Pre and after cruise Hotels - 4-5 star worth it?

Got a question for those of you that have done your own pre/after cruise Hotel reservations.

I will be making these reservations using partly points and partly money - 3 days in Lucerne and 2 in Amsterdam.

Is it worth spending the extra points or money to book at a 4 or 5 star Hotel? I'm thinking we are not going to be in the hotel/room that much since our days are going to be filled with being out and about.

What do you think? Did the hotel/room make your holiday OR would you have gone cheaper had you know how little time you would have spent in the room?

I think it depends on location and convenience. We also like it if the hotel has an included breakfast...makes it easier to start the day.

We love 4 & 5 star hotels. We never choose anything else now. We are in our 70’s and love being spoilt. For years we couldn't afford it - make the most of it if you can.

Everyone's budget is different - travel accordingly.

I don't need 4 or 5 stars (and what those stars get you in different locations varies tremendously anyway). I want a good location ("good" based on what I plan to be doing) I want clean, good reviews in general (a few bad or a few over the top good I usually throw out as outliers :p). I don't need a concierge or a pool/spa or even an in-house restaurant and those are things that are usually required to rate more highly in many of the rating systems.

I *do* need a good bed, and enough quiet to sleep, and my own bathroom, so some B&Bs are out, haven't stayed in a hostel in 20+ years, and I don't usually choose the cheapest of the cheap. We do spend time in a hotel room, despite it rarely being the focus of the trip. We'll buy food & wine or beer in a market and have breakfast or cocktail hour in the room. Sometimes, we'll pick a nice (more expensive) room in a cheaper hotel (eg getting a river or canal side room but in a more mid-priced hotel option) and that makes us happier than a small room at a more luxurious hotel would.

I say pick the traits you want in the room and choose from there, not necessarily focusing on "star" ratings. If you're using points, you're likely limited in your choices so your research shouldn't take too long. Have a great trip!

I don't need 4 or 5 stars (and what those stars get you in different locations varies tremendously anyway). I want a good location ("good" based on what I plan to be doing) I want clean, good reviews in general (a few bad or a few over the top good I usually throw out as outliers :p). I don't need a concierge or a pool/spa or even an in-house restaurant and those are things that are usually required to rate more highly in many of the rating systems.

 

I *do* need a good bed, and enough quiet to sleep, and my own bathroom, so some B&Bs are out, haven't stayed in a hostel in 20+ years, and I don't usually choose the cheapest of the cheap. We do spend time in a hotel room, despite it rarely being the focus of the trip. We'll buy food & wine or beer in a market and have breakfast or cocktail hour in the room. Sometimes, we'll pick a nice (more expensive) room in a cheaper hotel (eg getting a river or canal side room but in a more mid-priced hotel option) and that makes us happier than a small room at a more luxurious hotel would.

 

I say pick the traits you want in the room and choose from there, not necessarily focusing on "star" ratings. If you're using points, you're likely limited in your choices so your research shouldn't take too long. Have a great trip!

Very good points, thank you.

And yes, limited in choices but since we are spending a lot on the flights I've decided to spend points for Hotels.

I suppose to me - the star ratings dictate the quality of the hotel. I'm not going to stay at a B & B, but I do want a nice location, and a clean room. And definitely my own bathroom - NOT an option.

I had booked several Hotels on Booking.com but booking with my points will save nearly 2k.

And when I read reviews - I read about location and the rooms. I turned down one since the church bells go off every hour and another due to walls being very thin.

Thanks.

I agree totally with Stratheden. It's not that a 5 * hotel will "make" my trip, but a really poor hotel will certainly "break" it for me. One thing that I've done is to alternate between 3 * and 5 * hotels - one night in less luxurious surroundings followed by the next night in an upscale place. That way there's always something to look forward to. (This only works well if you're traveling from place to place and doesn't make much sense if your in the same city for multiple nights of course.)

As far as location goes, I look for where the nearest Metro/subway station is in relation to the hotel. This involves a little research, but with google maps, is pretty straightforward. This can be more important than how close to the city center a hotel is. As long as it's an easy walk to the Metro, your in good shape location wise. Sometimes you can find a 5 * hotel a little farther out but close to a Metro and this can save big bucks as well as points.

We sometimes go for the 4-5 star hotels, but sometimes a Bed and Breakfast or nice 3 star. I like to run a kayak or venere search for the city, then use TripAdvisor to compare. TripAdvisor has a feature that allows you to use a map that shows hotel, restaurants and things to see. You can find the hotel you want with acceptable price at the location you want.

Location is important.

