Calais Hotel Meurice

Advantages: Central location but quiet, elegant, luxurious
Disadvantages: Central location but not too easy to find

...I often go to France for short breaks, usually from Poole to Cherbourg but recently for a change, and because of some business in Kent, my wife and I decided to revisit one of our favourite hotels, the Hotel Meurice, in the very centre of Calais. We spent a Saturday and a Sunday night there at the beginning of February 2008 and we weren't disappointed. Last time we had been here was about 10 yrs ago when its elegant interior was a bit jaded. It has been improved since, although there are still little bits here and there that need some TLC. Let's get straight to the point - Calais isn't the most attractive town in France so who would want to stay here? Well we did. We wanted several things that the Meurice allowed us to do. It allowed us to wallow in the hotel's luxury for a couple of days. It allowed us to refresh our wine...

webfoot 08.02.2008 · Read review
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Review of Hotel Meurice, Calais

Booze Cruise to Calais

Advantages: cheap, fun, quick.
Disadvantages: None! We are after all talking about cheap booze and fags!

...!) man if we could change the times to come back earlier, he advised that we could go on any ferry at any time as long as there was room! Brilliant, we got a wriggle on and instead of having to wait an hour to get ours we got on the 15.15! We drove straight onto the ferry and left the car to go on deck. The ferry had a duty free shop selling cigs, wines and spirits. There was a café, a brasserie, a pub, a kiddies play area and a games room, plenty to keep you occupied for the 70 or 90-minute journey. Our journeys both took 90 minutes, there is just one of their ferries that will do it in 60 and that is the newest and largest – The Rodin. The other ferries are The Cézanne and The Manet. The crossing was calm and quite pleasant, I have never been on a ferry before but I much prefer it to flying. We arrived in Calais at 16...

Redhead 24.06.2002 · Read review
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Review of Calais (France)

Oh la la the best in Calais by far

Advantages: Relaxing hotel, easy to get to
Disadvantages: maybe a little pricey

...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...

lazza123 13.03.2008 (25.03.2008) · Read review
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Review of Holiday Inn Calais Nord

Beyond the booze cruise

Advantages: Eat, drink and shop....
Disadvantages: ....until you drop

...devote some time to sight-seeing before returning home. To do so need not be expensive: fare deals for overnight stays are economical, while French hotels tend to be cheaper than their British equivalents. By staying over you add a lot of interest and excitement to a shopping trip at relatively little extra cost. ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? PAS-DE-CALAIS This review is focussed on the Pas-de-Calais, the French département (equivalent to county) immediately across the Channel from Kent. I apologise to readers who might find crossing by other routes to other départements more convenient, and also to those who having crossed from Kent would want to travel further afield than the Pas-de-Calais, but it is simply impossible to cover all the options in a single review. Pas-de-Calais is in any case...

torr 14.04.2004 (10.06.2006) · Read review
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Review of Pas de Calais

The great booze cruise

Advantages: Cheap, Cheap, Cheap
Disadvantages: Time

...I have been viviting Calais for a number of years to regularly stock up on wine and cigarettes. My husband and I both smoke and we also like a tipple of an evening. When visiting Calais we chose one of two modes of transport. The Channel tunnel or the ferry depending upon which is giving the best offers at the time, (such offers can be found on the Internet or in national newspapers). Advantages of Channel tunnel It is a lot quicker and only takes about 35 minutes to get through the tunnel. You set off from Calais with shops available to buy those last few things that you forgot. You do not get sea sick if you have a weak stomach. Advatages of Ferry It allows my husband to get 40 winks before we drive home. Wit nice weather it is wonderful standing outside on the deck. Less claustrophobic than the tunnel. Once in...

mkberridge 11.10.2005 · Read review
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Review of Calais (France)

It is rocket science!

Advantages: Interesting, original site and museum
Disadvantages: None

...on the past, on the death and destruction, the slave labourers and the Resistance heroes. But it succeeds in pointing the way forward to the benefits of rocket science and seeks a conciliatory stance to the nations who were at war when this site was built. Nevertheless, I couldn't help pondering the "what ifs?" What if the 1940 Blitz had been V2s rather than conventional bombs? What if the 1944 initiative had been a few months earlier and sites like this had been fully operational? Almost certainly the first words of the first man on the moon would have been: "Ein großer Sprung für die Menschheit"! Practical Details If you live near enough to the Channel to make a day-trip practical, then this is an ideal destination. It's only 45 minutes from Calais. Take the A26 (Paris, Reims) out of Calais and come off at the third exit. From...

