Hotel Tips

[Lordy]

Hey, I'm having 3 days in Europa Park in early April, and I really need to pull my finger out with regards to accommodation XD

I've checked on Expedia already and annoyingly there isn't any budget hotels near by (Campanile, Ibis etc). I usually like to stick to them as you know what you'll get - free parking, 24hr reception, no locked doors and multi lingual staff.

Are there any of the independent hotels near the park that best match my specifics?

 

[DiogoJ42]

Pretty much any of the guest houses in Rust have staff that speak English and free parking. The 24hr reception is a bit more tricky to find outside the official EP hotels though.

 

[Craig]

Since Rust is a small village, there's no chain hotels here as the majority of properties are guesthouses with around 10 rooms. Your nearest 24 hour reception hotel (aside from the theme park hotels as Diogo mentions) will be the Highway Hotel in Herbolzheim. It's located in the service station a junction down from Europa-Park. It's....ok, but nothing to shout home about. Just your bog standard motel really.

For chain hotels, you're going to need to head around 30-40 minutes south to Freiburg, where there's plenty of chains such as Novotel, Mercure, Intercity etc.

Whilst I know stepping away from the "you know what you geting" chains can seem a bit daunting, demand for accommodation in Rust is massive - which has thankfully meant that everything tends to be pretty decent quality. I've never stayed anywhere which hasn't been decent in Rust, and it's nice to be in walking distance of the theme park and hotel bars. You're not going to get everything you want at a guesthouse or hotel in Rust, but hopefully there's a few of your concerns that can be addressed:

Free Parking - Almost all guesthouses in Rust have free parking for guests. You'll even usually get one day's free parking at Europa-Park itself when checking in - very useful if you want to pop on park after checking out.
24hr reception - As mentioned, there's no 24 hour receptions at guesthouses in Rust. That said, owners are often willing to be flexible if you let them know beforehand. One in particular is one of my favourites - Elzpark, which has a handy lock box out the back. If you're going to arrive late, let them know and they'll issue a code to get into the lock box and collect your key.
No locked doors - As above, you can often arrange something to get in if there is no reception. In any case, owners are on site each morning for 3-4 hours and then again on the afternoon at an absolute minimum. There are also emergency contact numbers either posted on the door and/or in the welcome packs in your room/apartment should you need to get hold of anyone. Many either live in an apartment on site, or are just down the road in a separate home.
Multi Lingual Staff - Due to the number of visitors who are non German or French speakers, I've never encountered this as an issue, especially in recent years. However, if you'd like reassurance, sites like booking.com state "we speak your language!" in the description if a guesthouse/hotel has confirmed they have English speaking staff.

Of course, if you're willing to splash out (and do do this once if you can!) there's always the official hotels which cover all of the above with no issue at all. But if you're budget conscious, don't be put off by staying in an independent hotel

 

[Rob]

I've now stayed in several guesthouses in Rust and have had no problems with any, in fact they have all been a delight. As Craig says, Elzpark is certainly one of the best and offers very large, clean and functional appartments with free parking and a useful keybox system. They also stock drinks/food for breakfast that you can collect, mark off on a list, and pay for on depature. It is also next door to a brilliant bakery.

My advice is not to be put off by the Rust guest houses. Okay you might not get a 24 hour reception but I've never had a problem with this.

 

[DiogoJ42]

Just remember: German guest house =/= British B&B.