"How much? That's a lot of hotel bedrooms....

[GrannyJen]

That you can buy for that"...

"Yes it is, but you miss the point" is my usual reply.

For the next three days I am on a course. I am now parked up, a mile away from the nearest hotel to the venue. It would have cost me £285 instead of my campsite fees of £33. However that misses the point.

I turned up at my "hotel", no need to look for the car park or fight for a space. I'm in my car park.

First thing on arrival, a nice cup of tea. Not the rubbish left as "complementary" in a hotel room, in my hotel room it is Taylors Yorkshire gold with fresh milk bought on the way.

A quick change of clothes, no rummaging around a suitcase looking in vain for what's been forgotten, my hotel room is always stocked up with everything I might need for a month, never mind three days.

Dinner? Sitting on my own in a bleak, featureless hotel dining room? No thanks, whatever I want, whenever I feel like it cooked how I want when I want.

Go for a walk? Down a corridor, into a lift, out into a stainless steel and glass lobby and then into an urban street? I'm parked in fresh air, the campsite surrounded by parkland, 40 minutes of clean fresh air walking in beautiful countryside, peace, quiet, space, happiness.

Refreshed back to my oasis of tranquility. Back to my bedroom, MY bedroom, not a bleak, featureless room that hundreds have slept in before me. This is Mine, this is me, this is my own cozy, fluffy, comfortable little bedroom adapted for how I want, coloured for how I want, bits of softness in it that is for me, no one else.

Want fresh air? Three huge vents open to the clean outside air instead of a double-glazed window that opens 20cm to allow in the roar and noise of an urban street. Or, close the window and have dry, chilly air conditioning waft anywhere.

Tonight, not always the case, my bathroom is just behind me, typical Caravan club quality, less of a walk than to go from my sitting room to my bathroom at home.

Tonight I will sleep, on my bed, made for my comfort, with my duvet, my sheets, and ... above all..... my peace, my contentment, my feeling of being free instead of caged. My fluffy, warm, cozy nest on wheels that gives me all I want.

That is the point.

ALBERT! I love you! ........

(even if we only have 14 hours to save the world .... General Ghala! Flash Albert approaching)

 

[CannellWalker]

Spot on. Plus you can stay places in a California where you'd never get a hotel.

 

[kave]

You are really painting with words.
When we go four of us with two kids in a Beach its not as peaceful

 

[Tanya Gander]

Similar experience last weekend in the new forest. Looking out from warm comfort to people in tents, others struggling with trailer tents and big cumbersome white boxes.
Had to laugh at the guardian article, they don't get it. But we do, and we love it

 

[ArunAlec]

How many hotels give you a wake up call by the farm cockerel (although it was 3.30am) and let you sit on your own loo looking out at the sunrise across the Bristol Channel. With alpacas as neighbours. I love it!

 

[andrew149]

I love my Cali but I also love hotels especially in the colder months.

That urgent wee at 3am is much nicer in a hotel
Cleaning your teeth and having a wash is nicer in a hotel
Not having to share a shower is nicer in a hotel
Sitting on a toilet seat is much nicer in a hotel
Having breakfast cooked for your is nicer in a hotel

There are also many other benefits to staying in hotels, I just think some of us like to fool ourselves that the Cali is better as we have paid all that money and we must use it no matter what.

I combine 50/50 with hotels and camping so I get the best of both worlds and its works very well for our family.

 

[MattBW]

V just did a course at Pinewood studios and camped for the week in her t25. Hotels around there would have cost her a fortune..

 

[WelshGas]

I love my Cali but I also love hotels especially in the colder months.

That urgent wee at 3am is much nicer in a hotel
Cleaning your teeth and having a wash is nicer in a hotel
Not having to share a shower is nicer in a hotel
Sitting on a toilet seat is much nicer in a hotel
Having breakfast cooked for your is nicer in a hotel

There are also many other benefits to staying in hotels, I just think some of us like to fool ourselves that the Cali is better as we have paid all that money and we must use it no matter what.

I combine 50/50 with hotels and camping so I get the best of both worlds and its works very well for our family.

This past weekend - Cheltenham Racecours C&C site for the Literary Festival, next weekend in a paddock on my Daughters smallholding with the goats as company and the weekend after the Scarlet Hotel in N. Cornwall.
Travelling in comfort and doing what we want at the end.

 

[larrylamb]

It is indeed a lot of hotel rooms and I do like hotels but the Cali invites us as a family away from jobs, diy etc.etc. We are almost compelled to use it because we have it and it cost so much. Before the Cali we kept promising ourselves mini breaks, weekends away in hotels etc. but it very rarely happened as we ended up putting it off for one reason or another. The Cali means we can go most places at the drop of a hat. I also like the fact my bed hasn't been slept in by 800 different people.

 

[GrannyJen]

It is indeed a lot of hotel rooms and I do like hotels but the Cali invites us as a family away from jobs, diy etc.etc. We are almost compelled to use it because we have it and it cost so much. Before the Cali we kept promising ourselves mini breaks, weekends away in hotels etc. but it very rarely happened as we ended up putting it off for one reason or another. The Cali means we can go most places at the drop of a hat. I also like the fact my bed hasn't been slept in by 800 different people.

That feeling of freedom and spontaneity is my big thing.

A couple of weeks ago because of circumstances it was 4 hotels in six days but as I was with people most of the time it suited.

Going away on my own I can no longer face it. I feel caged. Why I chose this time to ignore the hotel around the corner and bring Albert instead. The only thing I miss is the shower and toilet convenience but being on a CC site I can live comfortably with that.

