Campanile and Ibis are both 2* hotels widely spread out over France. I personally don't have a preference for one over the other. Ibis is part of the Accor chain of hotels and breakfast costs extra .. but is usually a good cold buffet. Campanile used to have a buffet formula at lunch and dinner which was great.

Pricing for both varies with location and also the time of the year, so 'flexible' pricing is normal!

Incidentally, you might also consider COURTEPAILLE grill restaurants if you are on the move as they serve non-stop from 11 to 11, and have a wide selection of grills, fish and salads, plus children's menu and crayons ...

You can usually pick up discount vouchers at Ibis hotels for Courtepaille restaurants. Etap hotels are also very good value, I have stayed at a few throughout north eastern France and they have all been very clean.

Thanks for the links for the restaurant, they look great so will download them into my tomtom.

We always stay at the Campanile as we know we are certain of good food in the restaurant and the rooms are all the same and always very clean (from our experience anyway). If you book in advance it is usually cheaper so we always go for that option.
Carol

BTW
You are a long way off from taking over the forum it's usually much quieter in winter but as the weather picks up so do the number of threads

Nice to have something to read and help with although hotels in France is not m area of expertese but you are in good hands

It is quiet on the forum. I wonder when most people book their holidays. If not going to the States I usually book it just after Xmas. I am always worried if we don't book at this time then the villas will go which in all honesty I have usually found to be the case.

Because we take our tourer we never book a caravan site in France or Spain the UK is different the owners being awkard sods in not telling you what their availabilty is unless you cross their palm with gold (clubs excepted)

We have booked but not to France in the summer that's somewhere different for a change we are off to France in March and even then we only book the ferry £25 each way on a short crosing with P&O which is not bad (and keeps me on topic LOL) only £3 more than Dover - Dunkerque so it's quite cost effective with a shorter crossing and less driving

The problem with P&O is the coaches. We once crossed with them and counted at least 20 coaches on the boat. Times that by approx 50passengers plus car and foot passengers and it's an awful lot of people queueing for something to eat.
The £25 fare with PO is usually only available if you travel in the middle of the night (which is no good for me) and is each way, whereas at the moment Norfolk lines to Dunkerque are offering round trip for £28 on all sailings in April/May when I want to travel.
I'm going to try LD lines from Boulogne in April/May they are charging slightly more than P&O at the moment but I will see what sort of service they offer. Their sailings take 15mins more than P&O and the difference in driving time for me is negligible.

Judith

Judith wrote:

The £25 fare with PO is usually only available if you travel in the middle of the night (which is no good for me) and is each way, whereas at the moment Norfolk lines to Dunkerque are offering round trip for £28 on all sailings in April/May when I want to travel.
I'm going to try LD lines from Boulogne in April/May they are charging slightly more than P&O at the moment but I will see what sort of service they offer. Their sailings take 15mins more than P&O and the difference in driving time for me is negligible.

Judith

LD lines are rubbish from the reports I've heard but I cannot personally say
I thought Dunkerque ferrry port was OK but not enamoured with the extra crossing time or driving
We have got a 06:40 crossing with P&O which means with an 8 hour drive including stops we should be in Soumeras by around 17:30 which is nice timing for the bar

Thanks for the info on LD , I was hoping they would be a good replacement for Speed Ferries. I'd rather go to Boulogne than Dunkerque.
For quite a few years I used the chunnel which really is the best but as we are now making the crossing a few times each year it's become a bit too expensive.

We were just on the point of changing our minds and going P&O versus Norfolk because when we came to book they were in two hour time slots, so it was either 8am which means we need to be there at 7am or 10am but then you are not getting to Dunkerque until approx 1pm French Time. Couple that then with a 5 hour drive ish to Le Mans means we will be getting to the hotel a bit on the late side.

However, having read Judith's post about the coach crowds etc I am put off, even though we were planning on upgrading.

Kazd
I can't say if there will be coaches on all crossings, maybe someone who travels on P&O on a more regular basis can give you some info. If you are planning on upgrading then the first class lounges shouldn't be too crowded but if you want a meal then you would have to get in the queue if there are lots on board. The beauty of booking with P&O though is that there are many more crossings each day.. It's swings and roundabouts really.
Since Speedferries from Boulogne went bust we have used Norfolklines a number of times but if we had a long drive either side of the channel their times wouldn't suit us (and I find the two hour crossing just a bit too long) We stay overnight in Reims both ways which is only a 2 1/2hr drive from Dunkerque. Though I must say the £28 round trip price they are offering at the moment is very tempting.
We've been driving to the UK on a pretty regular basis for the last 39 years (we live abroad) and we've tried just about every short crossing and they all have their pros and cons. Though they are all a lot better than the old 4hr crossings from Ostende.
I would just go ahead and make a booking, the one that fits in with your schedule will be the best.

Judith