Eee- Tap into this for Bordeaux on a Budget! (Etap Hotel Bordeaux Centre Bastide)

Member Name: apuskiduski

Product:	Etap Hotel Bordeaux Centre Bastide
Date:	15/05/09 (224 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Muck cheap. Close to Bordeaux, Great shower and decent brekky.

Disadvantages: Aircon didn't work. Smoking rooms and dodgy parking arrangements.

This Easter I embarked on an epic journey to Espania with nine family members. Mad you might think, especially as it wasn't forced upon me but something I chose to do, with relish!

I live in Barnsley and Benidorm is 1400 miles away, roughly, so we decided that although the two male drivers could drive the wheels off a car, the kids would need to stop somewhere on the journey, as they all have serious hair-straightener addiction. Bordeaux was about half way and as I'd raved about it so much since last summer when I visited, everyone agreed on this as the half way straightener house.

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Eeeasy to book?
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I checked out www.accorhotels.com and quickly found the Etap Bordeaux Centre Bastide which was close to the city and at the bargain price of 43 Euros per room for three people. Breakfasts were 5 Euros each so we booked 4 rooms for the ten of us, for a grand total of 222 Euros. A brilliant price to pay for a Saturday night in a vibrant city I thought after reading the only review I could find of it on tripadvisor.com.

Booking was simplicity itself. No money was taken up front, just credit card details in case of a no-show and we could cancel up to 24 hours before arrival without charge.

I then repeated the process for our return journey. This was a midweek stopover, for which we paid the princely sum of 48 Euros per room plus 5 Euros breakfast each; so, 242 Euros in total for ten people. Averages are pretty good, wouldn't you agree?

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Eeeasy to find?
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As we approached Bordeaux, on one of our many "I've got to have a kip or I'll crash" stops, I rang the hotel for detailed directions from the Rocade (Bordeaux's ring road).

The receptionist parled only a petite peu of English, but somehow my pidgin French got me to understand second left and behind St Mary's church. Easy! I was quite proud of my French listening skills, map-reading and relative calm when we actually found ourselves on the right side of the Garonne river, heading towards the Bastide area. There were even road signs confirming my linguistic brilliance.

Then, from out of nowhere, an idiotic French woman cut between my dad and brother and the plan went to pot and we lost him at a traffic light. After a few minutes of panic, blocking the narrow road waiting for him and some choice expletives, we found ourselves reunited, sans idiotic French woman fortunately, but unfortunately, lost! We were so close, yet still so far.

In a deserted area of the Bastide, a bilingual woman just managed to appear out of a door and I quickly accosted her, begged her to ring the hotel, speak to the receptionist and help us get to our beds. We had been travelling 23 hours by this stage. She could tell I was deranged.

Generously, she took my mobile phone and robbed the kids. No, just kidding, she spoke to the receptionist and came to the quick conclusion that "that woman does not speak very good French" so it had indeed been a miracle us getting thus far!

Well, 24 hours after leaving home and thanks to the stranger's kindness we were standing, bedraggled, befuddled and speaking like blithering idiots in the reception of the hotel. It was a slow process I have to say. Four separate transactions later and with key pad codes issued, we found our rooms on the second floor of this cosy little hotel.

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Eeeasy to feel at home?
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I think I would have been grateful for a cardboard box on the street I was so travel-weary. I'd taken so many Pro-Plus I'd developed a nervous twitch, but I was also starving hungry. This hotel had no restaurant. This was bad news. We decided to push through the pain barrier and go out and find a restaurant.

Getting ready for an evening out in one of these rooms is interesting. Basically the room is a box with a TV, desk and chair in one corner, a bit of a shelf and a hanging rail in the other and a double bed with a single bunk taking up the bulk of the space.

There's also an interesting shower pod feature with a door that leads directly to the room; so no privacy for a mother/auntie from her daughter and niece then. We were all girls together so that was one blessing.

Another blessing was the shower itself. Absolute heaven I have to say and worth every Euro.

I suppose you could use the small toilet cubicle for changing in if you didn't have a phobia of changing in potentially germ-ridden confined spaces.

There was also a sink in the room, between the toilet and shower cubicle and the hotel provided two towels. I couldn't face asking for a third, so we used our own.

