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Hi everyone

I would like to stay in one of these types of hotels for a stopover on way back to Calais.  We are 2 adults a 4 year old and a 3 year old.  Would we be able to stay in one room??  The website says something about a max of 3 adults but this is for Germany.  Has anyone done this?  Looking at the beds I would have thought it possible for the two children to stay on the top bunk "top and tailed" and for me and my husband to sleep on the double.  Is this a bit dubious??

Do you think it would be better to book a family room in a "normal" hotel?  What do other people do with 4??

Thanks for any help

Helen

The Formule 1,s in France have a double bed and a single bunk bed above it.  We have the same family size as you but have booked 2 rooms at a cost of about £31.  You could always have an adult on the bunk and an adult and 2 kids in the double bed.  The formule 1 staff wont care how many people are in the room.  Hope this helps.

Thank you for your replies, yes the villages Hotel did rooms for 4 people but there wasn't one where we were going.  In the end I've booked with B&B Hotel (l'hotellerie econimique!) and they've got lovely looking mezanine (?sp.) style rooms for 4 people costing 49 euros.  Am actually really looking forward to staying in it at the end of our holiday, I wonder if this is a sign that campings not for me!   I hope not!!

Thanks again

Helen

Hi Helen

We used an Ibis hotel on the way down to the South of France this year at a cost of 60 Euro.  It only had a double bed.  It was clean with an en suite shower room and air conditioning.  On the way back up France we decided to try a Formula 1 hotel.  It was certainly an experience.  These hotels are very inexpensive, it only cost us 26 Euro for the night but there is no ensuite.  You have to use a communal toilet and shower on each corridor but worst of all, there is no air conditioning and due to the materials from which the hotel is constructed, the one we stayed in was VERY warm inside.  We spent most of the night awake, hanging out the window to try and get some air.  The Ibis hotel was over twice the price but at least we got a good sleep which is very important if you are in the middle of a long journey through France.

This is not to say that I wouldn't use a Formula 1 hotel again.  The room was clean and comfortable and if you are used to communal bathrooms on campsites, the bathroom setup is not a problem but I would definitely NOT use one during a very hot period again as out drive the rest of the way home the next day was awful because we were both so tired from not sleeping the night before.

I've just had a thought!  We have a desktop fan which we use in the tent if its very hot!  We should have taken it in with us and ran it during the night!  You always think of these things afterwards!

We stayed in an Ibis Hotel for 1 night just outside Bruge last year after staying at a Eurosites campsite in Beekse Bergen.(which was lovely.)

Both rooms had a bunk bed over the top of a double bed with a small sink and television. Towels were provided. There were about 8 rooms I think in a small corridoor to each toilet/seperate shower(which provided shower gel/shampoo) The bedding was immaculate. The room was small but satisfactory.

After each use the toilet & shower was automatically washed with disenfectant and rinsed and were v.clean.

In the morning you helped yourself to orange juice/tea or coffee and croissants /rolls and jam/marmalade/chocolate spread and sat in the tiny little reception area or outside. Basic but filling.

Can't remember the cost but know it was v.cheap. For an overnight stop and if you are on a budget these hotels are ideal. We booked our room on the internet before we left home.  This particular hotel was in the middle of a lorry parking area so it really was park up, sleep & move on.

Formule 1 Hotels are the same in this country as they are in France; cheap, cheerful places to lay your head! We stayed in the one in Troyes a couple of years back on our way to, and from the South, it was red hot......no a/c. Nightmare!

You gets what you pays for, I'm afraid!

Hi, We stayed (the 4 of us) in an Etap Hotel. Very cheap and had a bunk over the double bed which both kids topped and tailed in. Room was fine,shower and toilet clean, the sheets smelt a bit like chip fat, a little off putting but was too tired to care! However we woke to find that our car had been broken into (the side passenger window had been smashed). Not a very nice ending to the holiday. We had to drive from Senlis, north of Paris, to Calais with no window. Unfortunately the French do not have a 24hour autoglass service that will do side windows and after a long 4 hour wait to find this out had to limp home without window to Leicestershire.

Six cars were done in that car park and others in the Ibis and Campanile on the same night. So avoid the hotels in Senlis. Apparently its a common occurence.

Debs