If we're only there for a few days, the location is more important than the stars. I want to be close to everything I want to do and near public transportation (so I'm not lugging my suitcase too far). Although spending some time on public transportation is expected, I don't want to spend 1/2 my time on trains or stations.

But I probably wouldn't go down to the 1-2 star level. I've gotten used to certain comforts. I look more for a property with a good reputation (trip advisor), included breakfast, free wifi, ensuite bath and if possible king-sized beds.

If it helps, at the link below, you can see how the European Hotel Stars Union defines the star ratings.

FuelScience

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_rating

One other thought: Service is so good on river cruise lines, if you go from your river cruise to a non-service oriented hotel, it could be quite jarring. And even take away from the overall trip.

Even if you don't spend a lot of time in your hotel room, there's peace of mind knowing that you're going to be comfortable.

Carolyn

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor in Chief

Cruise Critic

Very good points, thank you.

 

And yes, limited in choices but since we are spending a lot on the flights I've decided to spend points for Hotels.

 

I suppose to me - the star ratings dictate the quality of the hotel. I'm not going to stay at a B & B, but I do want a nice location, and a clean room. And definitely my own bathroom - NOT an option.

 

I had booked several Hotels on Booking.com but booking with my points will save nearly 2k.

 

And when I read reviews - I read about location and the rooms. I turned down one since the church bells go off every hour and another due to walls being very thin.

 

Thanks.

I think it's a personal preference. For us, quiet, comfort, safety, and cleanliness are most important, but we also prefer to stay in more 'local' hotels than the big chains in Europe when possible. We spent three days in Budapest with friends from Poland after our Danube River cruise with Avalon. They found a wonderful 'apartment hotel', Gozsdu Court, in the center of Pest. We had a one bedroom apartment, complete with full living room, kitchen, and even a laundry for just 70 euros a night! The apartment was wonderful, in a safe neighborhood with restaurants, shops, bars, etc just steps away and we walked everywhere. Most of the people on our cruise stayed at the big hotels on the river and were very happy with their accommodations.

We sometimes go for the 4-5 star hotels, but sometimes a Bed and Breakfast or nice 3 star. I like to run a kayak or venere search for the city, then use TripAdvisor to compare. TripAdvisor has a feature that allows you to use a map that shows hotel, restaurants and things to see. You can find the hotel you want with acceptable price at the location you want.

Location is important.

I like to do that too. Location is a big factor and then we like to find the best hotel in that area.

For our pre and post hotels for our River Cruise down the Rhine, we used Hotwire, and got amazing deals for hotels in Basel and Amersterdam. You pick the star rating and location and bid on that. We paid under $100 per night, which was better than half price and loved our hotels. Just another idea I wanted to put out there. Some people don't like the uncertainty, others don't mind.

Worth it? That's very subjective. But they sure are (almost always) very nice! To an extent, you get more for your money. Whether you get 5x as much for 5x the price - well, that's even more subjective. And there is merit in considering just how much time you'll be spending in your room - though no matter what, it is really nice to come home to a palace vs. a plain hotel. We don't feel guilty about spending money on a nice room that we only sleep in. You might. OK either way.

It really depends on where you want to spend your money. Like many other posters, we consider location, number of stars, and price. Then we pick something that looks nice (location, amenities) and has a decent price (compared to quality, and what's included) based on an intangible overall feeling and enjoy it. There are nice places to be had at many different price points, and we have enjoyed many hotels which have run the gamut. To an extent, the higher price / higher star ratings are more consistently nice. If we can score a real bargain on a high-end property, we are even happier.

That said, most of our all-time favorites have been the highest-end places like the suite we got in the Park Hyatt Place Vendome in Paris (which we got for points, just before Hyatt really jacked up the number of points necessary for a free room here), and Hotel 41 in London - which we got on a cheapo special deal years ago - before they priced themselves into the stratosphere since they got rated #1 in London by someone or other...

So we wouldn't pay the crazy (to us) current rates for these two places, even though we love them and they would add tremendously to the enjoyment of our vacation. Though if they would run a special, we would love to stay at 41 again before our August cruise. Hint, hint... ;)

We generally do book 4 - 5 star hotels as we want a king bed, and this is not always offered in 3 star hotels. I need wifi and really like having a gym so those two factors weigh heavily in my decision making process.

We do not like B&Bs at all.

We generally do book 4 - 5 star hotels as we want a king bed, and this is not always offered in 3 star hotels. I need wifi and really like having a gym so those two factors weigh heavily in my decision making process.

 

We do not like B&Bs at all.

Caviargal - agree with you. Especially the B&B's.

I wish hotels were rated on different categories, rather than one star rating for everything combined.

I want a 5-star room: big room, king size bed, nice bathroom (with shower door that closes all the way!)

