There is something uniquely charming about Europe in the winter. As the summer crowds dissipate and a crisp chill settles over the cobblestones, cities like Paris, Barcelona, and Lisbon take on a more intimate character. This winter, my husband and I are trading our permanent address for a suitcase, embarking on a slow journey through France, Spain, and Portugal. From city-centre apartments to hotels, we are immersing ourselves in the local rhythm of life during the off-season.
As we travel, we are documenting our experiences with a unique lens. Each accommodation we stay in is evaluated and rated according to the exclusive 5-Ticket rating system by myreturnticket.ca. This isn’t a system based on stars or points, but a curated measure of genuine value and experience.
We believe in being direct, honest, and authentic. Our feedback is designed to cut through the marketing gloss and tell you what it is really like to stay in these places when the weather is cold but the hospitality is warm.
FRANCE: Classic Parisian apartment near Arc de Triomphe (VRBO)
OVERALL VERDICT: We gave 3 out of 5 tickets and here’s why!
Booked via; VRBO
We’ve been to Paris a few times in the past, and we did not enjoy our stays in the hotels we’d chosen. The idea of having a little more space than a hotel room was appealing, so we decided to rent an apartment.
We arrived by taxi from Charles de Gaulle airport by about 11:30am, meeting up with the building manager, who let us in & gave us directions regarding the security system (excellent) & the general workings of the space.
And it was nice to have a kitchenette, with full size fridge, a stove + oven, plus a sitting area complete with a table, four chairs, a reading chair, and couch. There was a washer/dryer in the bathroom & a shower. This was a two bedroom apartment.
The location was fairly good, we figured out our way around fairly well. We were about a 10-15 minute walk to the Arc de Triomphe, a few minutes from grocery stores & cafes.
There was a fantastic bakery at the end of the street, serving the freshest pastries, robust sandwiches, decadent sweets & fresh juices.
There were a couple of issues with the apartment that did take away from the experience somewhat. Now, we know we’re coming to a place where the buildings are much older but the first day, after travelling a whole day and desperately needing a shower, we couldn’t get hot water & had a day planned that didn’t allow for us to wait for it to be fixed. It did get fixed, but not in time for us to be able to use it that morning… so ice cold sponge baths were the order of the day.
We also were informed that there was going to be a plumber coming to sort out a leak that had been a problem for quite a while, but we hadn’t been told of this until the day we arrived. Luckily we weren’t staying in the second room, as the water damage had created peeling stucco down the walls (also, the same with a wall in the bathroom) & gave us pause for concern on whether there were going to be more issues while we were there, as it rained incessantly.
There was a bit of a trick to the door of the apartment, which required much fiddling about & ended with the door crashing open… it was hard on the hands & when we had a late evening once, we felt terrible about the crashing of the door after midnight for the neighbours.
The storage in the apartment for clothing was very good, the extra blankets, and pillows were great. The bed was quite comfortable. There were plenty of dishes & cutlery, wineglasses + lots of pots, pans, a kettle, an iron.
The gold ornate mirrors, beautiful chandeliers, oversized wardrobe, and objets d’arts gave a homey Parisienne feel, along with the large windows & ornate wrought iron balconies.
We realize that we did have a whole small apartment to ourselves but did feel the price point was a little high. We’ve stayed in incredible 5 star accommodations in Abu Dhabi that were less than we paid for this space. It was a nice experience overall, but as mentioned, a few key things were quite frustrating.
Accommodation Rating out of 5 Tickets:
- Cleanliness: 4 Tickets
- Comfort: 4 Tickets
- Room amenities: 5 Tickets
- Close to transit, tourism: 4 Tickets
- Food/Bar on site N/A
- Friendly staff: 3 Tickets
- Overall value: 3 Tickets
FRANCE: Hotel Escale Oceania, Orleans (booking.com)
OVERALL VERDICT: We gave 3 out of 5 tickets and here’s why!
Booked via booking.com
As we drove up to our next accommodation on this European trip, we couldn’t believe what was across the street… a massive flooding of the Loire River! It was rushing & roiling and honestly, quite unsettling. Throughout our few days here we would watch it rise even more due to the torrential rains we had.
