Prefab Hotels Offer Spartan but Cheap Stays

If you are fortunate enough to have your own transportation while touring Europe, one of your options for economical accommodations is a “prefab” hotel on the edge of many large cities. Usually these modern, prefabricated buildings with small, plain rooms are located by a shopping mall or industrial park.

For several friends traveling together, such a hotel can be less expensive than a downtown youth hostel. Although this may not be what you would call an enriching cultural experience, parking is more convenient because you are not in the city center.

One such company, Formule 1 Hotels, has 300 prefab hotels in France. (Others are in England, South Africa, Australia and the Netherlands.) Rates are about $20 per room, per night. You can expect that a room will sleep up to three people, with a double bed and an upper bunk. All the rooms have television sets, but bathrooms are down the hall. Limited information is available on the Internet at https://www.hotelweb.fr. From anywhere within France, call local telephone 08-36-68-5685. Directories can also be picked up at each property.

The ETAP hotels are similar to the Formule 1, except the rooms have private bathrooms. Rates average $25 to $40 for up to three people in a room. Limited information can also be found at https://www.hotelweb.fr. Currently there are about 180 locations. In France, call local tel. 08-36-68-8900.

Premiere Classe Hotels (with private bathrooms) average $25 to $28. There are more than 150 locations, all except one (in Belgium) in France. You can find details on the Internet at https://www.premiereclasse.com. While the English version of the Internet site is being updated, location information is available in French.

There are about 30 Quick Palace properties--again, most of them in France. The rate is $32 for one person, $29 for two. Rooms have private washrooms. Details about locations are on the Internet at https://www.quickpalace.com.

You can reserve economical rooms in many foreign cities through North American college campus travel agencies. This is worth considering for your first night or two, when you’ll be dealing with jet lag.

STA Travel, for example, books travelers with student-style budgets into hotels and hostels in London, Dublin, Amsterdam, Paris, Vienna, Athens, Rome, Brussels, Budapest, Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Prague, St. Petersburg, Katmandu, Auckland, Sydney, Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Cape Town, South Africa.

For details: tel. (800) 777-0112, Internet https://www.statravel.com.

Lucy Izon is a Toronto-based freelance writer. Internet https://www .izon.com.