(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)
I’m sitting in my living room, listening to one of my recent vinyl acquisitions, After staying in so many different hotels and B&Bs this year, I am definitely appreciating the comforts of home more. However, I have learned quite a bit along the way about European accommodation; today’s post gathers a little bit of that acquired knowledge.
When travelling alone, I generally prefer B&Bs to hotels. There is more of a personal touch in a B&B and that can be helpful when you don’t know anybody…especially if the local language is an unfamiliar one. Most B&B owners will speak at least one other major European language in addition to their own. Hostels are another good option when travelling solo, although one needs to do a bit more research on these. Some hostels heavily favour a partying demographic, while others are much more inclusive.
Often, however, it is necessary to stay in a hotel when travelling alone. One of the fun things about solo European travel is the occasional great hotel deal you can find. While North American hotels charge a solo traveller almost as much as two people sharing a room, a number of European hotels charge solo travellers little more than one-half the two person rate. Some business-oriented hotels drop their rates even more on weekends. Admittedly, the rooms can be on the small side and the bed is generally only a single bed, but otherwise you get all of the amenities of the hotel…including breakfast! As a result, my bargain single room at the 4-star Hotel City Central in Vienna came with a huge and luxurious all-you can-eat buffet breakfast (including some very posh warm food) that I could only begin to sample. It was a perfect way to begin a very long day of travel back to Kingston.
As the year progresses, I am paying a lot more attention to formerly inconsequential details when choosing a place to stay. I am always trying to stay within my budget, of course, and I do check to see if a place has attracted a lot of bad reviews. However, there are some things that warrant an extra Euro or two. Here are the three main things I’ve been looking for:
1. Reliable WiFi. The blog obviously requires it, but for me it is even more important to stay in touch with my wife when I am on the road. Skype (or FaceTime, in our case) is a godsend for solo travel.
2. Easily accessible from major rail stations. Taxis are a budget killer and hauling luggage gets very old towards the end of a trip. Local public transit can also play tricks on you when you’ve just arrived in a new city. If the train station isn’t right downtown, I’d rather stay near the station…commuting downtown is a lot easier without the backpack.
3. Early check-in, especially on the day of arrival overseas. Most flights from North America to Europe arrive between 5:00 and 8:00 a.m. local time. I generally don’t get enough sleep on overnight flights and the last thing I want to do upon arrival is to carry my luggage around for 8-10 hours until it is time to check in. Most places will at least let you drop off your luggage if you arrive early…but that is only a partial solution to the exhaustion I usually feel by late morning on the day of arrival.
All of today’s photos are from the Frisian island of Schiermonnikoog. Stay tuned – on Saturday I will be arriving in a brand new country that has very little in common with the Netherlands!