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Many hostels also have rooms with their own bathroom and are just as good as hotels. Always check as there are some which do have shared bathrooms too.kacacc said:Would it be too tabu to get a hotel room each night rather than a hostel? My husband and I like our own bathroom.
newfydog said:We have done five trips, and have morphed into hotel or B&B pilgrims. The hostels are fun, but hotels more comfortable.In Spain, restaurants open late, Albergues close early.......snip....
ouroboros said:We are in a hotel in Astorga right now after three weeks of albergues, and let me tell you it is a divine luxury, esp. after one of us got ill and now needs to recuperate. It is hard to recuperate on the camino with the tight regime of the albergues. We are taking a brief break of a full day before we begin the mountains toward Galicia. We are Pilgrims guests from hell, washing out our dusty clothes in teh bath tub, but the bubbles are heaven, just heaven!!
lynettefoo said:I just finished The Camino last week and I made a decision after the first day that I would only stay in private accomodation. Some people along the way gave me slack and said I was not a real pilgrim but they are not a real pilgrim because they spend all their time criticising others. There is no right or wrong way. I walked all the way and carried my pack on my back.
;-).
kacacc said:Would it be too tabu to get a hotel room each night rather than a hostel? My husband and I like our own bathroom.
lynettefoo said:I just finished The Camino last week and I made a decision after the first day that I would only stay in private accomodation. Some people along the way gave me slack and said I was not a real pilgrim but they are not a real pilgrim because they spend all their time criticising others. There is no right or wrong way. I walked all the way and carried my pack on my back.
The reason why I did it was because I have a severe allergy to bed bugs. It can be so bad that I would need the hospital. As money was not an issue for me, I decided to stay only in hotels or small pensiones. Whenever I could, I even stayed in a 3 Star Hotel.
It is so much more comfortable and the privacy you get is so welcome after walking 25 to 30kms a day, day in day out. I never took a rest day because I never needed to. I always had a nice bed to sleep in, private shower and toilet or sometimes I shared but I did not have to put up with snoring, farting, sex in the dormitories, horrible toilets with no seats, showers that did not have hot water, showers that had no doors and finally, bed bugs. I know all of this because others along the way told me what I had missed, saying it with so much pride. Well, I am so glad I didnt have to add all of these to my Camino experience.
I was always rested, could wash my clothes and I was clean and ready for my walk the next day. I would highly recommend it to anyone if money is not an issue. It is not expensive anyway as I paid between 30 e to 60 e per day for accomodation. If you had a friend to share with, you could cut the cost by half. I always found/convinced walkers to share with me. Almost all of them never went back to an albergue afterwards ;-).
I like a mix of albergues and private rooms (sometimes shared with others). For me staying in a hostal is more like remaining at the party, but disappearing for a while into the kitchen for some water and escape the cigarette smoke or loud music before rejoining the fray refreshed. :lol:sagalouts said:each to their own,but for me staying in hotels is like going to a party and sitting next door
kacacc said:Would it be too tabu to get a hotel room each night rather than a hostel? My husband and I like our own bathroom.
devedev1234 said:Must agree with 'Sagalout' the Camino must be a leveller for everyone. Anyone staying in hotels with private bathrooms and eating slap-up meals whilst having their luggage transported ahead are NOT doing the Camino, they are demeaning the Camino for the true pilgrim, yes pilgrim. If you go to New York to do the marathon every one is equal. Rich and poor have the same rules, you cannot buy your way to a medal. The world is full of trekking trails for the well heeled people of this world. Go to Nepal or other exotic climes. Why water down a pilgrimage into a trendy holiday and have the audacity to take a compostela after four gruelling leisurely weeks. The bedbugs, farting, snoring, communal cooking/eating, early bed are the backbone of the Camino and if someone cannot cope with such things then they have no errand on a pilgrimage. Let them go to Monte Carlo or on a nice cruise and let Santiago keep some resemblance of a pilgrimage.