Once inside, we checked in, then went straight up to our room on the second floor. As we’ve mentioned before, we always drop our bags at the door & then check out the room for cleanliness etc. This room was very clean but we noticed an open bottle of water that was 1/3 gone sitting on one of the night tables. There were only two small pillows in the room & at the bistro table, there was only one chair.
We went to the reception to ask for more pillows and to mention the other issues, thinking maybe we weren’t in the right room. We were told you only get one chair… and one bottle of water… despite there being two guests. How strange. They did give us more pillows and towels when asked.
There is a breakfast room so we decided to try breakfast the first morning to see what we thought of it, before committing to each day. It was quite good, with a variety of pastries, juices, hard boiled or scrambled eggs, good bacon, cereals, fruits, nuts & cheeses. There were mini waffles, crepes & different breads. You could have hot teas or specialty coffees, from a machine. The kitchen team were polite & greeted you as you arrived & left. But the front desk team acted as though you were putting them out when making enquiries.
The shower was spacious with good pressure & heat. The toilet was in its own small space. There were a couple of shelves for clothing etc with 6 hangers. Not very much space for two guests.
The parking was excellent. There is a good sized lot right behind the hotel.
It was easy to walk to Centre Ville to visit the town.
Accommodation Rating out of 5 Tickets:
- Cleanliness: 4 Tickets
- Comfort: 3 Tickets
- Room amenities: 3 Tickets
- Close to transit, tourism: 4 Tickets
- Food/Bar on site: 4 Tickets
- Friendly staff: 2 Tickets
- Overall value: 3 Tickets
FRANCE: Fourviere Hotel, Lyon (expedia.com)
OVERALL VERDICT: We gave 4 out of 5 tickets and here’s why!
Booked via Expedia
We couldn’t believe our eyes when we walked in to the hotel for the first time – it was absolutely stunning & reminded us of a miniature basilica. Interestingly, during a great little tour by a staff member, we discovered the architect, who designed this hotel, built the Basilica of Notre Dame de Fourviere and you can see many of the similarities… it almost seems like it was a practice run before he built the full Basilica in Lyon.
Our room was quite fantastic, large tub & shower, fabulous decor, fluffy white robes, a mini fridge, a comfortable bed with excellent pillows and linens. There was a great chair to sit in with foot stool, a really cool desk & a nice sized couch.
We did note that there were no USC or USB charging ports in the room, only power outlets. Also, the wifi signal was terrible, we did have work to do online, but only had 1 bar so couldn’t do so.
We decided to try to have a small bite to eat at Les Telephones Restaurant downstairs in the hotel. It looks beautiful, is very comfortably decorated and other staff that walked by us were very friendly and said hello.
We did get our drinks quite quickly and our snack, which were nice, but then for about 45 minutes, we did not see our server again and none of the other staff who could see us came to ask if there was anything we needed. We finally got up to find a server to ask for more water & some dessert. We ordered dessert & about 20 minutes later were told they didn’t have it…
After a good night’s sleep, we walked through the property which leads to stunning ruins of a Roman amphitheatre that you need to see to believe.
As we’re on our French road trip, we checked out fairly early to continue on to Avignon.
Accommodation Rating out of 5 Tickets:
- Cleanliness: 5 Tickets
- Comfort: 5 Tickets
- Room amenities: 4 Tickets
- Close to transit, tourism: 4 Tickets
- Food/Bar on site: 3 Tickets
- Friendly staff: 4 Tickets
- Overall value: 4 Tickets
FRANCE: Mercure Avignon Hotel Gare TGV (expedia.com)
OVERALL VERDICT: We gave 4 out of 5 tickets and here’s why!
Booked via Expedia
We drove into the parking lot of the Mercure Hotel in Avignon, to see that parking is incredibly easy, literally in front of the hotel. As we walked in, we could already sense a different feel – light airy comfortable casual yet sparklingly clean. The lobby decor was modern with plenty of spots to sit, including an outdoor patio.
The front desk staff member was efficient, lovely and friendly. We were told about Les Gustaves, their restaurant & the spa. They do serve breakfast so if you choose to, in the morning you can go down, give your room number & enjoy. She let us know that there was more parking available & where it is, should it be necessary.
We discovered some treats in our room, tea, coffee, coffee maker, plus a small wine fridge & a tea kettle.
