Where We Stayed During our European Travels

It's long overdue, but A. has written this round-up of all the places we slept in during our backpacking trip through Germany, the Czech Republic, France, Spain, and Italy. Some were wonderful splurges and others were cheap as hell, but they all gave us some interesting stories to tell. I was just excited to check out different hotels, get over my fear of staying in a stranger's home, and see what it'd be like to sleep during an overnight train ride into Paris. I'll chime in with some thoughts and answer any questions in the comments section.

In order to keep the trip costs down during our 23-day European vacation, we tried a variety of different lodgings. We tested out a couple Airbnb offerings, stayed in some cheap hotels, went totally budget with shared rooms in hostels and treated ourselves to a couple nice stays along the way. Here is a brief rundown of everywhere we stayed:

Hüttenpalast Hotel, Berlin, Germany

I wasn’t sure how to explain what this hotel was. On my Facebook status, I described it as treehouse + trailer park + warehouse + tea party. While this hotel had regular rooms, Dorkys wanted to try their more exotic offerings. The experience was a lot like indoor camping; a very large eccentrically decorated room contained a variety of vintage trailers and wooden cabins. We slept in one of the cabins that was just large enough to fit a double bed. The bathroom was shared.

Pros: Clean, quirky, friendly, the bar a couple doors down was a cool locals joint
Cons: Everyone can hear the noise you make, no airflow, it was slightly removed from the tourist part of town (this would be a pro if I were on this trip by myself)
Cost: $75 per night

Hobrechtstrasse 66; 49-030/3730-5806; huettenpalast.de

Michelberger Hotel, Berlin, Germany

We stayed in a room that wasn’t much larger than the one we had at Hüttenpalast, but at least this one had a shower, toilet, and sink mashed in there. The shower had a window so that anyone chilling on the double bed would have a nice show. Good way to force the issue with an unsuspecting travel partner. The vibe at the hotel was very social, with the charming common areas providing great places to meet other guests. There were several clubs, attractions, and restaurants within walking distance.

Pros: Clean, cool, social, close to the action.
Cons: The pillows felt like they were only filled by three cotton balls.
Cost: $83 per night

Warschauer Strasse 39/40; 49-30/2977-8590; michelbergerhotel.com

Jaeger's Hostel, Munich, Germany

After stepping into this hostel, I immediately felt very old. Music was playing and the bar stools were full. Our room had two bunk beds in it. We took one while a young backpacking couple from South Africa took the other. It wasn’t such a bad stay until our roommates were replaced by two South Korean boys who decided to wash their clothes in the sink, leaving the floor of the bathroom covered in water that smelled like industrial bleach. When we tried to clean our clothes the civilized way, the hostel’s dryer simply refused to do its job and they didn’t offer us a refund. We had to finish the job at a laundromat a few blocks away. Apparently doing laundry in Europe is expensive. One euro for 10 minutes of drying? Yeow!

Pros: Close to the train station, one free shot per person upon check-in.
Cons: It’s a hostel, the wifi didn’t penetrate into the rooms.
Cost: $28 per night per person

Senefelderstrasse 3; 49-089/555-281; jaegershotel.de

Train sleeper car, Munich, Germany to Paris, France

We justified this experience as just that, an experience, but we were actually just forced into sleeping on the train because the route we originally wanted was sold out. We slept in a compartment with six bunks, three on each side, and we took the top two. I was originally looking forward to the rocking motion of the train putting me to sleep, but by about the third hour of tossing, I was over it. It was hot and uncomfortable, and the train had a few stops along the way that interrupted what little sleep was possible. Realizing that you’re inadvertently leaning against a very removable railing that is barely preventing you from falling seven feet to the floor is also poor for sleep.

Pros: It's a story I get to tell in which I came close to death, but survived.
Cons: Did you not read?

Airbnb: Yassir H., Paris, France

Our first Airbnb experience was a good one; we stayed in a lovely one-bedroom apartment in Montmartre owned by a student. He gave us the bedroom and took the couch in the living room for himself. As luck would have it, he had to leave town for a few days while we were there, so we ended up with the whole place to ourselves. This proved to be convenient when I suddenly got sick and had to stay in bed an entire day.

Pros: Cheap, toned our calves and asses with the 7-floor walk-up.
Cons: Had to share the place with the owner for a couple nights, brand new towels left red lint all over privates.
Cost: $74 per night

Rue Damrémont; airbnb.com

Silken Diagonal Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

We decided to treat ourselves halfway through the trip, so we splurged on this snazzy hotel. The room was large, with a glass bathroom. As a cool perk, the hotel is situated right next door to one of Barcelona’s modern landmarks, the Torre Agbar, which we quickly took to calling “the dildo.” Though, to be honest, it looks more like a vibrator. Even more useful was the hotel’s proximity to Barcelona’s nude beach, Mar Bella, which in contrast to common nude beach reputation actually has a fair amount of attractive young people.