devedev1234 said:Must agree with 'Sagalout' the Camino must be a leveller for everyone. Anyone staying in hotels with private bathrooms and eating slap-up meals whilst having their luggage transported ahead are NOT doing the Camino, they are demeaning the Camino for the true pilgrim, yes pilgrim. If you go to New York to do the marathon every one is equal. Rich and poor have the same rules, you cannot buy your way to a medal. The world is full of trekking trails for the well heeled people of this world. Go to Nepal or other exotic climes. Why water down a pilgrimage into a trendy holiday and have the audacity to take a compostela after four gruelling leisurely weeks. The bedbugs, farting, snoring, communal cooking/eating, early bed are the backbone of the Camino and if someone cannot cope with such things then they have no errand on a pilgrimage. Let them go to Monte Carlo or on a nice cruise and let Santiago keep some resemblance of a pilgrimage.
LTfit said:Walk your Camino and let others walk theirs. It's none of our business the "whys" of others.
Buen Camino!
LT
lynettefoo said:There is no right or wrong way so to hell with those who think the only way to do it is to sleep in albergues. Everyone carries their own weight. It may not be physical but it may be emotional and no one understands that better than yourself.
So if you meet people (like I did) who give you slack for NOT staying in albergues then just walk away and meet others. The Camino is so magical that you get what you ask for. For me, I asked to meet a different walking companion each day and never to be alone. I always found someone to talk to and sooner or later, I found someone who wanted to share a room with me in private accomodation.
My experience I believe was just as magical as someone who stayed in albergues all the way and put up with the beg bugs and the snoring and the farting etc.
For my next Camino in October this year, I intend to stay once again in private accomodation. I am a big girl. I wont be dictated to how to live my life and I wont let you judge me.
Yes, quite right. Just don't mistake a bit of pilgrim banter as being an offensive remark. On my last Camino Frances I was only planning to walk from Pamplona to Burgos, because I wanted a break from home and a couple of weeks walking. My Camino family referred to me as 'The Quitter' in a light hearted way, because they were all aiming for Santiago. I took it as it was meant - a joke. However the timetabled bus from Burgos to Valladolid failed to exist and I missed my flight home. I thought 'What the heck, I may as well walk on'...and we all ended up in Santiago. I was able to laugh at their expense then...'How many Compostelas do you have? Hmm?' Again only as banter, but that's what keeps us all going sometimes. Buen Camino!Susannafromsweden said:lynettefoo said:For my next Camino in October this year, I intend to stay once again in private accomodation. I am a big girl. I wont be dictated to how to live my life and I wont let you judge me.
Well said!
devedev1234 said:Must agree with 'Sagalout' the Camino must be a leveller for everyone. Anyone staying in hotels with private bathrooms and eating slap-up meals whilst having their luggage transported ahead are NOT doing the Camino, they are demeaning the Camino for the true pilgrim, yes pilgrim. If you go to New York to do the marathon every one is equal. Rich and poor have the same rules, .
Aldy said:What I missed when I wasn't in an albergue, was the conversations, the meetings, the shared meals
lynettefoo said:I just finished The Camino last week and I made a decision after the first day that I would only stay in private accomodation. Some people along the way gave me slack and said I was not a real pilgrim but they are not a real pilgrim because they spend all their time criticising others. There is no right or wrong way. I walked all the way and carried my pack on my back.
The reason why I did it was because I have a severe allergy to bed bugs. It can be so bad that I would need the hospital. As money was not an issue for me, I decided to stay only in hotels or small pensiones. Whenever I could, I even stayed in a 3 Star Hotel.
It is so much more comfortable and the privacy you get is so welcome after walking 25 to 30kms a day, day in day out. I never took a rest day because I never needed to. I always had a nice bed to sleep in, private shower and toilet or sometimes I shared but I did not have to put up with snoring, farting, sex in the dormitories, horrible toilets with no seats, showers that did not have hot water, showers that had no doors and finally, bed bugs. I know all of this because others along the way told me what I had missed, saying it with so much pride. Well, I am so glad I didnt have to add all of these to my Camino experience.