An electrical socket, shaver socket, good lighting, including bedside lights, two soaps and two beakers was the extent of the 'extras' here. You get what you pay for.

For 43 Euros for three people it was clean and also had air conditioning - this didn't work however and out of the eight rooms we booked, only two did, so try not to stay at the height of a heat wave is my advice.

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Eeeasy to find nosh, dosh or posh nearby?
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Thank goodness there was a pub at the end of the street. The Central Pub had a great atmosphere and reasonably good food. Friendly banter with the waiters and a decent selection of wines/beers as well as a stunning view of the Pont Victor Hugo and Place de la Bourse meant that we had an enjoyable night out on my parents' umpteenth wedding anniversary. We got two meals free as they were later than the rest and the garcon gave us too much change, so we had a brilliant time!

Not only is it easy to find food at the pub, you are next to a CarreFour supermarket and a small café. There are plenty of cash points almost next door, a tabac and a cinema if you're interested in watching films in French.

The next hotel down is the Ibis which had rooms for 81 Euros a night. The rooms are doubles, so I considered we got ourselves a good deal.

It would be very easy to walk into Bordeaux from the Etap Bastide. I'd say 15 minutes maximum and you would be in the heart of the city.

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Easy to sleep?
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The kids slept like logs, but I struggled I have to say. However, out of the ten of us, only two didn't have a perfect night's sleep. My brother found himself wandering the hotel looking for water at 3.15am - there was a vending machine in the entrance hall that charged an astronomical amount for a very small bottle. I thought you could drink French tap water though, so I did! 5/10 for sleep tonight.

On the return journey, I never slept at all, much. My senses were under a three-pronged attack as the air-con made a racket, it had Blackpool illumination- worthy lighting and we were given smokers' rooms on the first floor on our second visit. Everyone else managed to turn into Rip Van Winkle though! They made me sick! 2/10 for sleep tonight.

On both visits I found the rooms' soundproofing to be pretty average and so if I went again I'd definitely take ear plugs. (An eye mask for the aircon light and some lavender room spray wouldn't go amiss either on the smoking floor!)

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Eeeasy to get a good breakfast?
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The small buffet counter is indeed small. About two metres small to be honest. However it's not the size that counts, it's what you do with it. There were two types of cereal, five types of bread/brioche, a toaster, lots of stuff to put on your toast and a small fridge with puree, yoghurts, president butter and brie, brie, brie and more brie. Brie-lliant!!!! The coffee was first class and there was also plenty of delicious orange juice from a machine, the best I've tasted at the press of a button.

What the buffet lacked in size it made up for in quality and the room had a fab view of the Bastide style buildings around the square (think long rectangle here) outside.

We were all in agreement that cooked breakfast was not missed and we had our 5 Euros worth each and every one. In juice alone!

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Eeeasy to park your car?
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There was plenty of on street parking in front of the hotel but it was taken. In fact the street was full both times we stayed, so we parked in the relative security of the Carrefour car park, which is underground behind the hotel.

This was supposed to be 10 Euros for an overnight stay but as the barrier was 'broken' we found ourselves keeping the cash in our wallets both times we stayed. A small miracle I think! If you're thinking we jumped the barrier you might be right, but don't tell the gendarmerie!

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Eeeasy to recommend?
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For the cost, location and ease of getting in and out of the city I would certainly recommend this hotel. (We found it twice as quickly on our return)

As long as you ask for a non smoking room in your much better French than mine, you're onto a winner. It's an ideal base to explore Bordeaux and perfect for three nights I'd say.

I have to say though that there's nothing like a bit of luxury in a hotel and this is nothing like luxury in a hotel! You pay for what you get, remember!
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Eeeasy to go again?
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If we do the long drive to Benidorm once more, I'd certainly book this hotel again. Bordeaux is a beautiful city, but having been three times now, I'm going to try somewhere new for my next French lesson.

I hope you manage to go, though. If you do, keep our barrier shenanigans a secret!

I've also written a rough guide review to Bordeaux if you're interested, called 'Bored? No!! This is Bordeaux!' It was fairly good - it has a gold hat!

Summary: The cheap place to go for a base in Bordeaux!