Europe Hotels: Our Guide to Getting your Snooze On
I’ve stayed in a lot of different places during my travels. A dorm, a convent, a castle, a pub, a broom closet (I’m not kidding), and everything in between. Everything obviously has its plusses and minuses, but I can tell you from my own experience about the things that make me happiest as a traveler.
Booking Your Stay
Where should you stay in Europe?
Kate says: I am always happiest when I book a very central place with lots of services right out the front door, no matter the accommodation. Even in a city like Paris, where you’re one or two metro stops away from everything you could ever want, when it’s first thing in the morning and I need my café au lait STAT, thank you very much, I just want to take a step outside my door and grab what I need without riding the metro to get there. Google maps street view is a great way to research your accommodations to make sure there are plenty of services on the street. Sometimes I will sacrifice basic comforts if the accommodation is right in the middle of everything.
Chaney says: Agreed! Location is everything. It’s particularly important to be centrally located if you or any of your fellow travelers have mobility limitations; the less time you have to spend schlepping yourself to and from your accommodations, the better. Sometimes I will spend more for a good hotel in a central location than I will on my flight.
We usually book accommodation directly with the hotel when we can. We may use Booking.com or some other 3rd party booking agent as a search engine, but then go right to the hotel to do final bookings. That way if something goes wrong, you get much better customer service by booking direct.
When should you book your European hotel?
Kate says: Personally, I tend to book my accommodation before I do anything else (even plane tickets), and I make sure (especially since the pandemic) everything is fully refundable. Most of the time, hotels will be pricier if you book them with the refundable rate but you guys it is so, so worth it. Also, sometimes those sweet places in the perfect location can book up like lightening, especially in the years of revenge travel. So I get that out of the way super fast. Then I can take my time and pull together the rest of my itinerary.
So basically a good rule is: book those accommodations as soon as you see they’re available to book (usually about 10 months before you travel). Then relax and take your time with the rest of it.
What kind of accommodation should you choose?
Kate says: Woooof. This one generates a lot of debate. My general pattern is if I’m staying less than a week, I look for a non-chain hotel. A week or more, short-term rental.
If I’m looking to stay in a hotel, I always gravitate toward independent accommodations. Especially since the pandemic, I like to make sure my money is helping these one-of-a-kind treasures stay afloat as much as possible. Also, I prefer a quirky, characteristic room over the bland cookie-cutter places you’ll sometimes get in those big chains. Shop—and stay—local!
One of the myths I’ve exploded over the years is: “you don’t spend any time in your hotel room, so don’t waste your money! Stay in a dorm if you have to!” I don’t spend an arm and a leg but honestly, I do spend more time in a hotel room than just to close my eyes at night. Since I need to sleep, the bed needs to be comfortable. Since I need to shower, the water pressure needs to not suck. (I really wish more people did reviews of water pressure tbh.) And sometimes I need a vacation from my vacation, and that means sleeping in and maybe even just taking time away from running around all day and staying in and reading a good book. So for me yes, the level of accommodation does matter. Was I perfectly comfortable in that convent in Florence? Absolutely. The rooms are incredibly spacious, impeccably clean, and there was a gorgeous garden where I could relax, read a book, and write in my journal. Was I comfortable in that room above the pub in Dingle? Nope, not even a little bit, and I regretted it mightily. Two full-grown adults—one of whom is 6’3”—were crammed into a full-sized bed, and the entire room was just sad and dour and not at all relaxing or inviting.
Chaney says: I love a boutique hotel dearly - our honeymoon was spent in a restored townhouse in Avignon that had been turned into a chocolate-themed B&B - but I love my hotel elite status even more, and so I do look for hotel chains where I have status. Increasingly the major chains have noticed that their travelers still want that boutique experience - but we also want the loyalty points - and so many of them have either purchased or established partnerships with historic local hotels. In my case, I’m a Hyatt loyalist, and their partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World have given me some of the most glorious boutique experiences I’ve ever had - most of which I paid for with points.
