FlyingRev

LOL, ROFL. To many of us who travel throughout Eastern Europe very frequently, we understand your perspiration. There are several reasons. In Russia and Ukraine, many areas have the heat via hot water. They are controlled by district and are turned on centrally on a particular date of the year. Most of these old type radiators have no thermostat, they are simply pipes running in various places. They are 'always on.'

Believe me, we know what you mean! Dress in layers and wear lots of deodorant (not that the nationals do)

belle3388

Now that you brought it up, I remember our room at the Praque Hilton was always too warm. We had to leave the window open (which actually was only a 2-inch gap) during our five-day stay two weeks ago.

(Met another guest at the Club room, she did ask me how to turn the room temp down.)

apx068

Hi there,
It is a cultural thing. Mrs apx068 is a Romanian and in the winter the Romanians heat thier houses to levels I find really unpleasant. If there is even the slightest draught of cool air from outside it is a disaster! They *really* like the house sealed up and hot.

Side note: Mrs apx068 and baby apx068 are out there with the family for a few weeks. Mrs apx068 has to wake up at 1am and discreetly turn off the heating in the apartment to avoid seriously overcooking our baby daughter!

The "logic" seems to be if the outside temperature drops, the inside temperature must rise. I've been outside where it has been well below freezing and inside is like a New Orleans summer. Ouchie!


On a similar cultural thing, Mrs apx068 has asked me why the Americans set thier air conditioning to a constant (cool) temperature rather than just trimming 10 degrees off the outside temperature.


apx068's take on life:
If travelling to the USA in the summer - take a ski-jacket to deal with the air conditioning.

If travelling to Eastern Europe in the depth of winter, remember to pack T-shirts and a small fan.


Isn't the world a fun place?
Jason

Bluehen1

I travel to Tallinn, Estonia monthly and this definitely applies there. Our office is steam heated and we have no control over it. It's unbearably warm in the winter. We have to wear ski parkas outside and swim suits inside to be comfortable (just joking on that last one.. but we all layer)

goldmedallionflyer

If you don't like the heat ... just wait until December/January/February to visit Most EE hotels I have visited are quite hot in the Summer/Fall, but due to lack of proper insulation will not keep up with the outside cold during Winter.

Of course, you could always open a window...

GMF

FlyingRev

Bluehen1,

You travel to Tallinn, Estonia Monthly? I too travel there frequently. I would love to talk with you. You have no email address in your profile. Would you please email me sometime.

Thanks!

CBflyer

Does anyone know if the Scandic Simonkentta and the Scandic Frankfurt hotel have tea /coffee facility in standard room? Is the one in Frankfurt in a convinient location as far as sightseeing goes?


thanks,

davistev

Scandic Simonkenta does not as far as I can remember but they do have an excellent breakfast buffet with all the coffee you can drink.

Great Hotel and well situated in the heart of Helsinki.

LH738

The Scandic in Frankfurt is located in Frankfurt-Offenbach. The hotel can be reached with the subway (S-Bahn S1, S8, S9; Stop: "Kaiserlei") and a 500m walk. If you want to return several times during your sightseeing tours, it may become inconvenient (the walk to the subway isn't that nice and you have to cross main roads, too). The subway to the city centre is quick (5-10min) and also the connection to the airport is rather quick (20min; AFAIK, there's one line that goes direct to the airport; on other lines you have to change once).

The hotel is built as a tower. All (AFAIK) rooms have a balcony. There was no tea/coffee facility in my (standard) room: the room was quite basic. (I stayed there about 2 months ago.)

TravelManKen

My dad has been to all 50 states, Canada and Mexico, however he has never been out of the country. This morning he said that he would like to visit Paris or Rome, so I said let's go!

The choices (for many reasons) are limited to:

- Hilton Charles DeGaulle Airport
- Hilton Paris Orly Airport
- Hilton Rome Airport

If you had to spend 6 nights at one of these properties in January, which one would you choose?

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

6 nights at an airport hotel?? Good luck!!

If it was me and visiting those cities I would if necessary choose a non chain hotel and spend more of my time in the city as I may want to return to my hotel during the day to change clothes( if the weather if wet)/rest my feet and relax before going out in the evening and spending around 1 hour each way back to the hotel from the city centre is not ideal to say the least.

But you have already ruled a city centre option out so ;

I would probably choose Rome as it would likely to be slightly better weather than Paris at that time of year.

Both are beautiful cities and from the airport , relatively easy to get to the city centre by public transport.

No personal experience of any of those hotels. Sorry.
Have a good trip.

Regards

TBS

[This message has been edited by The _Banking_Scot (edited 11-23-2002).]

francophile

If you do decide to go to Paris, then the Hilton Paris Charles de Gaulle seems like a great choice. It looks like a beautiful hotel. And the convenience of it being right next door to the RER, which operates the express train from the airport to central Paris, can't be beat. The express trains operate frequently and run through midnight. I think it takes about 45 minutes to get into central Paris (Châtelet Les Halles).

http://www.hilton-paris.com/roissy-airport/

vindesante

Rome, slightly warmer and complimentary shuttle to and from the city several times a day -it takes ~40 minutes each way depending on traffic.

andrzej

Since when are Mexico and Canada part of United States?
Why the insistance on airport hotels? Stay in the city, you will have a better time. Can't tell you about any of the hotels in question, but go for Rome.


[This message has been edited by andrzej (edited 11-23-2002).]

wideman

Huh?

I of course don't know the age, health, and energy level of your Dad. My personal experience as a traveler entering his geezerhood (55), I always like to have a centrally=located hotel so that I can get back to the room once or twice a day. The notion of spending 6 nights in an airport hotel, 45-60 minutes (by just about any mode of transport, at best) from downtown, sounds awful to me.

The towns of Roissy and Fiumicino are sorry outposts, a place to arrive and leave quickly. Given the choices you listed, I'd choose "D - None of the above," and stay home. I'm sure the idea of the trip is well-intentioned, but if it were me, the aggravations would outweigh the benefits.

Note: you can find some really decent hotels at decent rates, for Paris at least, in January. You can even get miles -- check out the deals at www.aavacations.com (you don't have to fly AA to get these deals); http://www.hrs.com/ doesn't get miles but does have decent deals.

Really. If this might be your Dad's only trip to Paris or Rome, do consider not staying in some faraway outpost.