I was always rested, could wash my clothes and I was clean and ready for my walk the next day. I would highly recommend it to anyone if money is not an issue. It is not expensive anyway as I paid between 30 e to 60 e per day for accomodation. If you had a friend to share with, you could cut the cost by half. I always found/convinced walkers to share with me. Almost all of them never went back to an albergue afterwards ;-).
newfydog said:Aldy said:What I missed when I wasn't in an albergue, was the conversations, the meetings, the shared meals
We stay in as many Casa Rurals and Chambre d'Hotes as we can find. There, the shared meal and conversation is with a local resident. Our French and Spanish is not that good, so the conversations are sometimes exhusting, but they are really interesting.
We meet other pilgrims on the trail, but we meet the locals where we stay.
Here our host and new friend on the Arles route is sending us off. Nice guy, great cook, wonderful job of restoring an old place.
lynettefoo said:I just finished The Camino last week and I made a decision after the first day that I would only stay in private accomodation. Some people along the way gave me slack and said I was not a real pilgrim but they are not a real pilgrim because they spend all their time criticising others. There is no right or wrong way. I walked all the way and carried my pack on my back.
The reason why I did it was because I have a severe allergy to bed bugs. It can be so bad that I would need the hospital. As money was not an issue for me, I decided to stay only in hotels or small pensiones. Whenever I could, I even stayed in a 3 Star Hotel.
It is so much more comfortable and the privacy you get is so welcome after walking 25 to 30kms a day, day in day out. I never took a rest day because I never needed to. I always had a nice bed to sleep in, private shower and toilet or sometimes I shared but I did not have to put up with snoring, farting, sex in the dormitories, horrible toilets with no seats, showers that did not have hot water, showers that had no doors and finally, bed bugs. I know all of this because others along the way told me what I had missed, saying it with so much pride. Well, I am so glad I didnt have to add all of these to my Camino experience.
I was always rested, could wash my clothes and I was clean and ready for my walk the next day. I would highly recommend it to anyone if money is not an issue. It is not expensive anyway as I paid between 30 e to 60 e per day for accomodation. If you had a friend to share with, you could cut the cost by half. I always found/convinced walkers to share with me. Almost all of them never went back to an albergue afterwards ;-).
I have never met an American or Canadian who was using a baggage transport. I have met French, British, German, Danish, Belgian, German, and many Spanish using a transport service, but never a North American.The "baggage transport" thing has always been there but has suddenly become more promoted on this forum in the last year or two. Not sure if that is an American/Canadian thing or not.
Or consciously choosing to avoid the experiences that you may consider BIG but others may consider less tolerable or desirable for whatever reason they may have.. Only thing about staying in hotel is that you could be missing one of the BIG experience of the Camino.
I also take this varied approach...a good mix of private/ municipal Albergues with the occasional family run pension when the sleep deprivation gets out of hand!!....also found plenty of quiet corners in the garden/ courtyard to spend the night as I love sleeping under the stars...I like a mix of albergues and private rooms (sometimes shared with others). For me staying in a hostal is more like remaining at the party, but disappearing for a while into the kitchen for some water and escape the cigarette smoke or loud music before rejoining the fray refreshed. :lol:
Buen Camino!
The camino sets us many challenges as a pilgrim and a human being. We are frail and fickle and we must overcome our fears about our own capabilities and the tests that lie in store for us along the way. We take these tests and sometimes we become weary, hungry, hacked off and fed up with it all. But we deal with it each day and then the camino sends one last little crafty test - we see others getting the same compostella as us, taking beds that we might have had, but seemingly not working nearly so hard, getting an easy ride. Is it a sense of human fairness that gnaws us or perhaps righteousness or even envy?
