Europe A La Carte Blog

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Summary

The Good - short walk from airport terminal, prices start at 69 euros a night with films and wi fi included in price, big comfy bed, spacious shower, one remote control for all room functions, plenty of natural light in bedroom, effective soundproofing, wonderful staff, welcoming, relaxed public areas, quick check in and out, 24 hour self service canteen.

The Bad - heating difficult to control, not much table space, room floor wet after using wash basin and shower, difficult to get in and out of bed if 2 guests, all rooms have double beds.

The Awful - toilet in the bedroom and the ugly rag doll.

The shower capsule (left) and toilet capsule (right)

The Brief

I stayed as a “press” guest the citizenM hotel at Amsterdam airport on the 24 June 2008, the night of the press launch. Below are my personal observations, listed in random order, I didn’t attempt to rank my points.

The Details

The Good

1 The hotel is located a five minute walk, along a covered walkway from the airport terminal. This is really handy as on my first night I stayed at the Ibis airport hotel and had to wait ages for the shuttle bus to arrive.

2 Prices start from 69 euros, around £55 a night, if you book in advance outside peak periods.

3 Room price includes wi fi and movies, either scheduled or on demand. Phone calls are routed through the internet, so cost much less than conventional hotel calls.

4 An extremely comfortable king size bed which was probably the best bed in which I”ve ever slept. The pillows were great too.

5 A spacious shower with either on overhead rain spray or a hand held spray with a choice of two shower gel/shampoos.

6 The all in one control pad lets you adjust the lighting, control TV and open and shut window blinds and shutters.

7 The bedroom is very light and airy due to the fact that the window is wall to wall. If you enjoy plane spotting you can lie in bed and watch the planes land and take off if your room looks out from the airport side of the hotel.

Sunset over Schiphol

8 Excellent sound proofing as you’re so close to the airport but don’t hear any aircraft noise in the bedroom.

9 Very friendly, enthusiastic, attentive staff who came over as genuinely interested in ensuring guests have a good stay versus rather than forced, false friendliness or indifferent staff encounters which I’ve experienced in many other hotels.

10 A choice of three trendy lounges, with Vitro furniture, in which to relax. The layout of of two large tables with bar stools at either side of the canteen is less formal than sitting at individual tables and makes it easier to chat to other guest. As a solo female traveller I’d feel much happier about going down to the public areas than in many other hotels.

One of the citizenM lounges

11 Fast self service on screen check in and out. No long queues here it only takes a minute.

12 Good selection of self service food and drink items for sale at reasonable prices (by hotel standards) in the self service canteen which is open 24 hours.

The Bad

1 I found the room temperature rather cool which was fine for sleeping but rather chilly after having a shower. There is a temperature control on the mood pad which I adjusted up to maximum but I couldn’t discern any difference in temperature.

2 There’s very little table space, only 2 small circular tables at the end of the bed. I prefer to have a bit more area as work space.

3 The wash basin is very shallow so it’s almost impossible to avoid splashing water all over floor. This coupled with water drips on the floor after taking a shower, even if you use the bath mat, leads to potential slip hazards.

4 The bed is wedged in between the window and the walls to adjoining rooms meaning that you can only access the bed from one side. Not a problem if you are sleeping alone as you can lie parallel to the window. However if there are two in the bed and you both lie parallel to the window the person nearest the window would have to climb over the other person to get out of the bed. If you both slept with you heads at the window, you’d both have to wriggle up and down the bed (a new workout move called the citizenM bedercise) and the bedside tables at the bottom of the bed would impede your entrance and exit.

6 All rooms have a double bed so you could only share a room as a couple, it wouldn’t be suitable for say 2 friends on a city break.

The Awful

1 The toilet cubicle is in the bedroom albeit in a ventilated capsule which you can enclose by pulling together opaque glass doors. This didn’t bother me so much when I stayed on the room on my own but I don’t think it works when two guests stay in the room. There are certain things in life that you don’t want to share, even with your nearest and dearest.

