My bruises have bruises. I'm blaming the cheerleading. Review writing is a whole lot less dangerous....
My bruises have bruises. I'm blaming the cheerleading. Review writing is a whole lot less dangerous.
Member since:08.07.2001
Reviews:593
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We had a bank holiday last week and assuming that it would be more dead than a Sunday (and believe me, a typical Sunday here is taking some getting used to after 20 years of Sundays in England) I decided to do the sensible thing and go away for a few days to a country that, erm, wasn’t having a bank holiday. I looked at a map, saw a country that lay almost directly west of here and it was decided. Off to Luxembourg to, in Muffin’s words, stare at some Luxembourgians.
Despite the low prices, youth hostels just don’t appeal to me most of the time, so I took to the net to look for a hotel and about half an hour later had found one, checked availability and handed over my credit card number.
*** Getting There
The hotel is located smack bang in the center of the city. From the railway station, turn right and continue on the main road until you cross the river. Coming off the bridge, take the first right which is Rue de Notre Dame. Continue for a couple of minutes and you come to the hotel, on the left hand side. Assuming you’re on the right street in the right city, you can’t miss it. Sandwiched between a shop and a restaurant, the large glass doors lead directly into the lobby area. There is a bus station at the end of the road if you’re laden down with luggage but I preferred to walk after being cooped
up on a train for 4 hours. It took me about 15 mins going there and half an hour coming back because on the second trip I stopped off for a few shopping and ice cream breaks…
The location is excellent – within walking distance of 99% of the main sites, and with the main shopping street directly behind. Although the website claimed it was “central” I still expected it to be a little further out at this price. In the name of research (and because I’m nosy) I went into the nearest hotel and found that their rates start at 200 Euros per night. Hmmm, 200 Euros versus 60 Euros – I know which I’d rather pay.
*** First Impressions
The lobby isn’t all that large, but serves it’s purpose. There is a row of comfy chairs next to a leaflet carrousel. The reception desk is straight ahead, and the lift and staircase to the right. I checked in in a matter of minutes. I was relieved of my passport but only for the time it took to copy down the number – they don’t feel the need to keep it over night as in some places I’ve stayed. I was asked to fill in a form – just the usual name and address details – and then given my key and directed to my room. All in all a short, painless procedure that left me more time for exploring the city – just what I wanted.
*** The Room
Up on the 4th floor, my room was of a decent size and even came with a balcony, whose door, interestingly enough, was in the bathroom….. There was a bed, a wardrobe with LOTS of coat hangers for once (and nice normal ones at that, not the annoying kind that you can’t remove from the rail), a table and a chair. Up on the wall was a TV with its remote next to it – again I was surprised and pleased that I didn’t need to leave a deposit for it at reception. I also had a bedside table with an Alarm Clock radio and telephone on it. I also had a phone book, yellow pages and TV guide which I though were very nice touches, and ones you don’t always get.
The bathroom was bigger than the one I have here, and had a sash-wearing loo, basin and shower. The shower gel, although in dispenser form and not in nice stealable sachets, was a lovely luxurious one – probably the Luxembourg version of Dove. When I arrived I had neither towels nor, oddly, a shower curtain, although both were there when I returned that evening. I can only assume that I arrived before the maids had quite finished (although the room itself was lovely and clean), and the fact that they change the shower curtain for each guest impressed me. You’d expect it in a big posh hotel, but this was strictly budget class.
In my cupboard I found an extra pillow and a blanket although I didn’t use either during my stay. In both rooms I was delighted to find bins – something this continental lot don’t always go in for, but things I find invaluable.
The television had an amazing 56 programmed channels, and more could be found if like me you accidentally pressed the wrong button on the remote. Those already set included French, German, Luexmbourgian, Turkish and American channels – everything from CNN to MTV.
*** Breakfast
The hotel has no breakfast room – instead this meal is served to your room. When checking in you are asked to specify a time (between 7am and 11am) when you wish to receive it, and also which drink (from a choice of tea, coffee, hot chocolate and juice) you would like. The breakfast, although a little spartan, was perfectly edible, and you can’t really complain at this price. It consisted of two fresh rolls, butter, cheese spread and jam, plus the drink of course, all served on sparkling crockery. The juice (orange) was blatantly from concentrate and not fresh but tasted fine.
*** Rates
The rates are constant throughout the year and start at 50 Euros for a single room without TV. They also have rooms with TVs (“published” price 65 Euros, although the web has cheaper deals), double and triple rooms.
*** Extra Details
Checkout time is 11am, check in time 1pm.
All the staff speak French, German and English as a minimum, and several also speak additional languages.
Your room key also opens the front door because the hotel shuts between 11pm and 7am. This lets you come and go as you please without a hostel-style curfew, and will keep the staff costs down.
There is a luggage storage room (aka their back office) if you are leaving the city quite a while after their check out time.
When you check in you are given the choice of paying then or when you leave – they accept credit cards and Euros.
I booked through TravelNow.com but this hotel is offered on several sites – a quick Yahoo search using its name will bring up a handful, all offering pretty much similar rates.
In a world of budget, normal and luxury hotels, this one hangs somewhere between the first two. For example, the rooms are en-suite but then they don’t have a breakfast room. They have a lift, multi-lingual staff and an excellent location, but no facilities beyond these. Not a place full of marble floors and crystal chandeliers, but a solid, sound hotel, and certainly worth the money.
*** Final Thoughts
Now this is going to sound a little silly, but at night I didn’t feel all that at ease in my room. I knew deep down that it was a safe hotel on a safe street in a safe city, but when I’m tired (party the night before followed by an early start) my mind doesn’t always think rationally. I was opposite the lift which was a bit of a noisy location come midnight, when a large group decided to return to our floor and then spend an hour or so tearing about the corridors. My room also looked onto a main street which, like they say about New York, never sleeps. There were bags and crashes and rattling noises that kept me a wake for a while, and gave me crazy dreams for the rest of the night. I’m not an expert in the field, but I don’t think this hotel exactly had top quality double glazing.
Because of these factors, although the location was excellent, the price good and the staff outstanding, I don’t think I would choose to stay here again, or at least not on my own.
*** The Details
ATEL SCHINTGEN 6 RUE NOTRE DAME LUXEMBOURG LUXEMBOURG
(Note how they’ve got their little New York, New York thing going on there – it’s Luxembourg City in the country of Luxembourg)
Phone: 352-222-844
Fax: 352-465-719
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