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*** Where is it ***
The Holiday Inn "Calais - Nord" is located just out of the centre of Calais near the car ferry port. So it is very convenient for both the Channel Tunnel and the ferry ports. It took me about 10 minutes to drive there from the Channel Tunnel.
The hotel is located ... Read review
Advantages: Relaxing hotel, easy to get to Disadvantages: maybe a little pricey
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The Holiday Inn "Calais - Nord" is located just out of the centre of Calais near the car ferry port. So it is very convenient for both the Channel Tunnel and the ferry ports. It took me about 10 minutes to drive there from the Channel Tunnel.
The hotel is located at
6/8/10 Boulevard des Allies
62100 Calais
France
Tel +33 321 34 6969
Fax + 33 321 97 0915
... ...fact the directions on the Holiday Inn website are perfect. The hotel is located right next to the car ferry port. If you find the big lighthouse, you are there, look up and you will see the familiar Holiday Inn green sign - if fact you can actually see the sign from quite a long way, so it sort of acts as a beacon.
I booked my stay through the Priority Club www.priorityclub.com
I had to travel to Germany, in fact it was the furthest part of the old West Germany you could get to, so I needed to break my journey (after travelling from the West Country), just coming out of the Channel Tunnel, Calais seemed a good place to stop off over night.
*** Where is it ***
The Holiday Inn "Calais - Nord" is located just out of the centre of Calais near the car ferry port. So it is very convenient for both the Channel Tunnel and the ferry ports. It took me about 10 minutes to drive there from the Channel Tunnel.
The hotel is located at 6/8/10 Boulevard des Allies 62100 Calais France
Tel +33 321 34 6969 Fax + 33 321 97 0915
www.holiday-inn.com/calais-nord
The hotel is very easy to find, in fact the directions on the Holiday Inn website are perfect. The hotel is located right next to the car ferry port. If you find the big lighthouse, you are there, look up and you will see the familiar Holiday Inn green sign - if fact you can actually see the sign from quite a long way, so it sort of acts as a beacon.
I booked my stay through the Priority Club www.priorityclub.com
*** Check in ***
When I arrived, I went straight to reception, did the best I could in French, but I think the receptionist took pity on me, and the whole check in process was carried out in English. As I had booked on-line, all my details were ready to go, she gave me my key card, a key for the garage, and pointed me to the lift, and off I went.
The reception area is nice and light, with a large modern desk. There is a decorative partition separating the bar and restaurant area.
To get into the hotel, there are a couple of steps, a ramp has also been provided, so disabled access is easy.
There is plenty of on-street parking, right outside the hotel.
*** Rooms ***
This hotel has 63 rooms.
My room was on the 4th floor, access is via a key card, just swipe the card, and the door unlocks. When you enter the room, is it dark, you have to put the key card into a holder on the wall, this then turns the power on in the room. (Tip of the day - if you are going out, get a piece of card, and put that in the holder, you can keep the lights & heating on while you go out - especially in the winter). To the right is the bathroom, which is very tidy. There are plenty of luxurious towels provided, soap and shampoo provided too. The shower was very powerful, certainly woke me up in the morning, which I needed as I had an eight hour drive ahead of me.
In the room is a large TV, with quite a few English channels, there are a number of pay channels, although these didn't have any preview time, so I haven't a clue what was on! There are 2 double beds, which were incredibly comfortable; I must admit it was a struggle getting up in the morning. There is also a small table with 2 chairs, so you can sit looking out of the window at the ships! In the wardrobe, there was plenty of hanging space, and shelves. There was also a kettle and tea/coffee. The room also has a mini bar, but I never use mini bars in hotels, so I never even look at the prices, or for that matter I never look in them.
There is wireless internet access in all rooms, this cost 12.5 Euro for 24 hours, I didn't use this, so I'm not sure of the quality.
The heating is controlled from a thermostatic valve on the radiator, certainly when I turned it up, the heat came through quite quickly. I didn't turn the air conditioning on, but the controls seemed easy enough.
My room had a really great view over the Port.
One thing I didn't find in my room, was a guide - there is normally (in most hotels I've been in) a book with hotel and local information in, but not in my room. There are though a lot of leaflets in the reception area.
*** Parking ***
The hotel does provide parking, as I had a car full of quite expensive equipment to cart about, I wanted somewhere safe to store it. - there is off road parking, but they also have garages - which you are meant to book, I didn't know that, (in fact the on-line booking it doesn't mention having to book car parking.) but they found me a place, as my car was fully loaded. I was given my own self contained garage, just behind the hotel, you are given a key, so you can lock your car away. The parking costs 10 Euros per day.
*** Restaurant ***
The restaurant area has recently been decorated, and I must say looks really good, and is certainly a relaxing place to be. The menu is quite small, but there was a good choice. Starters start from 5 Euro up to 8 Euro. I had a really nice cod, rice & asparagus as a main meal, I found it was cooked to perfection, not too filling, but not too little. Main courses are from 10 -19 Euro, and desserts up to 6 Euro. There is a kids menu which is a flat rate of 8 Euro
The bar area is located adjacent to the restaurant, is a nice area too. There is a good choice of beers, spirits and wines. In the restaurant menu, wines range from 13 - 32 Euro for 75cl, a carafe will cost you about 10 Euro.
Breakfast is served in the restaurant area, and a typical continental breakfast costs 12 Euro, the choice was pretty good, fresh juice, teas & coffees, there was some hot food too, scrambled eggs sausage, bacon etc.
All of the staff in the restaurant were all very friendly, and very helpful.
I would say that if you are in the area, it is worth trying this restaurant out.
*** Around the area ***
I had a walk around, and there are a vast range of bars & restaurants to try, I never managed to get to any of them - which is very unusual for me!! The areas around the hotel looked really neat & tidy, and well kept. For a short stay, I was really impressed.
*** Check out ***
Time to leave, I went back to reception, and tried to check out in my best French, this time another receptionist took pity on my feeble attempts and continued on in perfect English. I was given the bill to check, all was fine, so paid with the trusty old credit card.
I asked the receptionist for direction to get back onto the motorway, her directions were perfect.
My bill came to 154 Euro, which is about £128 - Ok quite expensive, but I think it was worth it.
All in all, if you are trying to break a journey, this is a great place to stay. I found the service excellent, the comfort levels
