Booking agents | French hotels | Spanish hotels
Booking agents
If you are unsure of stopping on spec and asking for a room, then book your hotel stops before you go. There are many booking agencies that can do this for you and even supply you with paid vouchers to give to the hotel receptionist. This is a fine idea if you are happy that you can achieve your daily distance. If not, just book your first night with a chain, such as Ibis, Climat, or Campanile, and get them to book the next night for you before you leave. That way you can review your progress on a daily basis but still have a room waiting for you. There are other chains in France, both cheaper (such as Formula 1) and more expensive (such as Novotel). Novotel hotels actually work out good value if you are travelling as a family, because of room sharing, but where on a bike can you put a family?
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Warning! If you intend doing a tour in August then you will almost definitely need to pre-book if you are going to stop overnight in France. This is because almost all of the French take their holidays in August.
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French hotels
France is very well endowed with good value hotel chains as well as 'b&b' type premises. The hotels are much like in the UK but the costs are lower, except in Paris. 2-start hotel chains can cost from about 25 uk pounds for a room, which may have a double or two single beds. Some of the chain hotels, such as Novotel, are now becoming common in the UK so you shouldn't get too much of a shock seeing them in France. I have mainly used the Ibis, Climat, and Campanile chains, which are usually 2-star rated. They all produce good booklets giving all the details that you need. Some have garages, which are very useful for bikers because theft is quite a problem in France. If you are lucky, and you normally are, then they will garage your bike for nothing. In theory the Ibis's charge a car figure, like 3 uk pounds, but in fact they usually forget (deliberately) to put it on the bill. You can help them by putting your bikes in corners, etc, where cars can't get. In general, if there isn't a garage then it isn't much of a problem. If there is, then you will probably see a 2-metre high chain link fence around the site. They will then lock the gates some time during the night. If in doubt ask the receptionist. The usual advice about chaining your bikes to solid objects, and other bikes, holds true in France.
Ibis hotels with a garage, which I have used, are Chartres (centre - not Luce) and le Puy en Velay. The Agen town centre Ibis also has a garage but they do charge. The Inter hotel in Montaubin town centre also garaged my bike for free.
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Spanish hotels
In Spain the ability to pre-book is not as easy as it is in France because there are fewer hotel chains, and a greater proportion of family-run ones. However, there are almost always rooms available in Spanish hotels, or hostales as the smaller ones are usually called, and there are plenty of them. In small towns there will usually be a choice of a couple of hotels but you may need to seek them out down a side street.
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Warning! You may have trouble getting a room during a town's fiesta time, because people often visit from away to join relatives for a few days. Think of it as a local bank holiday and you won't go far wrong. Luckily, adjacent towns rarely have fiestas that co-incide, so you may only have to continue for a few more miles to have a choice of hotels.
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Every town and village seems to have a Moors and Christians Festival, or a fiesta devoted to their patron saint. |
You may also come across other local customs which, although of interest, may stop you finding a room for the night. The town of Alcaniz has an annual car race around the town centre, which means that all the rooms will be booked up - sorry, but I can't remember when it is. Trust me to pick that time to find a room (it was also getting a little late). Because there was nothing nearby I stocked up on some food from a local supermarket and headed over the hills towards Morella, assuming that I wouldn't be able to find a room for the night. I was wrong; three quarters of an hour later I found a little hostal in Monroyo. A tiny little room in a tiny little village. No en-suite, but there were showers and the place was clean. I didn't ask the price (I didn't have any choice, did I) but it turned out to be about 3 uk pounds. The meal cost more, but not a lot. Three courses, including steak and a bottle (whole bottle) of the house wine for me alone. It was really good too, so I asked where it came from. 'Locally' they said. Yes, but which town. This town; this bar actually. They made it next door - you can't get much more local than that! To cap it all, the proprietor asked if I wanted to garage my bike in his personal garage. Yes please I said, so he moved his Citroen over and in I went - no charge for that, either. No wonder I like the Spaniards.
My recommendation for Spain is to use a 2-star hostal. These are usually very neat and tidy smaller hotels with most facilities, such as en-suite, restaurant and bar. En-suites may be unavailable, but the price will be commensurate i.e staggeringly cheap by British standards. If there is no restaurant then there will usually be a bar attached to the hotel next door, and this will be where you have breakfast. They will recommend a restaurant if you ask them, but if they have one it will be, more often than not, as good as anywhere. (In general, Spanish hotel restaurants are very good value - just be careful that it doesn't have any 'forks' as a grading system. This usually means higher costs, but may be worth it, it's your choice.)
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