2 When I first entered the room I was wondered what on earth was lying on my bed as it looked like something that the cat had dragged in. It was in fact a specially designed citizenM rag doll which was available to purchase for 20 euro. In my opinion the doll is an ugly, totally superfluous detraction from the overall modern, trendy design of the room.

The ghastly rag doll

Conclusion

So overall how would I rate the hotel? Well that would depend on the price I paid and If I were travelling alone or with my husband.

written by Karen Bryan, Editor

In addition to the national carriers (BA and SAS), other airlines that operate between the UK and Sweden are Ryanair and Sterling. There were others, but these two budget options withstood the test of time and high oil prices. While Ryanair is infamous for using out-of-the-way airports, its hubs in Sweden are actually well connected to the cities they serve. Both Skavsta close to Stockholm and Gothenburg-Save , which is also known as Gothenburg City Airport are served by bus coaches that meet all incoming flights. The trip from Skavsta to Stockholm Central takes about 90 minutes and costs 150/249SEK one-way/round trip on Flygbussarna.

The same bus company operates between Gothenburg City Airport and the city proper, the ride takes about 30 minutes and costs 60/110SEK one-way/round trip. Discounts for children and students are available, and you can also purchase a 10-trip card. You can buy your bus tickets directly on the Flygbussarna website using a credit card.

Sterling, the other budget airline operating between the UK and Sweden, flies to major hubs of Stockholm-Arlanda and Malmö-Sturup. While Sterling’s prices can’t match the rock-bottom offers of Ryanair, the convenience of arriving at a major airport is one of the reasons why it gets my vote.

Here is a list of departure points in the UK and destinations in Sweden for both Ryanair and Sterling.

Ryanair flies to Skavsta-Stockholm (NYO) from: Edinburgh, Birmingham, and Liverpool. From Glasgow Prestwick and London Stansted it has flights to both Skavsta and Gothenburg City Airport (GSE).

Sterling flies from London Gatwick to Malmö Sturup (MMX), Gothenburg Landvetter (GOT) and Stockholm Arlanda (ARN). Additionally, there are flights to Arlanda from Edinburgh and Nottingham – East Midland.

written by Anna Etmanska

Good - great value 60 euros for a double room including breakfast. Our room had a partial lake view and good sized balcony, friendly, helpful staff.

Bad - no separate shower cubicle, so all bathroom floor wet after shower, room rather small with wall mounted TV a real head bumping hazard.

Rating out of 10 - 8

We stayed for one night at La Vela Hotel in the small town of Passigione sul Trasimeno on the north eastern shores of Lake Trasimeno, near Perugia at the end of May 2008. I wanted to spend a night at Lake Trasimeno and there wasn’t a great selection of hotels available for on line booking in the area. La Vela had received fairly positive reviews and was available at the rate of 60 euros per night booking with Venere found using the HotelsCombined price comparison website. The hotel’s own website just quotes the range of prices but as the lowest price shown was 60 euros, the same as Venere for a double room, I decided to book online through the Venere secure server.

When we arrived I was offered the choice of two rooms, there was larger room on the second floor at the back of the hotel and a smaller room on the 3rd floor at the front of the hotel with a partial lake view. I chose the lake view. We both almost banged our heads several times on the wall mounted TV which instead of being a in the corner of the bedroom was just above the corner of the bed. The bathroom shower consisted of a shower curtain but no solid shower cubicle or shower base, so the bathroom floor was soaked after you had a shower.

We enjoyed sitting on the balcony, the road next to the hotel is pretty quiet and although the single track railway line is fairly close by the trains didn’t appear to run very late or early. There’s a car park at the rear of the hotel. It’s only takes a few minutes of level walk to the lake side and town centre. The breakfast was good with a fair selection of items.

In summary a good value small hotel with clean rooms and friendly staff, ideal for a couple of nights by Lake Trasimeno.

Good - low price 65 euros for double room with breakfast, good breakfast, comfortable, clean rooms, lovely pool with great views,

Bad - a fair distance from old town, courtesy bus only ran 3 times a day, road noise at pool.