I don't want (and don't want to pay for): room service, bellmen, pool, gym

So I would like star ratings of the rooms. That and location would be all the information I need.

Got a question for those of you that have done your own pre/after cruise Hotel reservations.

 

I will be making these reservations using partly points and partly money - 3 days in Lucerne and 2 in Amsterdam.

 

Is it worth spending the extra points or money to book at a 4 or 5 star Hotel? I'm thinking we are not going to be in the hotel/room that much since our days are going to be filled with being out and about.

 

What do you think? Did the hotel/room make your holiday OR would you have gone cheaper had you know how little time you would have spent in the room?

I'll try to bring a different perspective here...

First of all, I have traveled extensively in Europe over many years. When I started going, it was as a 21 year-old college student on an extreme budget. I stayed in everything from youth hostels to cheap hotels to "pensiones"...places with the shared bathroom down the hall, places with virtually nothing resembling a mattress as we know it, places with zero air conditioning, etc. ...and I enjoyed every one of them anyway...

As I grew older and my expendable income became greater, I slowly increased the level of hotel I was willing to stay in. Now, when I travel, I stay primarily in 4 and 5 star hotels...BUT not always...

Sometimes, I will stay in a hotel with a lesser star rating, but for several other reasons..."Stars" are not the be-all and end-all...

The primary thing I look for is LOCATION and CONVENIENCE. I would rather stay in the heart of the city in a great location at a slightly lesser ranked hotel (A good example here is the "3-Star" Hotel Continental in Barcelona--right off the Placa Catalunya-can't be located any better...and the place is a veritable bargain--fairly low prices, free 24 hour buffet including beer and wine, balconies overlooking Las Ramblas. Why only 3-stars? It's a funky, older hotel without the grand lobby or shops and restaurants...but people who have stayed there love it.).

Next thing to look for are the reviews. Some 5-star hotels actually get negative reviews. Some 3-stars get rave reviews. Take a good look at reviews in Tripadvisor.com.

Then, check out deals...The internet is wonderful...You can compare shop all you want...What is actually amazing is that sometimes you CAN find 5-star hotels at 3-star rates (Our first trip to Istanbul, we managed to book the 5-Star Conrad for $129 per night! We paid less than $250 per night for the 5-Star Mayfair in London...and less than $200 per night for the 4-star Park Plaza Westminster Bridge in London just at the start of the London Olympics--which, BTW, flat out beat the Mayfair despite one less star.)

Bottom line: Don't worry about the stars. Do your research on TripAdvisor. Find hotels in the BEST LOCATION that have the amenities you want (Air Conditioning, for example) that also have great reviews...then see what deals you can swing pricewise...

BTW, next visit to Istanbul, after staying at the Conrad, we booked the 3 or 4 star Sari Konak--much cheaper, small hotel...There were trade-offs--not the luxurious room of the Conrad...but the location blew it away...and the hotel was plenty nice, as was the price...

Anyway, you might find that you can get that 4 or 5 star hotel at a great deal...or that there's a three-star that has all of the amenities and features you want that will put you in a superior location and save you loads of money...

Good luck...

Thank you for all your replies.

When I first traveled Europe (20 yrs ago), it was by train, we stayed at Hostels and ate cheese and crackers! What amazing fun - but I'm way too spoiled to do that now.

I also believe that location is key. What I did was research Hotels that you guys recommended - mapped it - then went to the points website and found a Hotel within that area.

Did the same with Paris - researched best locations then found one close by a location recommended.

Read reviews and looked mainly for "close to everything", "clean", "good location" and so on.

Now I'm onto Lucerne - which is proving difficult since there are not many options with points. I have a temp booking for 3 nights at Hotel Des Alpes - it looks so quaint and... well, Swiss. But I could be saving nearly $800 by booking at another hotel with points (my points are about to expire which is why I am using them PLUS we've decided to upgrade to Business class flying so it all evens out).

One night in London too - I may do priceline for that though since we want somewhere near the airport (got an early flight the next day).

Thanks again - great tips.

Now I'm onto Lucerne - which is proving difficult since there are not many options with points. I have a temp booking for 3 nights at Hotel Des Alpes - it looks so quaint and... well, Swiss. But I could be saving nearly $800 by booking at another hotel with points (my points are about to expire which is why I am using them PLUS we've decided to upgrade to Business class flying so it all evens out).

 

One night in London too - I may do priceline for that though since we want somewhere near the airport (got an early flight the next day).

Well, I won't be much help with Lucerne...Last time we stayed there was almost 33 years ago...during our honeymoon. I tried to find the place we stayed at...it was quite nice, a quaint hotel near the center of town, not modern, very nicely decorated...but either I don't remember the name correctly...or it changed names...orits no longer there. Lots may have happened in 32+ years!

