How do you keep your bikes safe overnight

[Bensons]

We have just booked our first family jaunt in France - will be staying in B&Bs/small hotels/campanile type places.

Haven't done this before, do you ask about bike storage when booking? Do you expect to store them inside?

No idea here but we would like to minimise the risk of them being stolen. We do have heavy U locks/heavy cables and fasten them together etc. We are as careful as we can be.

[FarOeuf]

In hotels normally ask on arrival, before paying. If they say no, stand your ground and ask if there's 'anywhere' inside they can put it. Most will, never had a problem in France. In fact I've never had a problem anywhere, always had the bike stored inside somewhere.

cheers,

[bohrsatom]

We used to ask beforehand but unless you speak the language fluently then it just leads to confusion.

Now we just turn up and after checking in say "where shall we put the bikes?". The staff have always found a reasonable spot to keep them. We do tend to avoid places which look obviously bike-unfriendly, e.g. 2 room b&b on the 4th floor of an apartment in the old town. In large cities, the bigger the hotel the more likely they are to have somewhere; outside of cities you'll never have a problem.

Experience: 50 nights across most of Western Europe

[robgul]

IBIS, Kyriad, Campanile, F1 places - just take the machines into the room - never a problem in our experience across France - even in the IBIS across the road from Gare du Nord which has miniscule rooms and tiny 2 or 3 person lift!

Only once have we had an issue which was in Arras - the hotel had an enclosed garden accessed through the restaurant area - but hey, they let us wheel the bikes through after some discussion - downside was bikes were outside and it was raining.

Rob

[jamesgilbert]

As others have said, hotels will usually be able to find somewhere to store bikes. In rural France I wouldn't be too worried about leaving bikes locked up outside, if it's a B&B in a small village for example.

My best experience was in Bratislava where for a birthday treat we stayed in a 5* hotel - the porter acted like it was completely normal to turn up on heavily laden touring bikes, and wheeled them off to a cage in the underground car park. The worst was in Amsterdam where the hotel attempted to charge us for a car parking space because we had insisted on locking our bikes in the car park rather than outside (bike theft is a big problem in Amsterdam).

[pwa]

Staying at a budget Ibis in Apt, this summer, they had a locked cage in the car park beneath the building. The only other people with access to the cage were other cyclists who had borrowed the key. Inside, I locked the bikes using our cable locks. Generally the French are understanding of bikes and the need to secure them and will find a good place for them.

[whoof]

In France a lot of places allow them in your room others will find a garage, store room or I've even put them in the corner of the reception or bar. I've been going for many years and have yet to find a hotel in France that didn't have somewhere secure to leave my bike.
You don't need to be fluent to have a stab at.
Vous avez un garage ou à la cave pour mon vélo, oui?
I always try and speak French when checking into a hotel or campsite (in France) even when we both end up speaking English or even some form of sign language the effort is usually appreciated.

[jamesgilbert]

Vous avez un garage ou à la cave pour mon vélo, s'il vous plait?

would be even more appreciated by the locals

[Bensons]

Thank you everyone, I could/can ask in French. Doesn't help of course but one of them is a tandem!

We will just carry on as normal then and assume it won't be a problem.

[Audax67]

Only place I've been told no was a hotel in Arc-et-Senans where the owner insisted that nobody had ever had a problem leaving the bikes against a wall across the road. But that was on the phone. When we got there it was late, we had a code to get in, nobody was there, the weather was dry and the bikes were clean so we left them in reception. Next morning we were up and away before anyone else got up.

[whoof]

Vous avez un garage ou à la cave pour mon vélo, s'il vous plait?

would be even more appreciated by the locals

As would.

Bonjour Monsieur or Madame or Monsieur-Dame (as appropriate) vous avez un garage ou à la cave pour mon vélo, s'il vous plait?

Preferably said with a smile.

[Audax67]

Je peux coller ce machin dans un coin discret ? Je ne veux pas partir à pied demain.

[whoof]

I would avoid saying 'Je peux coller ce machin e'mann dha pib' in certain parts of North West France.

[Neilo]

'Je peux coller ce machin e'mann dha pib.

Breton?

[nez]

Glue it? Must be some special eastern vocab. Serrer.