Behind closed doors, there is a 2 burner cooktop, a small fridge, microwave, even a tiny dishwasher plus a kitchen sink. There was cutlery & one frying pan but no dishes at all.
The toilet is in its own water closet and the shower + bathroom sink are in a separate space. There is a heated towel rack, plenty of space to hang towels or clothing to dry, a double head shower, plenty of lovely shampoo, conditioner, and hand wash. There are quite a few towels, a proper blow dryer, a magnifying makeup mirror and a power outlet.
There were robes and slippers on the bed, nice clean linens. There are USB ports by the desk, also bedside reading lamps and a power outlet. The built in headboard has a sweet lighted diorama of the skyline & an ‘M’ for Mercure.
After handwashing some of our clothing (we’re travelling lightly with only a carry-on & personal item each) we decided to have a drink in the restaurant downstairs. The lobby has a co-working space, a small boutique, a wine bar, a fully stocked bar, a large patio, breakfast area & Les Gustave’s Restaurant. We enjoyed a tea & latte macchiato while working on our daytime jobs.
Each staff member had been very helpful & friendly so far. The one server, Raphael, was super efficient & even had suggestions for us about some sightseeing.
We went out briefly to get some golden hour photos of le Palais des Papes & Pont d’Avignon then came back for dinner at the Mercure.
It was very busy in the restaurant, plus there was a private function, but the service and meal were still top notch. We enjoyed wine & a cocktail, then Mr. MRT had Merlan de boeuf grilled perfectly, with roasted potatoes & winter vegetables.
I decided on Artisanal spaghetti, celery cream with winter vegetables, truffle rostello ham chiffonnade & Osso Iraty shavings.
Our bed was very comfortable, although the pillows were very thin & soft so we did ask for a few more. We had a good sleep, it was quiet in the hotel’s neighbourhood… until about 4:45am. I guess we were near the laundry and delivery area because the deliveries started and one particular driver was laughing & shouting… I had to go out and call to him to be quiet. We wouldn’t suggest booking room number 128 or 129 due to this.
In the morning, we did some of our day job, then got dressed to have breakfast in the restaurant downstairs. It was buffet style & had everything you could want from many types of juice, tea or coffee to fresh yogourt, fruit and nuts, or scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, fruit… even donuts! And then. There were crepes. This fuelled us for our road trip itinerary for the day.
After our day out we thought it would be nice to have a head massage in the spa. We had seen signs on the wall by our room that stated Spa & Fitness. We followed them to the elevator but there wasn’t a listing for it so we hit each floor, they all had the same signs pointing to the elevator. Finally we saw a staff member and he said it’s on the lobby level… so nowhere near where all the signs say? Not even close.
We went into the spa, where at least 6 staff were milling about, and asked about services… the receptionist handed us a card with a QR code on it to scan… we did thinking it would list the services… but it was for giving them a review. We hadn’t even had services yet?We tried to get someone’s attention & clearly looked confused as to what to do but we gave up as we were basically ignored.
We ordered room service but noted it was a much smaller menu than in the restaurant. We got the mini burgers with fries, they were tasty but they forgot the cheese on one of the orders.
Our last night, we had a decent sleep until 4:30am when some delivery trucks came, one particular driver was laughing & loudly soaking for quite a while… I finally had to call down from our balcony & tell him to be quiet. When we were checking out, we mentioned it to the reception staff who immediately were apologetic & gave us a little treat to make up for it.
Accommodation Rating out of 5 Tickets:
- Cleanliness: 5 Tickets
- Comfort: 4 Tickets
- Room amenities: 4 Tickets
- Close to transit, tourism: 4 Tickets
- Food/Bar on site: 5 Tickets
- Friendly staff: 4 Tickets
- Overall value: 4 Tickets
FRANCE: Radisson Blu, Nice (booking.com)
OVERALL VERDICT: We gave 4 out of 5 tickets and here’s why!
Booked via booking.com
As with many of the places we’re visiting this trip, we’ve never been to Nice, and didn’t know what to expect… partly due to the time of year (February – we’d run into snow in Lyon the week before!).