For London, I really have my preferences...but, of course, my preference is to stay in London proper...to enjoy the nightlife and theatre and history and shopping. When flying out the next morning, we've usually just arranged an early pick-up from the folks at Heathrow Express shuttle and never had much of a problem getting to the airport. I find the area around Heathrow dull and industrial and uninspiring...though I do understand dealing with one's flight schedule.

The one time recently where we had a late flight in and we're leaving the next morning not for London, but, by rental car to Falmouth, I just used Hotwire to get me a Heathrow hotel. They put us at the Marriott Heathrow/Windsor in Slough. The hotel was adequate...and, at least, I collected Marriott points for the stay. I would stay there again as I don't think there's any great advantage to any Heathrow hotel over any others. Most require taking the bus or a taxi to the terminals. Most don't have much around them. When we stayed at the Marriott, we walked across the highway to a "carvery"--one of the worst meals we've ever had!

Imho, if you are fortunate enough to get to travel to another country and you have the means, I think it is well worth it to Stay at a hotel that has taken the time to embrace the culture and is there to enhance your visit! . We will be staying at the Pulitzer in Amsterdam when we go late march before we Cruise in April.check it out, they won awards for it's Dutch architecture, art, gardens and it maintains it's own boat for the canals! It may even offer bicycles as well for use. I am not sure about the other location for you, but I do remember that as a rule, staying in a hotel that has a higher rating AND reflects the surroundings of it's locale shows consideration for the community and is not just a cookie cutter, and this is a star wood property, so you may be able to use or swap points(?)...just some thoughts, have a great trip, just thankful for the opportunity to see the wonders of our world! Safe travels!

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good points, thank you.

And yes, limited in choices but since we are spending a lot on the flights I've decided to spend points for Hotels.

I suppose to me - the star ratings dictate the quality of the hotel. I'm not going to stay at a B & B, but I do want a nice location, and a clean room. And definitely my own bathroom - NOT an option.

I had booked several Hotels on Booking.com but booking with my points will save nearly 2k.

And when I read reviews - I read about location and the rooms. I turned down one since the church bells go off every hour and another due to walls being very thin.

Thanks.

It's almost always worth it when traveling in Europe since a 4 or 5 Star is generally not as nice as in the US mostly because rooms tend to be smaller and the buildings are older. The concierge service is usually superior to a hotel with fewer stars and the food is generally better. A good concierge can really assist with steering you in the right direction for sightseeing, transportation, show tickets, restaurant reservations. When things go wrong (perhaps illness) and you need assistance you might be better off in a higher category hotel. If it is a real stretch to afford it then try the lesser category and choose carefully. I have to say, no matter where I stay my biggest fear is bedbugs!

It's almost always worth it when traveling in Europe since a 4 or 5 Star is generally not as nice as in the US mostly because rooms tend to be smaller and the buildings are older. The concierge service is usually superior to a hotel with fewer stars and the food is generally better. A good concierge can really assist with steering you in the right direction for sightseeing, transportation, show tickets, restaurant reservations. When things go wrong (perhaps illness) and you need assistance you might be better off in a higher category hotel. If it is a real stretch to afford it then try the lesser category and choose carefully. I have to say, no matter where I stay my biggest fear is bedbugs!

I have generally found that we get more assistance with sightseeing, transportation, restaurants, tickets, etc. from a good B and B than from a five star.

Of course a five star will have excellent food, but the prices at their restaurant is usually too high to eat there.

I like small boutique hotels in the right neighborhood. I get great advice here on CC and TA

It is subjective and so depenadant on budget. On a 4-6 weeks holiday we try to book hotels with a very good customer rating like on trip advisor, with a great location. Usually not big chains. To us it is important to stay somewhere nice but more of a boutique hotel. We have stayed in some gems in a excellent locations with wonderful breakfasts included. Often in quaint breakfast rooms overlooking the local area or a courtyard.

On our trip to Europe in September we have booked a combination of bigger 5 star hotels( compliments of reward points) resort in Santorini and for the first time we have booked airbnb and vrbo accommodations. In case you are not aware of these they are apartment and house rentals by owners. We want to self cater breakfasts and maybe some dinners as we are away for 6 weeks and not only do we get a bit tired of eating out but also to save money. Have a look at these. Quite interesting. We are looking forward to staying in a variety of accommodations. Even though we don't spend a lot of time in the room we find good choices definitely add to the enjoyment of our holiday. For example we have booked a lovely apartment in Paris with everything we need in marias ( area 3) for $150 per night. So much cheaper than the cheaper hotels but much nicer. :)