Hotel, Ibis and probably others over the years without much to complain about.

Oh yes, we wouldnt use F1 again. We actually gave up on that one, loaded everyone back into the car and parked up in a motorway service station carpark and slept much better there!

This thread is fantastic! We need to find somewhere to stay about 2 to 3 hours south of Calais. Have been doing my usual head in the sand thing for weeks - ie vaguely worrying about it and doing nothing! Am now equipped with sufficient information to actually do something about it

We always use Etap or Ibis and I have found that the pre-paid rates they are at least 40percent cheaper than the rack ( turn up on the day) rates. Most notably last year meeting friends in La Rochelle we pre paid the central Ibis for three of us with secure parking and breakfast for 49 euros two months in advance. Friends we were meeting left it to two weeks before ended up with 15 mins walk from centre on street parking and no breakfast for 140 euros.

Thanks everyone- consider me very much the wiser, and some other MNetters, too!

How DID we 'find stuff out' before t'internet??! And the advent of 'nice' forums like MN Talk.