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RE: best western hotels

hawkeye — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 12:43:25 GMT

I forgot to mention that both the Kyraid and Express Holiday Inn both provide that essential item in the room. A kettle and decent sized mugs for tea, coffee etc.:unsure:

RE: best western hotels

phil — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 21:57:55 GMT

:)Cheers Hawkeye, good to hear about the hotels from tours i have yet to take.

The more reports the better.

All the best, Phil...

RE: best western hotels

hawkeye — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:04:04 GMT

Recently returned from the Greatest Raid trip.

Three hotels were used on this trip;

The Kyraid Nord in Rouen, nice enough rooms and continental spread for breakfast, however it did not appear set up for the size of group Leger take either sliver service or executive. There is only one staff member to deal with reception, bar (closes 23.00) and restaurant. Other than this challenge a decent hotel.

Express by Holiday Inn in St. Nazaire right next to the main part of the trip. This hotel does not have any restaurant however there are plenty of cafes, bistros and restaurants nearby. I can particulary recommend the 'Le Skipper' good food decent beer and great views of the Uboat pens. Back to the hotel decent bar area (closes 01.00)staff happy to help even when poorly spoken French is used. Again at breakfast time there only seemed to be one staff member to turn tables around and restock the food. Also the duty manager came onto the coach to wish us a safe journey and that we enjoyed our stay and that we would return on day. This is a first that I have encountered on a leger trip.

Finally we stayed at the Mercure Caen, Cote de Nacre. This hotel is about a 10 minute walk from the Clarine that is used by Leger. Needless to say most trippers walked to the Steak House next to the Clarine, however the menu seemed decent enough in the hotel with a large area for meals. Adjoining the restaurant was the bar and it seemed to be the largest bar area of any hotel I have stayed in with Leger, again the bar closes at 23.00 prompt much to the disgust of the French guests staying there at the time.

RE: best western hotels

phil — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:58:46 GMT

:)Hi Hawkeye, A spot light in your eye, all night! Wow!

How appropriate, on the Colditz tour!

I think i will give that hotel a go, sounds great!

Cheers Phil...

RE: best western hotels

phil — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:51:21 GMT

:) It would be good to hear from other fellow Battlefields travellers , any comments on the hotels used on route, or in location.

Reviews of the hotels on the longer tours would be good to hear about.

I have done four battlefield tours, and so far my favourite is the Best Western Alize, Mouscron.

Followed pretty closely by The Golden Tulip, Arnhem and the Holiday Inn, Liege.

The Clarine in Caen, is ok but the rooms are very small and the evening meals leave a lot to be desired.

The worst one ,was a family run place Leger used to use, on the second leg of the Arnhem and Rhine Crossings tour circa 07.

Glad to see they dont use it anymore!

It was out in the boonies, and an hours drive from Remagen!

Look forward to reading any comments.

All the best, Phil...

RE: best western hotels

phil — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:29:03 GMT

:) While on the subject, the Normandy tours are excellent.

The Hotel Clarine seems to be used near enough all the time, be it tours by Executive Coach or Silver Service.

The Clarine is adequate considering we are out all day, but it would be good if Leger could find a slightly more up market hotel, if only for the silver service trips, where we dont mind spending a bit more.

Cheers Phil...

RE: best western hotels

Son of a Mick — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:30:28 GMT

We were at The Best Western at Jena back in May on the Colditz tour and I can safely say it was a superb hotel for the price.

The set meal was excellent, especially the goulash soup.

Slurptastic!:)

As to the Altia in Lille, that's another story. Dreadful place.

But it's not a Best Western.

RE: best western hotels

hawkeye — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:07:09 GMT

I stayed at the Best Western in Jena in Eastern Germany on the Colditz trip. The only problem I had was that the curtains in the otherwise excellent room did not quite close and I felt as though I had a spotlight on me all night. Fairly ironic given the nature of the tour.

Otherwise the bar area and restaurant were fine. I have also stayed at Best Westerns independently and found to be all top notch.

RE: best western hotels

phil — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 18:06:12 GMT

:) The Best Western Alize in Mouscron is a lovely hotel.

We were on Pauls "All Quiet on the Western Front" tour June 07, and having done a few battlefield tours previous to this, would rate it as one of the best that Leger use. Would like to mention that its on par with the Golden Tulip in Arnhem, in fact its location in the town centre is better than the Tulips location which is on the outskirts of Arnhem. Also the Holiday Inn, Leige is very good, massive rooms and nice location.

In fact we are soon to book that same tour for next year,(Western Front) wife keen to join us this time, so looking forward to staying at The Best Western Alize hotel in 2009.

All the best, Phil...

RE: best western hotels

phil — Sat, 26 May 2007 21:16:25 GMT

Thanks DiHill, very useful info.

Cheers Phil...

RE: best western hotels

phil — Sat, 26 May 2007 20:46:57 GMT

Thanks for that info DiHill.

We are on the "All quiet on the Western Front" tour in June, and due to stay at the Alize. I am taking my 82 year old Mum, and the info is very useful.

Cheers Phil..