Chouchinciao 27.04.2006 · Read review
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Review of La Coupole, Calais

Central and Simple

Advantages: Bang in the centre, reasonably priced, friendly staff
Disadvantages: Not luxury accommidation (if you want that)

...I had a couple of days holiday left at the end of July and decided I would venture over to Calais. I don't drive and didn't have a lot of money, neither do I know Calais or speak much French. So I was looking for a hotel close to the centre that wasn't too expensive. LOCATION Walking from the port, it took me less then 10 minutes to find the Place d'Armes where the hotel is situated. The Place d'Armes is like a square car park where they have markets, fayres, and such like. The four roads that join around the square are also called 'Place d'Armes', which could make matters confusing. However it would be difficult to miss Hotel Belazur because of it's size, but in case you are now worried, it is on the corner of Rue de la Mer/Place d'Armes and is painted a pastel blue and white colour. The Location is bang in the centre...

iqoruvuc 31.08.2005 · Read review
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Review of Belazur Hotel, Calais

Cop A Load Of This!

Advantages: Conveniently located for Calais ferries or Tunnel. Very comfortable
Disadvantages: On-line booking was a little fraught, but nothing I couldn't cope with

...Some poetry, for all it's worth, by Sir John Betjeman: Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough! It isn?t fit for humans now, There isn?t grass to graze a cow. Swarm over, Death! It?s relevant to this review, and yet it isn?t. Calais is not Slough, yet both towns suffer from a similar malaise. Neither is one that you?d really want to rush to visit, yet each boasts a Millennium Copthorne hotel. The first of these I ever visited was in Slough. The second was ? you've guessed it ? in Calais or, more accurately, a quiet suburb called Coquelles. And Coquelles isn?t at all bad, as it happens, being close to the French entrance to the Channel Tunnel and the magnificent shopping centre that is ?La Cite de l?Europe?. We?ve just returned from a night away in France. A luxury for those, like us, fortunate enough to live near...

andymcf 01.09.2003 · Read review
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Review of Copthorne Coquelles, Calais

stock up on the booze for christmas

Advantages: very cheap wines and spirits
Disadvantages: none

...If you have a passport and fancy a shopping trip with a difference to stock up on some very cheap wines and spirits,a trip accross the English channel to calais in France will do very nicely. I have been 3 times this year.The money I spend on petrol driving aproximately 250 miles each way to Dover and back plus the cost of a ferry crossing is easily made back by the savings in the hyper-market that I shop in. You can travel as a foot passenger but then you are very limited with what you can carry.I recommend taking the car as the hyper market is only a 10 minute drive from the ferry port. There are several hyper markets in calais but I always go to the same one as it is so easy to get to. The shop I use is called 'carrefour'and is situated in a complex called city europe which has many other shops including a toys r us...

welshlad33 30.09.2002 · Read review
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Review of Calais (France)

Sweet-Hotel

Advantages: Cheap, clean, good sized rooms, great location
Disadvantages: slightly smelly toilet?

...My boyfriend and I were at a loss as to how to spend our August Bank Holiday weekend and, after much deliberation, eventually came up with the idea of an extended booze-cruise to Calais with a 2 night stop over. We chose to take the car (valuable wine-carriage space) and go by ferry and managed to book quite a good deal, so that all that was left to complete the weekend was a hotel ?. We've travelled on the continent a fair bit, so had not only heard horror stories, but had experienced them too, so were keen to ensure that this time, our hotel was clean, modern and easily accessible! And I'm glad to say that this hotel was a real find, and one that I would not hesitate to recommend. The Hotel Part of the Accor group, this is one of presently 18 Suitehotels in mainland Europe. As yet, there are, unfortunately no Suitehotels in...

richardsonjones 30.08.2005 · Read review
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Review of Suitehotel Calais Coquelles, Calais