As we arrived in Nice (we still had our rental car) we couldn’t believe our eyes – absolutely azure waters, palm trees, sunny skies with a few fluffy clouds… totally tropical! We saw a spot along the beach and pulled right over to get some photos. The waves crashing in, the glistening sand, the warm breeze… the gulls diving into water in the search of fresh fish…
We jumped back in the car, eager to see where our hotel was, but pulled over again, not too much farther along, to get more photos, the Mediterranean was just that beautiful. We found our hotel – Radisson Blu Nice – and as we pulled up to the front door to take out our luggage, we were met by a bellman who showed us a temporary spot we could park until we’d checked in as we were going to return the rental car immediately after.
Check in was easy, the receptionist was lovely & helpful, she explained that if we wanted to book the breakfast buffet, it was much cheaper to do it at check in than to try to do it later, so we did, as it was reasonable.
After we’d returned the car down the street, we found our way back down the promenade, stopping along the way to sit on one of the many benches and bask in the beauty that was as far as the eye can see. There were so many people doing the same thing, or cycling, or jogging, or rollerblading, walking their dogs, or enjoying a good book.
We went back to our hotel & unpacked a few things, then sat on our patio while marvelling at the sea, glistening right across the street. We commented that we’ve never had a room with a view quite like this! Our bed was huuuuge & comfortable and for once we didn’t have to ask for more pillows. There was a shower/tub combo with a clothesline in the bathtub, which came in so handy as we hand wash clothing often, since we’re travelling with only carry-ons. Our patio had a nice sized bistro set to enjoy.
There was a comfortable chair with coffee table, the desk was a good size, there was a coffee maker, kettle, and mini fridge, but no USC/USBs by the bed, luckily we keep adapters so were able to plug in our phones, laptops & my CPAP (yesss I have to drag that thing around with me… if I ever win the lottery, I swear I’ll get the much smaller travel size version…)
We were able to keep the patio door open to allow cool air in, as there wasn’t any AC in the rooms yet, since it usually isn’t nice weather yet in February. It was a little noisy on the street in the night as it was Friday night, but the fresh air made such a difference.
We did visit the rooftop restaurant & pool/fitness area, but the pool would have been too cold to try. The views were spectacular! We decided to enjoy our own patio view to the most, so ordered dinner to have on the patio, unfortunately the pizza & Caesar weren’t that great… the room service menu is very small so that was all we really wanted to try.
In the morning, we went to the breakfast buffet that looked fantastic & was in a bright sunroom, with attached patio. Once again, unfortunately, we were disappointed. The scrambled eggs were awful, luckily I noticed there were hardboiled eggs… but they were stone cold. The bacon was decent & crispy. There were a few breads, two types of fruit, yogourt, cereals & cold meats, cheeses & sliced vegetables.
We went down for a walk along the promenade again because we had seen some cafe/bars right on the beach. We enjoyed a Corona almost with our toes in the water – we could feel the spray! Another pretty unreal thing we discovered… it was Carnaval de Nice! We braved the crowds (and if you know me… I do NOT enjoy a crowd…) but saw the most amazing floats parading along with loud music & so many costumes, kids, adults, confetti like you’ve never seen! Many of the spectators were dressed up top to bottom themselves! The theme for 2026 was Long Live the Queen – as in women empowerment.
After the show, we worked our way back to our hotel, noticing the glittering white lights on the palm trees, the amount of security because of the millions of people, the crashing of the waves, then hopped on the city bus to get the rest of the way back. We had a bus stop right across from our hotel, the pricing was reasonable, and they stopped every 10-15 minutes.
The rest of our stay was nice, we did eat there each morning, because we’d prepaid for it, but breakfast continued to be disappointing. Check out was quick and easy.
Accommodation Rating out of 5 Tickets:
- Cleanliness: 5 Tickets
- Comfort: 5 Tickets
- Room amenities: 4 Tickets
- Close to transit, tourism: 5 Tickets
- Food/Bar on site: 3 Tickets
- Friendly staff: 4 Tickets
- Overall value: 4 Tickets
SPAIN: Barcelo Raval, Barcelona (booking.com)
OVERALL VERDICT: We gave 4 out of 5 tickets and here’s why!
Booked via booking.com
Why should you choose a cosmopolitan city hotel in the heart of Barcelona like the Barcelo Raval?