So I say: recognise the craftiness of the ways that the camino is testing you. Smile at it and at the object of your distraction. Then go over and say hello and let them share their camino with you.
Doesn't always work, but often does.
We did come across a fair share of judgmental pilgrims that would act as though we were not "real" pilgrims and not "really doing the camino" by staying in private accommodation, .
Knights, who vowed in battle to make the journey if they survived: they ride horses and take their ladies with them.....Criminals, told by the judge "five years in jail or the pilgrimage'....they have a high time in Spanish inns and return seven months later to present the Compostela to the sentencing judge......
It is if everyone else wants to join the communal dinner. Or if the only place to eat is the albergue.But surely it is not beyond the wit of man to organise an economical lunch or evening meal with the "alberguistas" in somewhere other than an albergue?
I have always thought it more about challenging one's comfort zone rather than mucking in. I can muck in by going camping. My comfort zone is pushed by having 100 roommates! And the "real" experience is only one of many arguments for albergues.The one argument being if you stay in albergues you are "mucking in" and getting the "real" experience.
This was my simple 'trick' to overcome logistics: While walking and chatting on the way, I asked if we wanted to get together in the evenings and suggested that I would come to their albergue at such and such time...
I too stayed in the Paradore in Leon, I will never forget the experience.I just returned from doing the Camino and I did hotel rooms about half the time, especially in cities like León where I wanted to experience the Paradores hotels. Keep in mind that many of the private albergues will also offer private rooms. I chose that option several times.
Hi. I am planning on doing the Camino in the Spring of 2016. Can you tell me how that went for you? Did you book one day in advance? Any hotels that you found to be " a must stay "? I look forward to any help you can provide. Thanks very much.I'm am feeling much better at wanting to stay in hotels or B&Bs so I can have my own space and shower thanks to all your posts.
I must be really stupid but I have been reading everything I can find about rooms, B&B's hotels etc but cannot for the life of me find a list of them. Is there such an animal please???
I must be really stupid but I have been reading everything I can find about rooms, B&B's hotels etc but cannot for the life of me find a list of them. Is there such an animal please???
Thank you so much I'll check that out asap.
I must say that in everything I have read over the last few weeks and your reply seems to say that the Camino is a bit like "shakespeare in love" it sort of works. All you have to do is start. (my wife thinks I am daft but hopefully you know what I mean).
Just completed the Camino Frances in March, 2017 with my wife and stayed in hotels the whole way. It took some creative planning outside the standard guidebook schedule in some of the smaller towns, and we often stayed in Casa Rurales or Pensiones that had private rooms whenever a nicer hotel couldn't be found. There are towns (e.g. Belorado and Ages) where we really struggled to find a decent hotel, but private rooms can usually be found in Casa Rurales or Pensiones in nearby towns -- sometimes you may have to hike further along or add on a day and hike less in order to avoid albuerges altogether.Would it be too tabu to get a hotel room each night rather than a hostel? My husband and I like our own bathroom.
Hi Lynette, My husband and I are planning to walk from St Jean to Burgos. Would you be able to recommend some B&Bs along the way. We prefer our own room and toilet. We would like to add another day to the first day's walk from St Jean to Roncesvalles. Do you know of any B&B along the way? Thanks.I just finished The Camino last week and I made a decision after the first day that I would only stay in private accomodation. Some people along the way gave me slack and said I was not a real pilgrim but they are not a real pilgrim because they spend all their time criticising others. There is no right or wrong way. I walked all the way and carried my pack on my back.
The reason why I did it was because I have a severe allergy to bed bugs. It can be so bad that I would need the hospital. As money was not an issue for me, I decided to stay only in hotels or small pensiones. Whenever I could, I even stayed in a 3 Star Hotel.
