European Planning Post no. 7 {The Hotels We Booked}

Here are all the places we stayed on our trip and resources for you if you're interested in any of the places.  I booked them 9-12 months before our departure date.  I used expedia.com for the whole trip, I've always had good results with trips I've planned this way in the past.  I highly suggested it to anyone D.I.Y.ing a vacation.  Here's where we stayed...

Hotel in Frankfurt (Cultural Quarter) near Museum of Modern Art

In city center

This hotel is located in Frankfurt (Cultural Quarter), close to Konstablerwache, Museum of Modern Art, and Frankfurt Cathedral. Also nearby are Roemer and Paul's Church.

Property amenities

Residence Hotel provides complimentary wireless Internet access, tour/ticket assistance, multilingual staff, and a 24-hour front desk.

Complimentary Wi-Fi

Televisions come with cable channels. Guest rooms also feature kitchenettes, complimentary wireless Internet access, and refrigerators.

Residence Hotel
Our hotel in Frankfurt was not as pictured above, in fact, I was really disappointed with the hotel.  It smelled like smoke and was not as clean or well designed as pictured.  The room was outdated but appeared clean. The bathroom not so much, you could see it was attempted to be recently remodeled but there was still mold and chipped paint.  I was also not comfortable with the area, while it's good on a map, it was not such a good area.  There was an adult store practically out front of our hotel and we walked quickly though the neighborhood to get to the train station.  As an adult it might not be a big deal if trying to save money {which we were} but with kids it did make me anxious knowing the creeps were nearby.  Also, when we checked in we did not get a room with a kitchenette but according to my brother and sister in law their room wasn't any nicer.
{read mine and other's reviews of the hotel here}

Mercure Paris Vaugirard Porte de Versailles

This might have been my favorite hotel from the trip.  It actually reminded me of the Hotel Valley Ho in Phoenix, and even though it's a chain hotel it's got a boutique hotel vibe to it.  You guys! the bed lit up.  It did have a breakfast for 18€ and I heard it was pretty good.  However, I passed on it since I found food for *slightly* less while exploring the city.

Geneva, Switzerland

Hotel Suisse Geneva  

This hotel was chosen and booked by my brother in law, we had put off booking hotels for a bit but he chose this one and we followed along, it was a good choice and a good price.  It was located across the street from the train station.  In any other city that would have been risky but Switzerland has almost no crime and nothing is dirty.  I honestly would never go back to Geneva since there wasn't really anything to do {we originally wanted to go to be tattooed by someone there but she's in Amsterdam now} but if you are planning on going there I would recommend this hotel, they also had a breakfast buffet included with the room and the wait staff was very helpful.

Hotel BarcelonaGO

This hotel was as pictured but a cheaper version.  It was clean, but had that Ikea lower quality feel to all the furniture.  Also, when we checked in the guy at the front desk wanted to tell us EVERYTHING about the city and hotel and such, but we had two fussy kids and this was my 4th time in Barcelona, I know the city I didn't need the extra info, we just wanted to get to our room.  When we finally got the keys we walked in and I immediately noticed the bed wasn't made, THEN, I noticed people were in it! He gave us a key to a room that was already occupied, and it wasn't just us, he did it to the other half of our group.  Since the door only have electronic locks there was no way for the guests to prevent this.  Which made it really hard for me to sleep at night, expecting someone to walk into our room.  HOWEVER, the breakfast was worth the cost and the bathrooms were nice, overall good experience, and I'd definitely recommend it if on a budget.

Hotel Seeburg in Luzern 

Our hotel in Lucerne was booked by my brother in law and was a great choice.  We had the option of staying with friends but I wasn't sure if they'd really appreciate having two very small children overrun their home so we ended up booking the same hotel as my BIL and I'm so glad we did.  I wish we could have stayed a few more days just to enjoy this view, sadly we were only there for less than 48 hours.  Next time. {just kidding, next time we're staying with my friends for sure!} but you should stay here.

at night, during winter, it looks like this:

Hilton Prague
Sadly, our hotel did not have the bathroom pictured above. However, the main entrance was amazing and it had a central courtyard that was indoors but all the rooms on the inner side faced with glass elevators, really classy.  they even had a breakfast buffet worth paying for {but it was included!} see?..

Of all the rooms I think the Paris and Prague choices were our best.  I would stay at all of these hotels again except the one in Germany, although I don't really have plans to go back to Germany, except maybe Berlin.  We actually got stuck there for a second time on our return adventure home {which I just realized I never blogged about} and I think I'm good on German culture for a while.  I do hope if you're planning a European adventure you find some helpful information in this and all my other Eurocation posts.