Well, it’s located near the dynamic Ramblas area and the city’s landmarks, such as Plaza Catalunya, the Flamenco Theatres, the Boquería Market and the Cathedral. There was lots of shopping & services nearby as well.
As you walk in, the lobby is so cool! There’s a full size midnight black horse, that’s actually a lamp, there are white cylinders that hang down from the ceiling with a glow of light, the walls have great texture, there’s a bar with champagne, a small stand where you can buy snacks & some alcoholic & nonalcoholic drinks, a bar you can sit at to work with some computers. The lighting was just so unique with giant lamp shades. There was a bright pink tufted, upholstered love seat with a statue of a woman that made for fun photo ops.
The only issue with the cosmopolitan design… we couldn’t see out at the city from our nice high level. There were some kind of metal designs that went around the building on the outside that looked cool from a distance but completely impeded the view from inside. Good thing there was a 360 degree view from the roof. Speaking of the roof, there was a “pool” advertised with the rooftop view but it was about the size of a square hot tub…
When we arrived we were met with the friendliest receptionist who had lots of suggestions of what to do throughout our stay & got us a glass of champagne while we checked in.
The room was quite good, super clean, decent bed, good shower, plenty of space to put clothes away. There were toothbrush & toothpaste kits, two bottles of water (replaced daily), plenty of coffee & tea, a sewing kit, really good towels & there were enough pillows, which were comfortable. They had full size shampoo, conditioner, hand soap, and shower gel. There were plenty of outlets, a TV & a desk that we did our day job from.
We decided to try the breakfast buffet, but just one day to start as the buffet in Nice wasn’t that great… it turned out to be excellent, so we ordered it for all three mornings. If we start with a good breakfast, we don’t often need to stop for lunch on our travels. There was plenty of choice, excellent eggs, fresh pastries and juices, there was everything from different yogurts to cereals, bacon, and a few hot coffee or tea choices. The only thing we didn’t have that we like to have… a mini fridge.
It was a great spot to be as well, because there was a bit of a square in between the hotel and the other businesses with lots of bistro tables. We stopped at a cafe there one day & enjoyed the neighbourhood with a drink.
There were always taxis around to be able to go other places & we noticed there were lots of police cruising the area so felt quite safe.
Our checkout went very smoothly, considering we were leaving for a flight at 3am. The night staff were efficient & friendly. Overall, a great experience at this hotel.
Accommodation Rating out of 5 Tickets:
- Cleanliness: 5 Tickets
- Comfort: 4 Tickets
- Room amenities: 5 Tickets
- Close to transit, tourism: 5 Tickets
- Food/Bar on site: 5 Tickets
- Friendly staff: 5 Tickets
- Overall value: 4 Tickets
PORTUGAL: Varandas do Mar, Albufeira (booking.com)
OVERALL VERDICT: We gave 2 out of 5 tickets and here’s why!
Apartment in Old Town, Albufeira
Booked via booking.com
Trying to describe this trip to Albufeira has been a tricky one. We absolutely loved the view from the apartment we rented (the Atlantic Ocean & little village) and the layout (large patio, kitchenette, living room, 2 bathrooms, washing machine). We enjoyed the fact that it was very close to not only the beach, but restaurants, stores and some attractions.
Luckily for us, we have enjoyed some type of excursion most days because unfortunately, in Old Town, there is extremely loud music & karaoke from 3pm till at least 3am, every. single. night. It was too loud even with the windows and patio doors closed tight, sounding like it was in the next room. We had hoped to have some quiet time during the day at least, but were not informed that there would be very loud construction in the suite below ours while we were there. Jackhammering even.
Albufeira itself is a mix of whitewashed buildings, cafés, restaurants, churches, market stalls, and even some Roman ruins. You’ll find museums and wonderful little cafés every few feet to have their national treat, pastel de nata, or even some very good gelato (we know, that’s Italian, but it was very good here).
Not getting any sleep was very exhausting, there were no refunds on this place, so we had to just deal with it. The other problem was that we were not told that parking would cost an exorbitant $20(Canadian) a day and we’d already rented the car, so didn’t have a choice but to pay that. At one point we were even told it would cost $8(Canadian) a day to rent the security safe… have you ever? Needless to say we did not.
