Checking In: The Thrill Of Hotel Stays Pre- & Post-Cruise
In last week’s post about saving on business class, I mentioned three exciting moments that accompany a new adventure. The first was flying business class. The second is the arrival and checking into a hotel. If you’ve been a regular visitor here, you know that we always recommend flying in a day or two before your river cruise embarkation. Why? 1) You need time to recover from the change of time zones and the impact on your body clock. 2) Your luggage, despite the airlines best intentions (or worst ones), may not arrive when you do. And 3) It’s smart to use time before your river cruise to explore the European city where you’re embarking. Typically, these are wonderful cities such as Amsterdam, Paris, Lyon, Arles, Basel, Vienna, Budapest, Porto and others.
I have two strategies for my pre-cruise hotel stays. One is to stay in an airport hotel. I did just that last April before my back-to-back barge trips in France. My flight took me to Frankfurt (a more reliable airport than CDG in my opinion – and also with cheaper business class fares than Paris). I had originally booked a dayroom at the Frankfurt Airport Hilton, but because my luggage was misrouted, I turned the dayroom to an overnight room and retrieved my luggage the next morning to continue my journey to Strasbourg for my barge trip. You can read more about that 12 Things I Did Right When Traveling To Europe Last Month & One Thing I Got Wrong.
My other strategy is to book the nicest hotel that I can afford in the city center. In September of 2021, before boarding Crystal Debussy (now Riverside Debussy), I enjoyed A 'Free' Stay At The Waldorf Astoria in Amsterdam. Click the link above to find out how I managed to stay for “free” in such a luxurious hotel.
It’s probably safe to say that we all love checking into a hotel in a foreign country. The right hotel can often be a highlight of an adventure. For my barge trip next month, we’re staying two nights at Hôtel Le Sauvage in Besançon and one night between barge trips at the Grand Hotel La Cloche in Dijon. Check out the links, and you’ll see that these hotels likely will be among the highlights of our trip.
By booking these hotels several months out, I was able to get some great rates. When rates aren’t great, I often use reward points or reward nights to book a hotel such as the previously mentioned Waldorf-Astoria in Amsterdam. And I don’t mind “slumming it” in a hotel such as the Doubletree at Amsterdam Centraal (the main rail station, also near where many of the river boats dock). The Doubletree is actually a wonderful hotel with the added bonus of a rooftop bar.
What about you? Is there an international hotel that you fondly remember? Tell us about it in the comments below.
Article ID: ART5054
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