It is so much more comfortable and the privacy you get is so welcome after walking 25 to 30kms a day, day in day out. I never took a rest day because I never needed to. I always had a nice bed to sleep in, private shower and toilet or sometimes I shared but I did not have to put up with snoring, farting, sex in the dormitories, horrible toilets with no seats, showers that did not have hot water, showers that had no doors and finally, bed bugs. I know all of this because others along the way told me what I had missed, saying it with so much pride. Well, I am so glad I didnt have to add all of these to my Camino experience.
I was always rested, could wash my clothes and I was clean and ready for my walk the next day. I would highly recommend it to anyone if money is not an issue. It is not expensive anyway as I paid between 30 e to 60 e per day for accomodation. If you had a friend to share with, you could cut the cost by half. I always found/convinced walkers to share with me. Almost all of them never went back to an albergue afterwards ;-).
I just finished The Camino last week and I made a decision after the first day that I would only stay in private accomodation. Some people along the way gave me slack and said I was not a real pilgrim but they are not a real pilgrim because they spend all their time criticising others. There is no right or wrong way. I walked all the way and carried my pack on my back.
The reason why I did it was because I have a severe allergy to bed bugs. It can be so bad that I would need the hospital. As money was not an issue for me, I decided to stay only in hotels or small pensiones. Whenever I could, I even stayed in a 3 Star Hotel.
It is so much more comfortable and the privacy you get is so welcome after walking 25 to 30kms a day, day in day out. I never took a rest day because I never needed to. I always had a nice bed to sleep in, private shower and toilet or sometimes I shared but I did not have to put up with snoring, farting, sex in the dormitories, horrible toilets with no seats, showers that did not have hot water, showers that had no doors and finally, bed bugs. I know all of this because others along the way told me what I had missed, saying it with so much pride. Well, I am so glad I didnt have to add all of these to my Camino experience.
I was always rested, could wash my clothes and I was clean and ready for my walk the next day. I would highly recommend it to anyone if money is not an issue. It is not expensive anyway as I paid between 30 e to 60 e per day for accomodation. If you had a friend to share with, you could cut the cost by half. I always found/convinced walkers to share with me. Almost all of them never went back to an albergue afterwards ;-).
Hi Lynette, My husband and I are planning to walk from St Jean to Burgos. Would you be able to recommend some B&Bs along the way. We prefer our own room and toilet. We would like to add another day to the first day's walk from St Jean to Roncesvalles. Do you know of any B&B along the way? Thanks.
Hi, My husband and I prefer private rooms with own toilet if possible. Are you comfortable with sharing your research and where you stayed. Many thanks.Just completed the Camino Frances in March, 2017 with my wife and stayed in hotels the whole way. It took some creative planning outside the standard guidebook schedule in some of the smaller towns, and we often stayed in Casa Rurales or Pensiones that had private rooms whenever a nicer hotel couldn't be found. There are towns (e.g. Belorado and Ages) where we really struggled to find a decent hotel, but private rooms can usually be found in Casa Rurales or Pensiones in nearby towns -- sometimes you may have to hike further along or add on a day and hike less in order to avoid albuerges altogether.
Thanks, Bala. I note that you did SJPP-Burgos in Oct 2015. How was the weather then? Any recommendations for accomplishing in Zubiri, Pamplona, etc up to Burgos. If you can let me know where you stayed, that would be much appreciated. Thanks.[/QUOTE
The weather in October was perfect for walking.... chilly mornings that often warmed up to t-shirt afternoons, at least for the first week. I usually wore 3 or 4 layers of clothes and then subtracted or added as the day went along.
I'll have to check my notes on where we stayed, but off the top of my head the Posada in Roncesvalles has a lot of character and a nice fireplace in the bar. In Burgos we'd had many recommendations for a cathedral-view room at El Cid, and I would happily pass on the recommendation.
Just get out your guide book, and go to booking.com or hotels.com, and you'll find lots of choices. The weather in October is typically excellent for walking.Hi, My husband and I prefer private rooms with own toilet if possible. Are you comfortable with sharing your research and where you stayed. Many thanks.
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