Cycle-friendly hotel in Saint Malo

[bohrsatom]

Spurred on by bretonbike's wonderful descriptions of cycling in Brittany I will be heading there for a week-long tour in early July.

Our ferry arrives in Saint Malo at around 9pm so I can't be faffed with camping and would prefer to find a hotel instead. Somewhere secure to keep the bikes is a priority - a thread from a few years ago suggested Hotel de la Porte Saint Pierre, just wondering if this is still a good option or if there are any other suggestions?

[al_yrpal]

There's an Ibis.

Al

[climo]

We stayed in the Hotel Bristol (might be Bristol + another word) last month. Right in the old city so cute. Easy distance of the ferry. Booking.com for £60 per couple weekday, breakfast extra. Big strong manager who sounded just like Arnie in Terminator just grabbed our bikes and put them in his cellar which as I had a busted finger was good of him. Decent room.

[bohrsatom]

There's an Ibis.

Heading off on a tangent, but I always used to choose Ibis due to the relative cycle-friendliness however I had a terrible experience at my last stay in Koblenz, Germany. The manager flat out refused to store the bikes inside - the only space they would offer was a public carpark with nothing to chain them to. In the end they relented and let us bring them to our room.

Will keep this in mind but hoping for somewhere in the city walls with a bit of character!

[1gunsalute]

Last year we stayed in the Escale Oceania, about 1km east of the old town. Nice big garage plenty of room.

[Bez]

How's your French?

I don't think I've ever found a French hotel that hasn't managed to provide somewhere acceptable to store a bike: either in a room somewhere or in their garage or locked up behind the kitchen or something (I generally take a couple of small ski locks). But in France a bit of the local tongue goes a long way (madame) and if you don't speak a word then you may have less luck.

I'd suggest finding somewhere you like the look of and dropping them a line by email (use Google Translate if you need to). The old city is pretty cramped so not everywhere will have space, but if you ask you should be able to find somewhere.

[bohrsatom]

How's your French?

My french is fine - generally my experience has been the same as yours, although we do try and avoid small hotels in city centres as they are less likely to have somewhere to store the bikes. This time around I was hoping to get somewhere in central Saint Malo, but if we have to walk a bit it's not the end of the world.

[ossie]

If no joy the campsite is a 5 minute cycle away from the port, along the prom..

[bohrsatom]

All sorted now - to conclude:

Hotel de la Porte Sainte Pierre - never bothered to reply my email
Hotel Bristol Union - same as above
Ibis Styles St Malo Centre Historique - Do take bikes but charge €12 per bike per night
Hotel San Pedro - Took time to reply to my email, do take bikes and will store them free of charge

Success!

[ossie]

There's an Ibis.

Al

Glad the OP is sorted but for the info of anyone else who may be looking for accommodation in St Malo for whatever reason.

I've just finished a tour in France and due to a ferry cancellation was put up in the Ibis Styles St Malo Port for free,which was a bonus after suffering the recent bad weather there under canvas. A 10 minute walk from the old town and 2 minute cycle to the ferry terminal. Very bike friendly, clean, modern, breakfast included and more importantly they let me put my fully loaded bike in the room. The lift was big enough to take the bike, panniers and all as well .

They also have a garage.

[bohrsatom]

1 further and final update!

It turns out that the nearest campsite to St Malo, the cite d'alet, is no longer a campsite and instead has refocused on campervans only. I must caveat this by saying we never went to the site, but reading various reviews online was enough to stop us from trying (see the Trip Advisor reviews as an example).

Although there are some campsites further out, we wanted to be close to the town so also stayed in the Ibis Styles St Malo Port. It turned out to be the only available room in the city as the French were out in force due to it being Bastille Day weekend. As ossie said the hotel is a little outside the centre (but still close) and caters well for cyclists. Our bikes were kept in the downstairs garage for no additional charge.

Btw we also had no problems at our first night's stay at San Pedro hotel. Bikes were kept in a spacious garage just around the corner from the hotel.