RE: best western hotels

DiHill — Wed, 23 May 2007 07:49:01 GMT

We stayed at the Hotel Alize in Mouscron last weekend and have no complaints whatsoever. Very modern 'international business' type hotel. Good size room - pristine white bedding - modern shower room with basin - separate toilet. Very convenient location in a small cul de sac off main square. Good choice of eateries. Recommend the Cloche for excellent food & service. Hotel staff who multi-tasked couldn't have been nicer or more helpful - especially Caroline. Breakfast was usual continental type with plenty of choice plus scrambled eggs and sausage. Would happily stay there again. :):)

RE: best western hotels

Paul Reed — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 22:24:05 GMT

Don't know of any fast food places; there are a couple of Italian, several Chinese, and a number of good steak restaurants etc. So you should be well served.

RE: best western hotels

phil — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 22:13:54 GMT

Hi Paul. We are staying at the Hotel Alize with Leger in June.

I am taking my 81 year old super fit mum.

I note, that the Hotel does not have its own restaurant, but there are many close by.

Are the local ones fast food type, or somewhere one can get a good steak, Indian or Chinese etc? Cheers Phil...

RE: best western hotels

phil — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 10:44:26 GMT

Thanks Paul. Reassuring for me too, I am staying Alize in June.

RE: best western hotels

DiHill — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 00:50:22 GMT

Thanks Paul, that's reassuring. Will report back to this forum after our visit in May ;)

RE: best western hotels

Paul Reed — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 15:53:15 GMT

I think you are being a little unfair to Best Western hotels, based on just two visits!

I stay at Menin regularly, and there have been a number of improvements since you were last there. In fact, I have never found the bar area there quiet at all - the group normally congregate there at the end of the day to discuss what they have been doing. The hotel is currently installing Aircon, and extending the size.

The Hotel Alize at Mouscron had only just opened when you were there last summer, in fact you may have been the first Leger group to stay there. At that stage, it seems not all the work on the hotel was complete. Now it is all finished and personally I think it is one of the smartest and impressive hotels we use: the rooms are very comfortable, each has a kettle with tea/coffee facilities, the bathroom facilities are excellent (and there have not been any issues with hot water since last autumn), the breakfast is good and the bar area is large and there is a good choice of drinks at reasonable prices. It is also less than 5 minutes walk from the main square where there are 15+ restaurants. All the groups I have stayed there with this year have thought it the best Leger hotel they had ever stayed in!

However, we do take problems with hotels seriously, and always welcome comments on those that we use.

RE: best western hotels

fraggle — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 10:37:44 GMT

This is the hotel we stayed in last year. The room was OK except we had the problem of no hot water, so I would advise taking a travel kettle just in case so at least you can wash and shave! The hotel does not do evening meals but there are plenty of places to eat in the town. We found an excellent chinese restaurant in the square and the bar almost next door was good. Go to breakfast early as its a bit of a scrum!I don't know why leger have decided to go with best western, maybe they are cheaper. We have had 6 tours with leger and part of the enjoyment of the tour is sitting in the bar in the evening chatting to others about the tour and personal experiences of the battlefields. There are not really the same facilities at the western hotels to socialise. Sorry to be so negative , we were just so disappointed.We have conveyed our feelings to leger and we did get a voucher from them, which is nice but we would rather they didn't use western!

RE: best western hotels

DiHill — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 09:21:24 GMT

Oh dear... Does anyone have something good to say about Best Western Hotels? We are due to stay of the Hotel Alize in Mouscron. What experience have others had here?

RE: best western hotels

Pegasus — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 23:44:40 GMT

I've been in that hotel in Menen, July 2006 "All Quiet on the Western Front".

It wasn't quiet after 3:30 a.m. there is Cock that crows so loud you cannot imagine,we had to sleep with the window open as there is no air conditioning and we were having a heat wave.

We didn't eat at the hotel, the coach driver recommended a BRILLIANT family restaurant, just past the train station on the crossroads, SUPERB!!!!!! Also on the same side of the hotel approx 600 yds towards the station, there is a bar, we drank in there till 1:0a.m. very cheap and the locals were very friendly.

I just use the Leger hotels as a base and in fairness the price of the tours is kept reasonable by using cheaper accomodation.

Ed.

best western hotels

fraggle — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 15:10:57 GMT

Be warned !!! On a few of the tours now if it states the name of one hotel ie. hotel cathedral and then says if heavily booked will use another hotel it will be best western. We did " all quiet on the western front " in 2005. We took two friends because we'd raved about leger tours. We were in the best western at menen. Firstly when the coach pulled up there was no pavement, hadn't been for over a year. There were planks from the coach to the hotel entrance. Couple of our party were very elderly and was very difficult for them. Food was dreadful, no proper evening meals but the worse thing was the bar closed promptly at 10pm every night as the barmaid had to go home andno one in the hotel was prepared to run it.
Complained to leger and we had a £50 voucher.
Last year we did the somme anniversary tour and guess what, another best western. I won't bore you with how bad it was suffice to say there was no hot water the whole of our stay. Unless leger can assure us our hotel is not best western we won't travel with them again which is a shame as we have had 5 really good tours.