Rating out of 10 - 9

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Perugia for two nights in May 2008 during our one week touring holiday of southern Tuscany and Umbria. The best rate available when I booked in mid February was 65 euros per night for a double room including breakfast on the hotel booking site Venere found using the HotelsCombined price comparison site. You should also check the Holiday Inn Hotels site as they may offer the best rate. The Holiday Inn site offers a Price Guarantee but there seemed to be so many exclusions that I thought it simpler just to book on the Venere site.

View to Perugia from the Holiday Inn pool

I knew when I booked the hotel that it was several kilometres from the city centre but this meant that the hotel had free parking and there was a courtesy bus to the city centre available from the hotel. However during our stay the bus only ran three times a day, departing the hotel at 09:00, 15:00 and 18:00. None of these times was really suitable. It was very hot around 35 degrees celsius during our stay and we wanted to visit in the evening when it was cooler. I think that a service running every 2 - 3 hours until at least 22:00 would be more useful. We drove into the city centre where it’s free to park after 20:00.

The rooms even had a kettle to make hot drinks in your room, very unusual in Italy,. The room was very clean and comfortable with a good shower. Our room was at the back of the hotel away from the road noise from the nearby dual carriageway enabling us to sleep with the window open, rather than having the air conditioning on all night.

Breakfast was one of the best during our trip in Italy. Breakfasts in Italian hotels can vary quite a lot in quality and variety of items on offer and the Holiday Inn had a fair choice and the quality was good.

We were lucky to have the swimming pool and jacuzzi to ourselves on a couple of occasions. There’s a wonderful view to Perugia but the road noise is a bit distracting. There were about eight sun loungers around the pool which could be a problem if the pool were busy.

In summary a great value hotel with good standard of rooms and breakfast, free parking, easy access to a fast road with the bonus of a swimming pool. It’s ideal for a touring holiday as you’re only a couple of minutes drive from the dual carriageway. However I wouldn’t recommend it unless you have your own car or courtesy bus frequency improves dramatically.

This post was featured in the Carnival of Cities on 21 June 2008.

Good - great value at £49 sterling for double room with breakfast, close to Pisa airport, swimming pool and private beach, spacious bedroom and bathroom.

Bad - not really up to 4 star standard could do with revamping.

Rating out of 10 - 8

I selected the Grand Golf Hotel because of its proximity to Pisa airport as we were flying into Pisa in the early evening and didn’t want a long drive in the hire car after the flight. I found the hotel for £49 with gta hotels using the HotelsCombined price comparison site.

It took around 30 minutes to drive to the hotel from the airport. The hotel is a quiet location, near pine woods around a 10 minute walk from the town centre. Our bedroom was very spacious with a large bathroom. The fittings in the room were quite old fashioned but perfectly serviceable. Our balcony was tiny but there was a sea view. The breakfast was adequate. The swimming pool was attractive but be warned you can only swim there wearing a bathing cap which costs 4 euros at reception.

We walked to the hotel’s private beach in the morning which took around 5 minutes. There were only a few fishermen around. It’s free for guest to enter but you have to pay for sun beds and parasols but there was no-one around collecting money when we were there. There are changing facilities, showers and a cafe.

I think that the hotel is ideal for a stopover if you have an early or late flight in or out of Pisa. It would also be ideal for a relaxing couple of days by the seaside.

I noticed that Ryanair are offering “free” flights if you book by Monday 9th June 2008 and fly between 1 October 2008 and 31 January on flights that depart after 12 noon on Mondays, all day Tuesdays and until 12 noon on Wednesdays. Now that doesn’t leave a lot of room for flexibility as you really have to go for one night or seven or eight nights.

by aromano

I decided to check it out that the free flights actually existed and did find a flight departing from Edinburgh to Marseilles on the evening of Monday 6 October and returning seven days later on Monday 13 October. Now instead of the flight being free there was a charge of 1 pence which means that you have to pay card processing charges, either £1.20 per one way flight for debit cards or £3.20 for credit cards, which is pretty annoying for a transaction of 1 pence. Why can’t Ryanair make the flights free so there would be no card processing fee?