Pros: Very stylish.
Cons: Have to travel a bit to get to the touristy stuff.
Cost: About $165 per night.

Avenida Diagonal, 205; 34-934/895-300; hoteles-silken.com

Hostal Residencia Australia, Barcelona, Spain

This was a tiny 4-room hotel with a shared bathroom. In my defense, this was a last-minute booking. The proprietor, a native of Australia and Spanish guitar enthusiast, was fucking weird. He referred to the stuffed animal on the front desk as “Mr. Wombat” and, in the span of a few minutes, managed to refer to it several times as if it had its own personality and could actually tell me things if I directed my questions to it. Luckily, we only spent one night there before skipping town.

Pros: Really close to La Rambla and the Gothic quarter.
Cons: Mr. Wombat
Cost: $82 per night

Ronda de la Universitat 11; 34/933-174177; residenciaaustralia.com

Hotel Chanteclair, Cannes, France

The proprietor of this hotel is Danish and he decided to try something new, so he bought a shitty hotel in Cannes. To his credit, it looks like he’s been working at slowly improving it. Situated equidistant between the two notable beaches in this overpriced hive of rich people, it was a decent place to stay when you know that you’re paying a tiny fraction of what everyone else is to “enjoy” this culturally washed-out famous-because-it’s-famous former fishing village. The room was old and basic, with a shower stall and a sink, but a shared bathroom. Unfortunately, we were eaten alive by mosquitoes.

Pros: Steps from an open-air market, the stares from the rich people as they wonder how the hell you got there.
Cons: Mosquitoes! Arrrghhh!
Cost: $80 per night

12 rue Forville; 04-93/39-68-88

Hostel Archi Rossi, Florence, Italy

We expected a slightly better experience than Jaeger’s and we were right. The vibe of this place was much more sedated, despite having every inch of their corridor walls covered in writing from previous guests. If you have a thing for Korean women, stay here. While we shared our room with four others, everyone was quiet and respectful. The single best thing about this hostel was the free breakfast. I can’t tell you how much hassle it circumvents during budget travel to have your breakfast just handed to you. It just starts the day off right.

Pros: Free breakfast!
Cons: It’s still a hostel.
Cost: $35 per night per person

Via Faenza, 94r; 055/290-804; hostelarchirossi.com

Airbnb: Giuseppe A., Rome, Italy

We ran into our first trouble with Airbnb when we tried to check into the apartment and our host was nowhere to be found, nor did he pick up his phone. Standing out in the sweltering heat as we waited for him to show up was unpleasant, but once we got inside, it was a nice experience. My best analysis of the situation was that the host had recently moved to a new apartment and had kept his old one to rent out and make a few extra bucks. We ended up sharing the large apartment with a shy older couple from Norway.

Pros: At least checkout was easy.
Cons: No wifi, Rome sucks.
Cost: $81 per night

Via Giovanni Giolitti; airbnb.com

UPDATE: I've added my thoughts on each lodging in the comments below so be sure to check them out!

Auf Wiedersehen, Deutschland

Munich, it was nice wandering around your streets in search of a late-night kebab snack,

buying fresh strawberries from a colorful street stall to munch on during our afternoon stroll,

eating roast pork suckling and nearly drowning in a liter of Radler at Hofbräuhaus beer hall,

watching A.'s disappointed face when a piece of chocolate purchased from the fancy little Confiserie Rottenhöfer did not taste like a Kit Kat bar as he'd hoped,

sitting and writing on the grass at Hofgarten and listening to classical music and the nearby church bells announce the hours while A. slept in the sun (I can't take this guy anywhere.)

and then walking back in the night to stumble upon a cellist playing "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables and stealing kisses against the plaza pillars. He played it so beautifully I probably would've teared up if I weren't so caught up in taking his picture.

Fitting that the last sounds of our Munich journey ended with a song from the French play since soon after that lovely encounter, we hopped on an overnight train (in a sleeper car!) and arrived in Paris this morning!

