4/10 Poor
Linda S., Phoenix, Arizona USA
5 October 2024
Don't Arrive after Sunset
We had arrived in Paris after a 10-hour transatlantic flight, taken the TGV to Lyon, and driven our rental car to St. Albans. We planned to stay two nights to recuperate from jet lag.
St. Albans is filled with narrow streets that seem to have more traffic than you would expect in a small town. It was very dark when we arrived and Verizon's international plan offered no connectivity. I knew the address of the rental, and I had the key box code. It would not open the key box. I tried unsuccessfully to call the host. We finally found an Ibis hotel after midnight and spent our first night there.
We returned the next day and discovered the rental actually was located in an alley behind the house where I had been struggling with the key box the night before.
We were exhausted and slept well.
The rental is small and offers basic supplies. There were two coffee makers. We could not figure out how to insert the supplied pods in one. The other was an older drip machine. We heard a large crack while it was brewing. The carafe had broken.
We had picked up some groceries and I planned to use the induction stove to scramble some eggs. There were several new ceramic-style frying pans in the cabinet, but they apparently were aluminum and wouldn't work on the stove. I used an older scratched skillet to prepare the eggs.
Drive carefully on the narrow streets, arrive before sunset, buy cell coverage that actually works in small towns, and set your expectations at a basic level.
Linda S.
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2024