Now I know that, to some extent, I’m nit picking here as it’s still fantastic value to book a Ryanair return flight from Edinburgh to Marseille for £2.42 using a debit card but it’s not a free flight. What do you think?

Book Travelodge rooms for only £19 a night for stays from the 27 June - 31 August 2008..  You must book before the 29 June 2008 and at least 21 days in advance to bag this bargain. You need to pay in advance and it’s non refundable. Most Travelodges have family rooms which sleep up to 2 aduls and 2 kids. So now you could have a Summer break on a budget.  This is cheaper than staying in a hostel if there are two of you and you have your own private bathroom.

I’ve stayed at Travelodges, mainly in Scotland, on many occasions and I rate them as comfortable and excellent value for money.  There is some variation in standards with the newer Travelodges being more spic and span, some of the older establishments suffer a bit from wear and tear.

Euro Travellers are looking to squeeze more value from their Euro when travelling in Euro Zone in Europe which includes most of the major destinations such as France, Italy, Spain, Greece and Ireland. In order to help you get more from your euro Europe a la Carte has lined up some great panelists to give you some advice and insider information. You don’t need any special equipment to join in, just come to this post on Tuesday 20 May at 20:00 British Summer Time, (you can check the time in your zone here). So please come along and join in. I’m sure that you will have some hot tips for Euro Travellers too and/or would like to ask the panelists some questions.

The 6 panelists are:

Christopher Cook of www.noambit.com

Lisa Marie Mercer of flyaway-weblog.com

Hilary of Less Than a Shoestring

Olivia Giovetti of High Culture on a Low Budget

Sean O’Neill of This Just In

Tom Meyers of www.eurocheapo.com

You can read more about the panelist in this post.

As part of the preparation for the live blog on “How to get more from your Euro” to be hosted on the Europe a la Carte blog on Tuesday 20 May at 20:00 BST, I asked the 6 panelists to email me their top 3 tips for squeezing more from your euro when travelling in the Euro Zone. I added my own top three tips and then analysed the tips to come up with the top recurring themes. So here are the top five tips distiled from the collective wisdom of 7 budget travel bloggers.

Lecce, Apulia, Italy

What I’d like to emphasise is that you can still have a great time even if you are looking to get the most out of your euro. A trip to Europe is for pleasure not a penance. If you think carefully about your priorities you can devise a realistic spending plan for your trip.

1 Travel in low or off peak season. This means that your airfares and accommodation costs will be much lower. This doesn’t mean that you have travel in the middle of Winter to get value. Much of Southern Europe is beautiful and not too hot in late May and June. It also means that many places you visit will not be so crowded and it won’t be so hot for sight seeing. Until 30 June 2008 18 - 25 year olds can enter the Musee d’Orsay in Paris free of charge on Thursday evenings after 6pm. There’s a difference in price of 100 euros between a Eurolines bus pass in mid season and peak season for 15 days travel for an adult.

2 Think about your food costs. Again it’s not about living on a diet of gruel. Choose a fixed price “menu of the day” in a restaurant rather than going a la carte. I’ve had great 3 course meals on fixed price menus in Spain for around 12 euros, some even include a glass of wine or water in the price. Ditch the guide book restaurants recommendations and check out where the locals are eating. Buy groceries and prepare a picnic. Having a picnic in a picturesque location can be more enjoyable than siting in a restaurant. Check that breakfast is included in the price quoted by a hotel and if it’s a buffet you could always take some rolls and fruit for your lunch. I’ve noticed more hotels quoting room only prices which may initially sound cheap until you notice a 10 euro charge per person for breakfast.

3 Walk around, not only will save money and see more than if you are in a tour bus but you’ll keep fit and have more opportunity to soak up the atmosphere and rub shoulders with the locals. I really like Jan Morris‘ advice “The best way to find out about a place is wander around. Wander around, alone, with all your antennae out thinking about what’s happening and what you see and what you feel”. You can enjoy yourself people watching whilst sitting in a cafe or a park. Most cities have some sort of freebies on offer e.g. free entry to the Vatican Museums on the last Sunday of the month. We only discovered this in Rome as were walking by.