Bavaria's Neuschwanstein Castle

I like how we arrive in Munich Sunday night and take off on a day trip out of town the very next morning. A. really wanted to check out some castles while we were in Germany so we took a two-hour train ride into Bavaria to see the fairy tale-like Neuschwanstein Castle. It was quite the sight to see it perched on top of the rugged hill (and then it was quite another sensation to feel that 30-minute uphill climb to tour it. I swear A. only brought me on this trip to get my stubborn behind to exercise). King Ludwig II wanted his home to be a shrine for composer Richard Wagner and details like wall paintings depicting scenes from Wagner's operas and even the name of the castle itself (which is in Wagner's Lohengrin opera) showed just how in awe Ludwig was of Wagner.

Though the romantic castle was opulent for just one inhabitant, if you think about it, the king's intentions were actually a bit humble. Rather than take this opportunity to showcase his grandeur and plaster his image and name in every corner of the castle, his name and likeness seldom appears through the palace and the man dedicated his entire home to the beloved composer.

It's so breathtaking from a distance (I actually preferred seeing it from the scary bridge across the way than from the inside especially since photos weren't allowed during the tour) that it served as the inspiration for Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle. It's really quite a shame that the reclusive king drowned before the palace was completed (construction immediately halted upon his death) and it was opened to the public only seven weeks after he died. Hohenschwangau, Ludwig's father's palace and one I cannot pronounce without sounding Asian, lies nearby.

Hallo aus Berlin!

Our European adventure has started in Berlin! I have to say that Germany has never been a country I cared much for and that we're only here because A. really wanted us to come. I had pre-conceived notions of a stoic society with a tough language that's never been pleasant to my ears. But these last few days have been such a wonderful eye-opener! Berlin's vibe is so friendly and chill and the city is incredibly accessible with a public transportation that's fairly easy to figure out. It's even been fun trying to pick up bits of German whenever I can (while guessing meanings most of the time). I never realized just how much English is tied into the German language.

Even though we arrived in Berlin around 9 a.m. Thursday after a painfully sleepless red-eye flight, we accomplished a good amount of sightseeing that day. We somehow reached the Hüttenpalast hotel (Hobrechtstrasse 66; 49-(0)30-37 30 58 06) just outside the city center with no map and no clue. After reading Anthology's blog post about the place, I knew I had to spend at least one night there (and we did). A. describes it as a treehouse + trailer park + warehouse + tea party and yeah, that's pretty much right. The whimsical stay features three caravans and three cabins outfitted with beds and tiny "outdoor" sitting areas. It was like indoor camping or staying in an adult-sized playhouse.

After a delicious lunch at Hamburger Heaven (Graefestrasse 93; 0176-376-141-33), we set off to see the TV Tower and walk all along Unter der Linden to the Brandenburger Tor. taking in the architecture, avoiding the bikers and trolleys and sporadically reminding ourselves that "Baby, we're in Berlin!" I don't know what I will do with myself once we arrive in Paris and then Barcelona.

Our time here has been filled with leisurely strolls in the sun and today's rain, learning some history and pointing out the similarities and differences between New York City and Berlin. I think I've heard three car horns in three days, bike riders have it made here and if you wander off the path to explore the gritty, graffiti-filled streets, you could find yourself in a rundown sculpture park and and a warehouse filled with vendors selling odds and ends. Even the police sirens sound European and strangely melodious.

For our last two nights in Berlin, we decided to check into the Michelberger Hotel (Warschauer Strasse 39/40; 49 30 2977-8590), another pick of mine pulled from the Travel + Leisure archives. It's a much hipper place with a fun ambience and a lot more going on in this part of town. After walking along a stretch of what remains of the Berlin Wall and enjoying a swing in the hotel courtyard, we checked into our room (hello, peek-a-boo shower!) and then headed back out for BBQ and music in the courtyard. We walked around the neighborhood, peeking into storefronts, amassing our own collection of inside jokes and made-up German words (like cüddlefreundzeit for cuddle buddy time...which apparently is really kuscheln buddy zeit according to Google Translate). The evening ended with a cup of passionfrucht sorbet from Eis Manufaktur (Simon-Dach-Strasse 9; 49-178-131-4445) that was so good and rich that it made me crave a glass of passion fruit juice. A. and Michelberger Hotel provided.

Right now we're having a rainy Saturday afternoon in the hotel's bar/lounge (we already did so much walking earlier). I'm writing and wondering how to recreate these hanging lampshades made of shredded magazine pages while A. is trying to find us a place to stay in Rome, our final destination before we head out to dinner. Tomorrow we're taking the train into Prague before heading into Munich for a couple days. Some interesting guest bloggers will soon be popping in with their own travel tips and stories so I do hope you enjoy them and explore these cities along with us.

Hope you're all keeping safe from Hurricane Irene and I'll chat with you soon. Auf wiedersehen!