 

[LowMan]

Spot on GJ!

We've always seen our 'Foxy' as an extension to our home. It's the room of our house that we can pick up and move wherever we want to, with an ever changing view.

Yeah, sometimes we'll pitch ourselves in a nice hotel. We love urban life, just as much as we love panoramic scenery. But it's only when we travel with 'Foxy' that we feel we have home with us as opposed to being a travelling guest.

 

[Lewis]

Spot on GJ!

We've always seen our 'Foxy' as an extension to our home .

Totally agree with this approach. Bought a cheaper house so could afford a Cali - We'll enjoy our mobile 'extra room' more than most people would their standard ones!

 

[GrannyJen]

I also have to emphasise that I am on my own.

As I am on my own then that dash to the loo is not a problem: It's in-house. I'm not sure I could expect many to share that with me

I have all the room to myself. I can cook, or non-cook as I please. I can have the heating and ventilation as I please.

Neither is my OP a swipe at hotels necessarily, more a swipe at the often-held belief that a camper is all about financial issues and saving money without recognition that it is a lifestyle choice. This trip is entirely my choice, my expenses are being paid whether it's me stopping in Albert or in an hotel. Given that simple choice and proximity to a full facility well-run campsite then it's a no-brainer.

However what a lovely choice to have, what a lovely lifestyle to have, what a glorious vehicle that I have in delivering that lifestyle choice.

 

[18hunts]

And there are people on this site who insist on knocking the Caravan Club! Nearly 30 years a member for pleasure and business when working.

 

[GrannyJen]

And there are people on this site who insist on knocking the Caravan Club! Nearly 30 years a member for pleasure and business when working.

Oh I insist on knocking the Caravan Club, or parts of it.

The recent debacle debated in this forum re the barrier put up to a
Beach being allowed to park up for one.

The appalling IT department that some times demonstrates that incompetence can be raised to an art form.

Just look at the photograph of the politburo, the executive council. 12 old blokes and one woman.

However what is without doubt is that the facilities provided on their owned and franchised sites are amongst the very best at, in general, very reasonable prices. £11.50 a night for me to park with full facilities next to a spotlessly clean and heated loo block. Fabulous value.

Mind you, still some of the most miserable campers on the planet. I have said "good evening" twice now to my neighbour and he's just blanked me, never even returned so much as a grunt. However he's irrelevant to my enjoyment of this lovely campsite (Cirencester park).

 

[em13]

I also have to emphasise that I am on my own.

As I am on my own then that dash to the loo is not a problem: It's in-house. I'm not sure I could expect many to share that with me

I have all the room to myself. I can cook, or non-cook as I please. I can have the heating and ventilation as I please.

Neither is my OP a swipe at hotels necessarily, more a swipe at the often-held belief that a camper is all about financial issues and saving money without recognition that it is a lifestyle choice. This trip is entirely my choice, my expenses are being paid whether it's me stopping in Albert or in an hotel. Given that simple choice and proximity to a full facility well-run campsite then it's a no-brainer.

However what a lovely choice to have, what a lovely lifestyle to have, what a glorious vehicle that I have in delivering that lifestyle choice.

I too am on my own Jen and I feel much more comfortable (physically and psychologically!) being on my own in my Cali. In Chili it feels like I'm on an adventure by myself - in a hotel I feel a bit sad and lonely! It partly replaces the feeling of freedom I always had on motorbikes (and sadly can't experience right now because of my health). So for me it was never about being 'cost effective' - I can't put a price on what it's given me back

 

[GrannyJen]

I too am on my own Jen and I feel much more comfortable (physically and psychologically!) being on my own in my Cali. In Chili it feels like I'm on an adventure by myself - in a hotel I feel a bit sad and lonely! It partly replaces the feeling of freedom I always had on motorbikes (and sadly can't experience right now because of my health). So for me it was never about being 'cost effective' - I can't put a price on what it's given me back

What a lovely post

Sad and lonely sums it up perfectly. My Cali feels so snug, so secure, so part of me, even a friend to me whereas a hotel seems cold and unfriendly.

 

[ejmoore]

Another point is - you can't re-sell those nights in hotel bedrooms and get most of your money back! Buying a California is a way of investing £35k (or whatever it might be) at a time when savings are getting next to no interest, and getting a hell of a lot in return!

 

[Padders13]

Believe me, as someone who racks up over 100 hotel nights a year on business travel, the idea of using one for fun at the weekend is a complete non starter. Give me fresh air any day, I absolutetly agree with Granny J. As most of my travel is international, airports for fun don't ring my bell either.
Just home from a weekend in Aviemore, a little slice of heaven dropped into the Highlands and all the better for going there in the van and been self contained with all we and the dogs needed

 

[GrannyJen]

Believe me, as someone who racks up over 100 hotel nights a year on business travel, the idea of using one for fun at the weekend is a complete non starter. Give me fresh air any day, I absolutetly agree with Granny J. As most of my travel is international, airports for fun don't ring my bell either.
Just home from a weekend in Aviemore, a little slice of heaven dropped into the Highlands and all the better for going there in the van and been self contained with all we and the dogs needed

We come from the same standpoint I think

I was commuting to the USA sometimes three times a month and going from one empty, sad, hotel room day after day. Even when relatively stationery, as in my last couple of years at University of Virginia, I was still commuting home regularly. My conscious decision when I bought Albert was "No more aeroplanes, no more airports, no more hotels".

Now I will only stay in one when travelling with friends or family, never on my own if I can help it.