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  The room was outdated but appeared clean.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.

     

Prague {or Praha, what our family did for food, fun and how we got there}

I think the worst part of the whole trip was the anxiety on taking a bus to Prague.  We had to change from a train to a bus in Munich and WALK from the train station to the bus station.  And we only had about 30 minutes to get there, with two kids. and thanks to our maps ap on our phones, we DID IT!

and the bus itself wasn't a bad drive at all.  Sonja actually really enjoyed it.

Once we were in Prague we had to figure out how to get to our hotel.  We looked up the metro system and found the stop nearby but we had to buy tickets.  We went into the newpaper stand in the train station once we got there, and there was a guy waving and talking to Sonja, which of course stressed me out. But people are friendly you know? Anyway, he reached down to poke her or something but it was like he was reaching towards the bags Husband sat on the floor, so I kicked him.  Or tried to, he moved and I kicked Husband in the leg.  BUT after that panic attack, we had our tickets and we headed towards our hotel.  We got off the metro and walked to our hotel, unfortunately we had some misunderstanding and walked past it, after much frustration we finally made it to our room!

We stayed at a Hilton and it was the nicest hotel from the whole trip.  After a good night's sleep, we started the day sight seeing around the city.

Powder Tower

Prague is a big city but since it's so old, almost everything sight seeing wise is walking distance.

Details of the tower.

The building which houses the Prague Clock. and the winter market still in full swing until the 6th of January. 

This sparking tree in the middle of the market.

St. Nicholas Church in Old Town, the church was completed in 1735.

Because Prague is such an old city it has the most diverse architectural movements among major cities.

Looking up at the clock tower from the side.

I of course was already hungry from walking AND so was Sonja, so we got pasta and coffee.

The last of the winter markets.

St. Nicholas Church through the trees of the square park.

A tired Sonja tried to sleep on her daddy, but we continued walking...

We'd only been out for a few hours but we were so far east in the time zone that the sun started setting around 3:30pm. I believe this was an Opera House.

Just a few steps from the opera house is the river Vltava.

Sonja enjoying the bridge.

from one of the bridges, we could see the Prague Castle, the largest castle in the world.

Couldn't resist snapping a photo of these tourists.

Such a beautiful, cold, dark, wet city.

Through every winding street we could see glimpses of the past.

Gift shops on gift shops, all bright and cheap looking, full of souvenirs.

the view from walking back on one of the bridges to the hotel.

Prague at night.

On the Saint Charles Bridge

the Castle from St. Charles bridge

Walking back to the hotel we spotted these treats; Trdelník; and I stocked up on some snacks for the room.

We loved the metro decor, the metros themselves might have been the cleanest we saw.

The next morning the sun was up and so were we!

These signs for the Communism Museum were great, I'm kind of disappointed we missed it.

We decided to take the leisurely route to the Castle.

We found this little park on the way.

Wayne and Gretchen joined us on the adventure to the castle.

in the possible park, there were peacocks roaming.

Also we don't know what this little building was but it was worth documenting.

I loved these tiny flower details from the day as well.

Odd souvenirs and tourist attractions all on the way to the castle.

Also let's appreciate these black and white sidewalks

More buildings on the way to the Castle.

on the stairs to the Castle.

We made it! and just in time for the changing of the guards.

And once inside we could see St. Vitus Cathedral!

Details.

Bethlehems made of Bread, Breadlehems if you will.

Views from the palace courtyards.

St. Vitus from the back.

Wanted to document these honeycomb windows.  Must find!

Oh and you know, just someone's bones. In a chest. in a church. in Prague.

And around the back another family photo.

Once we done with the castle we found some street food and of course had to get Sonja her corn.

and Gretchen got this Potato Tornado.

And speaking of food, after our nap at the hotel we headed to Clear Head {or Lehka Hlava in Czech} a Vegan and Vegetarian Restaurant.

It was probably one of the best restaurants from the trip and the cheapest too!

Guac.

The first place since Germany to have vegetable juice! 

Sonja tried to drink it all but I got some too {carrots, ginger and more}

the best salad in Europe, walnuts and goat cheese {although, the cranberries could have been a little more natural, but that's hard to find even here}

Husband's beet burger.

Gretchen's skewers.

Wayne's Soup.

Not a bad way to end a 3 week trip across Europe! I've still got more to share about our hotels and experiences, along with our Return Home Story.  Thanks for following along.