Hotel to work from abroad, single female

[IceCreamWoes]

Bit of a specific situation. My new job has a working from abroad policy and I'd like to make use of it by going away for a week in the summer holidays, work in the day and enjoy meals out, spas, nightlife in the evenings. I don't mind where I go. I'm a single parent and can't afford to take the children away with me and my annual leave is all used up to cover their school holidays. They will have a week with their grandparents in the summer holidays so I can have a (kind of) holiday (first in 5 years!)

The hotel needs to have brilliant WiFi, be safe for female travellers, have a pool, be near restaurants I could eat at alone. Not be too expensive or have big time different to the UK.

Any ideas??

La Perouse in Nice is really central, yet it's quiet. It has a small garden and a rooftop terrace, and some of the rooms have balconies with a little table and chairs.

What sort of amount do you mean by 'not too expensive', OP? La Perouse is indeed a very nice hotel but I wouldn't shell out what it costs in summer.

Madeira's great - I'd love to be able to work remotely from there. Lots to explore in your free time, good bus network, and tons of restaurants. I've always felt very safe there. Vast majority of tourists are singles/couples, not many families to remind you of the kids. I'd go to Funchal. There are plenty of budget hotels if you avoid the big fancy resort style ones.

Put your dates and filters in jet2 see what comes up plenty of choice . If you select adult only hotel you will get more suitable choices.
This a great hotel majorca lovely food dinner and breakfast half board was lovely and adults only so peaceful. WiFi great

www.jet2holidays.com/beach/balearics/majorca/cala-san-vicente/grupotel-molins?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA_Yq-BhC9ARIsAA6fbAg9YRnYwUfXFqEn1qkGD5af3LlVNKWUjXtjReU_a9F6FqErzJzGvGsaAj53EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Thanks everyone! That Nice hotel looks amazing but at 3.5k a week, it's def out the price range unfortunately for me!

Thanks for the other suggestions!

Has your company confirmed that hotel wifis are accepted?

I can - in theory - work 10 business days in the EU but I and some colleagues found that hotel wifis aren't stable and secure enough to go through our interfaces and security.

I am ok with the wifi in my PIL house but that's obviously vastly different to a open wifi in a hotel.

Hmm, the policy just say WiFi needs to be available. My colleague is abroad at the moment in a hotel and has managed to work while away. I'll ask him about the WiFi. Thanks for the tip

Be aware that since Brexit it is illegal for you to work in the EU, even "working remotely from the hotel room", unless you have an EU passport. You would be violating the conditions of the Schengen visa waiver by doing so. The chances of you getting caught are probably slim, but for example if the immigration officer asks why you're here for a week on your own, do not say "Oh, I'm going to get some work done, the weather's much nicer than in the UK". If you do get caught then you can expect a four-figure fine and a substantial ban from the Schengen area, plus all kinds of fun and games in future when ETIAS comes in because it would flag you up for previous violations for many years to come, so be discreet.

With all that said, if someone was paying me to work for a week with occasional dips in the pool, I would be reserving a sea-view room at the Universal Hotel Aquamarin in Sant Elm, Majorca. Check it out on Street View. Sant Elm (also called San Telmo) is a very small quiet town with one street full of cute shops and just enough restaurants that you won't need to visit the same one twice, plus there is very little bar/music-type nightlife and hence there are no lads in footy shirts. I don't remember how "brilliant" their WiFi is, but I'd have thought that everywhere has enough bandwidth for a Zoom call these days, and if not, you can probably get a local SIM and use your phone as a hotspot.

if the immigration officer asks why you're here for a week on your own...

"I am taking a holiday" what is weird about that

I think if you book eg package with jet 2 flight and hotel chances of interrogation are minimal!

I frequently do this but prefer to book an Airbnb / apartment, so I can make drinks / lunch during the day, then explore in the evenings. Drawback is that they don’t tend to have pools but I do small city breaks and there’s usually either a municipal pool or private gym pool close by. I just ask the host 😀

... and if the immigration officer then spots the work laptop and a bunch of work files in your bag ...?

The issue is the immigration status of the traveller - as pp^ points out, strictly speaking, non-EU passport holders cannot legally work in the EU without a work permit except under some very strict circumstances (e.g. a UK national working from her company's EU office while attending a short course or a business meeting there).

I m going to take my laptop on holiday...creative writing personal poetry or similar. Tho I suppose a keen immigration officer could ask to see the emails.? ..then again many people work from a mobile phone while on holiday. Is answering a work email in Spain from a mobile " working"?

I get what you saying but if you just taking a laptop on "holiday" do they ask questions?

I have never been questioned nor had any sort of bag search, I think we’re going off at a tangent here

Have you checked visa requirements. My work has such a policy but in reality unless you have a passport for that country you can’t as you would need a passport. It’s only realised used for people going back to their home country and staying with family.

Not weird but a lie and therefore against the law. Don’t risk your future freedom to travel by risking being found out.

I don’t think a laptop would be suspicious, I think it’s normal to take. My work needs to approve your location and won’t if a visa is needed

Back to the OP’s question, what’s your budget? (Also, I travel widely in Europe, always have my laptop, have never been asked if I’ll be working at my destination).

I’d choose a city that has a beach - Barcelona, Nice (but not La P), also Copenhagen (not cheap but swimming in harbour and very safe - and superb WiFi), ditto Stockholm (and hope for a heatwave for both). A spa hotel may be a good base because it will have other solo travellers. Good value ones do exist. The thermal triangle around Austria could be a good place to start looking.

Questions I’ve been asked by EU immigration officers when I’ve arrived with my British passport (based on probably monthly travel for a mix of work and holidays):
Absolutely Zero.

I take my laptop on every trip. And usually some papers on something I’m working on at the time in case something kicks off and I have to do something while I’m away.

Like just about everybody else I always have to do some work on holiday. It would be amazing if not working remotely in the EU was actually legally enforced and we could all just go there for holidays. But it isn’t.

Go away and enjoy yourself and get lots of work done.

Hotel Miragem in cascais is perfect.

This is some of the most ridiculous nonsense I’ve ever read on MN

Be aware there are still hotels out there that do not have wifi in many rooms but have it available in the bar or foyer. We recently booked through Tui and had this In Italy

I'd consider an air bnb.

We went to Malaga, Torremolinos recently. Flights were quick and very cheap, hotels right across the road from the beach with pools and spa facilities. Can walk into the town centre which had loads of shops and restaurants in about 10-15 minutes and me and DD (10yo) felt safe at all times.

Not the 'classiest' of locations but it was very pretty, very convenient, very cheap and 18degrees in Feb so would be hot during the summer. The hotel we were in had WiFi that was generally consistent with the occasional slow down during very busy periods.

I would highly recommend the Three House Hotel in Madeira. It's an aparthotel right in the centre of Funchal. You have your own cooking facilities and they hang pastries in a bag on your door every morning. They have a rooftop bar and pool for relaxing and it's within walking distance of many restaurants. Because it's an apartment rather than a hotel, you have a bit more room which would be good if you're spending a lot of time there.

I spent quite a lot of time relaxing on the rooftop as DH did more strenuous walks than me and never felt out of place on my own.