Europe meet-up. Would you be interested?

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I've been thinking about this for months, i.e. that it would be nice if some of us could meet somewhere. For a couple of days, a week maybe. I'm willing to organize it as well if everyone is serious about it.

One/ we could rent a large house where 14-20 people can stay, that's relatively cheap. We have to make breakfast and dinners ourselves but.... no problem.

I think it's a great idea.... If you'll have me, I'm in for it.

I could consider it, my vote goes to Stochkolm, all Scandinavia and northern Europe are fine tough, some quiet place in the open nature, away from people and surrounded by animals would be perfect

Last edited by Rainbow-Squirrel on 06 Feb 2009, 3:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

What I found two years ago was that the more in the countryside a B+B was the more expensive they were. The cheapest accomodation seemed to be in towns.

Some of the chain hotels in France and Germany are not too badly located, in or near the countryside, with bus or tram connections with the nearest centre. And seem to be the cheapest things outside of noisy smelly dirty old cockroachy buildings in the town centres, in France anyway.

One thing that I like about chain hotels is that you don't get that horrible polite/forced breakfast-room conversation/atmosphere, ( though if we took over the whole hotel at least it would be "AS" forced/intense conversation or strained/intense silence ! ), and barely have to talk to the personnel. It's true they're a bit soulless, unless pick one in good surroundings, close to a "cute" village, but they are usually clean, and efficient.

Another disadvantage of B+Bs is that breakfast is automatically included, and could be a problem for some people who don't eat dairy or wheat, like me for instance, or don't like eating before 9.30 in the morning. Whereas in the chain hotels you choose and pay extra if want their breakfast, but I prefer to find the nearest café and if possible sit outside.

And if you're worried about being tempted to give up on the gathering to go visiting sites etc, Greentea, they are probably a very good idea. For instance the Formule 1 hotel near Coventry in the UK would probably have a pub near it, and some shops, and not much else apart from the Cathedral to visit.

Rented houses start at about £500 a week, for a house that sleeps 4-6, and that is if share double-rooms and sleep on a fold-out in the living room too, ( at least, that was the case 2 years ago in the South of England as far as I can remember ).

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I just looked on google maps and the Formule 1 hotel in Coventry, UK, ( £26 a night per ROOM ), is not far from the railway station, ( but apparently there is an Ikea nearby so maybe it isn't a good idea ... ).

Coventry is at almost the dead centre of England. But it's true that transport/travel for us Europeans and further afield would be much tougher and more expensive than if the meet-up were on the Continent.

Need to get some idea of how many people would be prepared to meet in the UK and how many in Holland/France/Germany or other central european location.

Edit: I just found some B+Bs in the UK for between £29/30 and £40 a night for a room, even with single occupancy, but on the Isle of Wight, ( a bit inaccessible ? ), or in small hotels with only two or three rooms.

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Accommodation quality varies greatly. A £26 a night hotel will be a dump. If you want somewhere relatively cheap you're best off with a traditional English country B&B away from the SE of the country. Avoid places run by those with foreign-sounding names. If you want to pay a bit more, and be sure you're getting a reasonable standard with undisturbed sleep then use the link below. It's something like £50 or £60 a night, but if you're with a friend you can get a twin room and split it 50/50. I've spent a lot of nights at those hotels all over the country and if I need somewhere quick I always use them

http://www.premierinn.com/pti/home.do

That is not true. The chain hotels that I quoted are new buildings, very clean, and plain and simple, and although the Formule 1 hotels have the toilets and showers in the corridors they are actually all you need on a budget. The rooms are well sound-insulated, and have washbasins in them.


But how many of us would be travelling with a friend? And how many of us can pay £50-£60 a night? I definitely do not want to share a room, and would already be paying £200-£300 in transport if it was in the UK.

The hotel chain you gave link for is modelled directly on those in Europe, specfically those which are slightly more expensive, Accor's Etap Hotel, which offers the same comfort and facilities as Premier Inn for far less. Premier Inn's price for a room for a night in Coventry is £53, for example, whereas Etap Hotel in Leicester ( there isn't one in Coventry ), costs £32 a room. The bathrooms are just as nice too.
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Last edited by ouinon on 06 Feb 2009, 5:28 pm, edited 3 times in total.

I just started a thread with a poll at:

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt90423.html

to find out exactly where in Europe people would be prepared to travel for a WP gathering of a weekend/few days, so that we could look more closely at accommodation options.

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I'm not in Europe, and probably won't be traveling for some time, but if I were going to stay someplace, it would probably be in one of the Landmark Trust's properties. Their website is here.

Z

I'm just trying to be helpful. Most people don't want to get up in the night leave their room and walk down the corridor to take a piss -- but like you say, at £26 a night that's all you get. The Premier Inns are a budget chain of reasonable quality with many hotels all over the country. You can book easily online and have a good chance of getting a room at short notice (your example doesn't even have one in Coventry). Moreover, my personal experience in having stayed in dozens of them is that the standard is consistent. Is anyone else offering such advice based on experience? If not, then you'd be advised to keep it in mind when you book your £26-a-night dump, can't sleep, and need somewhere else the next night . And I've done that, too, when I tried saving money.

Anyway, I've also stayed in a few of those in the next link. They do special offers if you book well in advance at certain hotels. They also have good coverage of the country:

http://www.travelodge.co.uk/

Paris, we can all meet under the Eifle Tower

That's why I mentioned the wash basins, for emergencies. ; )


Mine too. That they, ( Etap, Formule 1, etc ), are consistent is exactly what I like about them. But why pay almost twice as much for pretty much the same thing just because it's "UK-made"? Etap Hotels offer the same facilities, consistency, and comfort as Premier Inn for only 60% of the price. And you can book online aswell, often at the last minute too.


Wow! Beautiful.

I found the unofficial Landmark Trust site which actually gives the prices and availability of the places, and found that the largest, ( of those which cost less than £30/night each anyway ), only sleeps 13/15. But that might be enough. One which sleeps 10 in two singles, three twins and one double, costs £695 for 5 days Monday to Friday in April, ( no weekends left ).

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Last edited by ouinon on 06 Feb 2009, 5:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Some of the places are kind of isolated, but they have kitchens and you can cook there. For the money you can't get the same atmosphere anywhere. They even have a house in Vermont for rent that was once owned by Rudyard Kipling! I think there might be a villa in Italy that sleeps up to 20. And no forced B&B breakfast conversations!!

Z

You continentals have some terrible habits...

I'm english. The french would be horrified!

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I live in Europe, and I am definitely interested- this would be awesome! Hopefully if it works out at a time when I don´t have something too important at work- (like a performance, or the school tests- then I can´t get away)- otherwise, I would love to do it. Count me in.

Except...er...um...no wash basin for me. I would like to have a toilet in the room. I prefer a private room, but that´s just me.

That would be lovely, if enough people were up for the travel, ( and money ), involved to get there.

Sadly it looks as if most people won't be able to manage to get out of the UK, let alone go as far as Italy.

But maybe a bit of intensive searching online will throw up something lovely in England which isn't too expensive.

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