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Bike security when staying at hotels. Bike security when staying at hotels.
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Europe Topics specific to Western and Eastern Europe, from UK to the Russian border, and south-east to Turkey.
Photo by Marc Gibaud, Clouds on Tres Cerros and Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia

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Photo by Marc Gibaud,
Clouds on Tres Cerros and
Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia



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  #1  
Old 14 Apr 2015
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Originally Posted by AshMcD View Post
Pan European, please could I ask what a pension is? I've never heard of it from an accommodation perspective.

Many thanks indeed.

Ash
It's similar to bed and breakfast type accommodation except you usually get evening meals as well. A kind of small scale private house hotel (in rough terms).

You may see signs for "auberge" as well (in France). They're a kind of country inn or modest town hotel with relatively few facilities.

Sticking with France, the nearest to UK bed and breakfast is chambres d’hotes. God knows how to define those; even the French can't make up their mind.
And as for Gites .....

As with all of these things people stretch the definitions until they all merge into one.
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Old 14 Apr 2015
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Originally Posted by backofbeyond View Post
It's similar to bed and breakfast type accommodation except you usually get evening meals as well. A kind of small scale private house hotel (in rough terms).

You may see signs for "auberge" as well (in France). They're a kind of country inn or modest town hotel with relatively few facilities.

Sticking with France, the nearest to UK bed and breakfast is chambres d’hotes. God knows how to define those; even the French can't make up their mind. And as for Gites .....

As with all of these things people stretch the definitions until they all merge into one.
I think that's about right. I stayed in all three types. Bed & Breakfast = chambres d'hotes is right, private home with meals. Auberge is not someone's house ... but not really a full on Hotel either. More like a Pension or Hostel but varies as to set up. I liked them the best.

Quote:
Originally Posted by PanEuropean View Post
Hi Ash:
To me, a pension is a small lodging facility (typically 10 rooms or less) found in extra-urban areas. Sometimes they offer food beyond just breakfast, sometimes not. It's the kind of place that's not quite big enough to be called a hotel. Generally speaking, they offer simple - but fully satisfactory - accommodation.
Michael
I agree! In parts of the world Pensione and Hostal are sort of interchangeable. One aspect that defines both over a Hotel is that many will have a "common" bathroom/shower, so you go down the hall to bathroom. Hotels have bath in your room set ups.

In S. America I stayed in hundreds of Pension and Hostals of varying quality, almost all used the common bath concept.
More upscale places had bath in your room.
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Old 14 Apr 2015
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Thank you for the replies!

The pensions sound great. I mean in a dream world I'd stay at Hostels, I saw that Weronica did it with her Van Van 125 but I think I'd be very concerned about bike security at a hostel although she seemed to do ok!
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Old 14 Apr 2015
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Too much fretting about all of this. Hostels are often fine; pensions likewise, by whatever name; F1/Etap is sometimes the answer to my prayers. Plus rural pubs in France will serve reasonable food and offer some sort of cheap-ish rooms for the night; in Scandinavia the campgrounds usually rent cheap cabins; in Slovakia I kept getting drastic discounts by merely looking a bit sad at the initial price quotes. Etc.

Get too hung up on categorizing stuff and you'll miss the essential point, which is that accommodation is all around you, most of the time. Also that wherever bike theft is a significant problem there are ways to lower your risk to within reasonable limits--just ask around and do what the locals do.

Inquiring politely in your best faltering French (or other language, including German, Spanish, Italian and/or Serbo-Croatian) will open doors you never imagined existed. Assume you're neither the first nor the last who's needed a cheap place to stay and a secure spot to park. If you don't like what you find, accept it as a learning experience and hope to do better the following night.

All IMHO, as usual.

Mark
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