4 Think carefully about your accommodation choice. Look out for special offers e.g. stay 3 nights for the price of two. Use a hotel price comparison site such as HotelsCombined to easily and quickly find the best deal from many different suppliers but always check the price on the hotels own site too. I found 3 and 4 star hotels charging an average of 65 euros a night for a double room with private bathroom and including breakfast for our trip to Italy this month. If you plan to be out exploring all day do you need to stay in a fancy hotel? You could trade down a star, consider a shared bathroom or a hostel. There are also sites such as Couch Surfing and the Hospitality Club where you can offer and receive free accommodation.

5 Book in advance to get the best deals on fares for rail travel and with the European low cost airlines such as Ryanair and Easyjet. Many hotels offer lower rates if you book in advance but this rate may require advance payment and be non refundable.

A big thank you to the 6 panelists, listed below, for their input.

Christopher Cook of www.noambit.com

Lisa Marie Mercer of flyaway-weblog.com

Hilary of Less Than a Shoestring

Olivia Giovetti of High Culture on a Low Budget

Sean O’Neill of This Just In

Tom Meyers of www.eurocheapo.com

I’m delighted to announce the 6 panelists for the live blog “How to get more from your Euro” on Tuesday 20 May 2008 at 20:00 BST. I asked the panelists to email me an introduction to themselves and their blogs which I’ve listed in alphabetical order of their first names.

Christopher Cook currently lives in Tallahassee Fl where he received his second Masters Degree from FSU. As an avid traveler he maintains a new budget travel blog, www.noambit.com in the hopes of inspiring others to just get out there and see Europe. He has lived and studied in Tübingen Germany and travels as much as possible each year to cities throughout Europe. His writing has appeared on thetraverag.com, vagabondish and bravenewtraveler.

Greetings everyone! My name is Hilary and I currently live in Berlin, Germany. My blog, LessThan a Shoestring, illustrates how to get the most for your meager travel budget. Fed up with “budget” travel advice from journalists with too much money to spend ($500 is too easy!), I decided to write instead for those with no (or little) money, showing that it is possible to travel well for $10-20/day. Between news, sample budgets and other travel advice, I serve up weekly travel-related freebies and host the Travel on a Shoestring Carnival, which gathers the best blog posts on budget travel and rotates weekly to different areas of the globe.

Lisa Marie Mercer is the editor of flyaway-weblog.com your first stop to budget travel. She writes the Snow Goddess blog and is the author of Open Your Hear with Winter Fitness. Lisa Lives in Summit County, Colorado. When she’s not skiing, writing or teaching fitness, she and her husband use his business travel frequent flyer miles to hop the globe.

Olivia Giovetti’s High Culture on a Low Budget is a blog-guide to European culture on the cheap–where to find the best deals on theatre tickets, how to do a night at the opera and still afford a night at the hostel, when to get into a museum for free, and why you should care. We’ve recently expanded our editorial content to also include tips from the locals, travelers’ playlists, and–as a weekend treat–an intro to one composer/artist/performer/etc. so that you can fake your knowledge from baroque to Baryshnikov to beaux arts without missing a beat.

Hi, I’m Sean O’Neill, senior editor of BudgetTravel.com, the website of Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel magazine. Our blog is called This Just In and our magazine’s editors regularly post newsy, practical tips, along with trip ideas. We aim to help middle class Americans who have real-world travel budgets. In a world where luxury advertisers define much travel coverage, we’re fighting an uphill battle–though our magazine was recently nominated for a national magazine award for general excellence–the US magazine world’s equivalent of “best picture Oscar”. Anyway, for the next two months, BudgetTravel.com is running a series Affordable Europe offering tips on how to make Europe more affordable. The series is mainly driven by freelancers in Italy, Paris, and Rome.

I’m Tom Meyers from www.eurocheapo.com. EuroCheapo is a guide to budget travel throughout Europe, and publishes a daily blog about practical ways to save money while traveling.