We understand that there are different lifestyles, and that regular life goes on for locals, whether there are vacationers there or not, but not being told about the party scene and the intrusive construction was not cool or professional. As we were paying a fair amount to stay there, we should have had the choice to decide whether or not those things would ruin our holiday. (We won’t even get into the fact we had to stack two mattresses each to be somewhat comfortable… while we couldn’t sleep…)
Our host was 35 minutes late when we arrived and then sent someone else to let us in, which made us an hour past check in. We’d read on Booking dot com that other holidayers had mostly enjoyed their stay but they’d been greeted by the host who had given them all kinds of tips & suggestions. We weren’t told where the garbage was to go, let alone left bags for it, even opening the garage door was a nightmare. The cell phone we were to use to open it didn’t always work so a couple of times we had to wait for others to come & go to get in.
We grocery shopped, to keep costs down, so often ate in our apartment, which we’re quite happy to do. We’ll talk about grocery prices (& their varying taxes)in another post.
There was a pool and lounge chair area at the apartment but the water was freezing cold so we didn’t go in. We figured this would be the case as it was technically still winter in the Algarve. The weather was otherwise lovely so we didn’t care.
The disappointment in not being informed of the loudness in the middle of the night there & the possibility of construction were what really dragged down the rating… had we been given that info, we would not have chosen to stay here. We noticed in our wanderings that there are many places on the ocean we could have stayed that were quieter. Being so exhausted has taken the shine off the stay, big time.
It just goes to show that sometimes you can read all the reviews and do the research but still only find the info they want you to have.
Accommodation Rating out of 5 Tickets:
- Cleanliness: 4 Tickets
- Comfort: 1 Ticket
- Room amenities: 5 Tickets
- Close to transit, tourism: 5 Tickets
- Food/Bar on site: 0 Tickets
- Friendly staff: 1 Tickets
- Overall value: 2 Tickets
PORTUGAL: Cabanas de Tavira, PRT (VRBO)
OVERALL VERDICT: We gave 5 out of 5 tickets and here’s why!
Apartment in Cabanas de Tavira
Booked via; VRBO
We arrived in Tavira, Portugal by Uber. Now, we were way overtired, because at the apartment we’d rented in Albufeira we’d been kept awake every single night of 2 the weeks until well into the wee hours of the morning (you’ll find that article on our website). We were apprehensive as heck, because we knew we just couldn’t go through a stay like THAT again…
We were met at the front door by the lovely Nathalie, who helped carry our bags & lead us to the top level apartment. Not only did she give us instructions for everything & suggestions of what to do and see but she’d also left us 2 bottles of wine!
The apartment itself was spotless, well set up & nicely decorated. There is one large bedroom + a pullout couch, the bathroom has a bathtub with shower, and a bidet. There’s a good sized fridge, stove & microwave, dining table, couch, chair & TV. It was also nice to see quite a few games & books.
But the pièce de résistance… the huge balcony with the view of the ocean!
There are at least three seating areas plus a clothesline, which we’d wished we’d had at the other apartment.
The apartment has a shared outdoor pool but as it was March, technically it was still winter so it was quite cold.
The apartment has parking available if you have a vehicle. There is a rental company right down the road by the waterfront, so if you wanted to rent a vehicle for a few days, you’d know it’s in secure parking.
This location was perfect to wander down to the boardwalk or to take the train to other areas, like Tavira. There are small markets or larger grocery stores fairly nearby.
There are so many places to eat nearby, from cafes to restaurants. In fact, there was a nice restaurant right next door to us that had lovely patio seating & really nice live entertainment on Sunday afternoons. We chose to get groceries and did most of our own cooking, as we’d rather spend the money on activities than dining out, but we did stop for coffee & a small treat while trekking.
The weather was quite beautiful most of the time, considering it was their Winter. It was anywhere from 15-22 degrees with a nice breeze. There was a little rain but nothing that really dampened our spirits. Those times we just did our day jobs from the apartment & planned the next excursions.
Would we stay there again, absolutely! 💯
Accommodation Rating out of 5 Tickets:
- Cleanliness: 5 Tickets
- Comfort: 5 Ticket
- Room amenities: 5 Tickets
- Close to transit, tourism: 5 Tickets
- Food/Bar on site: 5 Tickets
- Friendly staff: 5 Tickets
- Overall value: 5 Tickets
