Sleepy Time

Today's post of our trip will be less exciting, but still helpful, especially if you plan on going to Europe, maybe you'll return to this page to know where or where not to stay. We lucked out and were pretty happy with most of the accommodations, but as with everything in life, there are pros and cons to everything! And you should know that we tried to stay somewhere around $100 US Dollars per night, but some nights were more, some were less. So these accommodations are definitely for those budget minded people.

London, England:

We were here one night at the Alhambra Hotel.


To be honest this was probably my least favorite place during the whole trip.

PROS: close to the train station and underground tube stations, clean rooms and facilities, friendly staff, breakfast included, sink/mirror in the room, stored our bags free, but in a common area

CONS: shared toilet and shower with people on the same floor, no elevator, so if you travel with a lot of stuff you must climb many flights of narrow stairs to your room, no air conditioning (yes, it was quite warm when we were there), small bed, small room (not easy to walk around the bed)

The part that really irritated me was the shower. Now, I don't really mind the whole idea of sharing a toilet and shower on the same floor, it was kind of like dorm living (except my dorm I only had to share with 2-3 girls at a time). The toilet was in a separate closet, (literally the size of a storage closet), and the shower was probably a room about 5' long by 2.5' wide with a small 4" step down for the actual shower portion. There was no curtain and that is where my issues begin. There was a door for the whole shower room, but there was no curtain to divide the showering portion from the "dry" area. So, basically unless you're a very careful shower-taker, everything in that room gets wet or dewy from the heat of the water. So my PJs that were in the room with me were moist and everything else. It was hard to change into clothes without getting them more wet. But I managed and luckily only had to be there one night.

Brussels, Belgium:

We were here one night at the NH Atlanta Hotel.


This was probably the "fanciest" place we stayed for the whole trip.

PROS: close to the metro station, within walking distance of all the major places of interest in Brussels, comfortable bed, assortment of pillow options (as seen in the picture, we didn't use it, but we thought it was funny), separate bath and shower, free secure storage of bags, had entertainment (billiards table for a game of "snooker"), friendly staff and clean facilities

CONS: small shower (hard to shave legs...but they have a bath tub so I guess that cancels each other out), breakfast is outrageously priced

Pretty much there aren't any cons since you can shave your legs in the tub or struggle in the shower and you can eat breakfast somewhere else. I would definitely stay here again.

Paris, France:

We stayed one night at Hotel Pacific.



PROS: close to the Eiffel Tower, clean rooms, free bag storage, internet access for a fee, close to a metro station

CONS: windows were difficult to open and they didn't have screens so we couldn't sleep with them open, no shower curtain/glass door, if you forget to leave your key at the desk when you leave then you get yelled at when you get back

There wasn't really anything great or horrible about this hotel, pretty mediocre, but in comparison with the next one we stayed at in Paris this one was my lesser choice. See that contraption above the toilet? That's some kind of a hair dryer, yeah, I used my own because that just wasn't enough power, kind of like drying my hair by blowing on it. And I don't know what this aversion to shower curtains is, but they really should look into it. At least this time I didn't get nearly as much stuff wet. There's a fine line for me between feeling claustrophobic and feeling exposed, so when I'm showering and there's nothing between me and the rest of the bathroom I feel a bit exposed. The other issue is that Brad and I feel that this location must be the designated dish-washing house for all of Paris. We woke up to the lovely sounds of dishes banging and clanging all around. And even if everyone in the entire hotel had used 5 dishes, there still would not have been that many dishes. It went on forever, it wasn't done when we left either. Wouldn't choose to stay here again if I could stay at the next place, but if the next place isn't available this would be a decent second option.

We stayed two nights at Hotel du Champ de Mars



PROS: comfortable bed, nicely decorated, close to Eiffel Tower, restaurants and shops, free internet on their laptop which you can use in your room, shower had a glass divider, close to metro stops

CONS: our window opened to look at the door to room 4, so there was no breeze, had to leave your key at the front desk (for those of us paranoid about our stuff being stolen)

I really enjoyed this room. It was so cheerful with all the yellow. We were able to relax and had enough room to move around. The owners had a dog that roamed around in the front area, it was very cute, but if you don't like dogs then you should be aware of that. The shower at least had a glass divider that was half the length of the tub, so that was nice and less exposing. It was super nice that they let you use their laptop! Although the keyboards in Paris are different than here, so it took me a bit longer to type, but it was still great! The room key was so unusual, which added something to the charm. Very comfortable and homey. I would definitely stay here again.

Interlaken, Switzerland:

We stayed two nights at Rugenpark Bed & Breakfast



PROS: close to attractions and activities in the Alps, clean, coin-op laundry, kitchen to cook own meals, free internet station, breakfast included, can purchase tickets for activities on-site, sink and mirror in room, pretty views, walking distance to restaurants downtown and a grocery store

CONS: shared bathroom (but it wasn't really a con here), there were a couple cons in the city of Interlaken such as all the shops are closed by 5:30 weekdays and Saturday and nothing is open on Sundays

I really loved this place! They have rooms that you can have an in-room bathroom, but those were all booked up by the time we made our reservations. And sharing the bathroom facilities was not a huge deal here. There were two toilets on our floor, one by itself and one with the shower. The shower had a curtain (YAY!) and was a comfortable size. Our bed was comfortable, we got chocolates on our pillows, and we even got to snuggle because it actually got cold here at night! The owners were so helpful and friendly! We brought them honey from our hometown and the woman emailed us later and said that it had made her day that we gave her honey. They were super sweet people. They also had a dog that roamed about, his name was Monty, and he was super friendly, he also knew how to open the front door, but wasn't very good and closing it behind him. I would definitely stay here again too! It was all wonderful!

Zurich, Switzerland:

We stayed one night at Ibis Hotel in Zurich



PROS: close to the airport, had a free shuttle to/from airport, internet use for a fee, bistro on site

CONS: far from downtown, or anything that would be interesting, no map to give people driving to the airport, our tv didn't have a remote (they did bring us one, but it took a while)

I would probably stay somewhere in Zurich next time, not out in the industrial area near the airport. There wasn't anywhere for us to go to eat, so we ate at the airport. There was the bistro, but it was limited in selection. There wasn't anything horrible about this place but nothing really fantastic either. Seems to definitely be setup for business travelers.

All our places had a TV, but it doesn't do much good since the channels are in another language. We watched CNN everywhere because it was the only English station.