Paulie's APAT Season 8 - Travel Tips [Namur, Belgium]

[Paulie_D]

The APAT Belgian Amateur Poker Championship will be played at the Casino De Namur, Namur, Belgium over 19th - 21th September 2014. [Yes, 3 days]

The host casino is expecting a large local contingent and thus there will be two entry flights, Day 1a (Friday) and Day 1b (Saturday).

Cardroom Address:
Avenue Baron de Moreau 1
5000 Namur, Belgium

Google Map link

Prices: All prices are approximate based on searches (Fri/Sat/Sun nights) via Laterooms or, where the hotel is not available via LR, an alternative consolidator site (probably booking.com) or the hotel"s own site.


Accepting that this event will be of interest only to a minority of APAT players I will limit my "advice" to just a few options. Unfortunately, at the time of writing the options provide by Laterooms (an APAT commercial partner) are somewhat limited so I may have to colour outside the lines a little.

However, can players please consider using the APAT LateRooms link above as they are usually extremely competitive.

Note (DodgyEnd): that same weekend there are some planned festivities in Namur, so please don"t wait too long before booking your hotel if you plan to come over!!


Onsite & Nearby Hotels

Hotel Beauregard - Onsite / Linked Hotel

Hotel Address :
Avenue Baron de Moreau 1, 5000 Namur

Distance from Casino: Onsite

Rates: Flexible (via Booking.com)
Friday - Monday (3 nights)
c.£50 per nght

Breakfast: Yes - Extra
Wi-Fi: Yes - Free
Parking: N/A (I assume)

***

The Royal Snail Hotel (Don"t ask)

Hotel Address :
Avenue de la Plante 23, 5000 Namur

Distance from Casino: 230m/ 0.1m (3 minute walk)

Rates: Advance (via Booking.com)
Friday - Monday (3 nights)
c.£85 per nght

Breakfast: Yes - Extra
Wi-Fi: Yes - Free

***

Ibis Namur Centre

Hotel Address :
Rue du Premier Lanciers 10, 5000 Namur

Distance from Casino: 1.5km/ 0.8m (3 minute drive / 20 minute walk)

Rates: Advance (via Booking.com)
Friday - Monday (3 nights)
c.£70 per nght

Breakfast: Yes - Extra
Wi-Fi: Yes - Free

***

Grand Hotel de Flandre

Hotel Address :
Place de la Station 14, 5000 Namur (opposite Station)

Distance from Casino: 2.8km/ 1.5m (6 minute drive / 30 minute walk)

Rates: Advance (via Booking.com)
Friday - Monday (3 nights)
c.£63 per nght

Breakfast: Yes - Extra
Wi-Fi: Yes - Free

***

Other Hotels

Best Western New Hotel De Lives

Hotel Address :
Chaussee De Liege 1178, Namur, 5101

Distance from Casino: 8.7km / 5.4m (10 minute drive)

Rates:
Friday: c.£52
Saturday: c.£52
Sunday: c.£52

Breakfast: Included (probably Contintental)
Wi-Fi: Not AFAICT


Peniche Ange Gabriel
(added by DodgyEnd)

Hotel Address :
Quai des Chasseurs Ardennais 3, 5000 Namur

Distance from Casino: 3 minute walk

Rates: (currently not available on Booking.com)
Friday - Monday (3 nights)
c.£45 per nght

Breakfast: Yes - Extra
Wi-Fi: Yes - Free


Les Tanneurs
(added by DodgyEnd)

Hotel Address :
Rue des Tanneries 13, 5000 Namur

Distance from Casino: 13 minute walk

Rates: (currently not available on Booking.com)
Friday - Monday (3 nights)
c.£45-90 per nght

Breakfast: Yes - Extra
Wi-Fi: Yes - Free


Peniche d'Hotes MS Elisabeth
(added by DodgyEnd)

Hotel Address :
Avenue Baron Luis Huart 1, 5000 Namur

Distance from Casino: 3 minute walk

Rates: (currently not available on Booking.com)
Friday - Monday (3 nights)
c.£45 per nght

Breakfast: Yes - Extra
Wi-Fi: Yes - Free

***

Please note that I am not personally recommending or endorsing any of these. As always, if in any doubt, do your own research and check review sites such as TripAdvisor or read the reviews on your chosen booking site.

Paulie


edit DodgyEnd: added a few hotels nearby the casino, unfortunately no availability currently on booking.com

edit Paulie_D:

Booking.com is just another consolidator site but has a lot of useful information even if you can"t book through them which is why I reference it here.

However, Booking.com is not your only option. Trivago often has lots of "lesser known" sites to scrape and is well worth a look. At your own risk, of course.

[Paulie_D]

Getting There - By Train

Assuming that one does not wish to drive (which is an option if you are planning on making an extended trip out of it) then your options are Fly or Train.

Trains

The Eurostar service from London (or Ebbsfleet or Ashford if in Essex/Kent/SE England) takes just over two hours to get to Brussels Midi and you can include the onward train to Namur for very little extra.

Seat61.com

London to Any Belgian Station including Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, Liege starts at £45 one-way or £79 return in 2nd class:

Eurostar tickets to Brussels used to be automatically valid to any station in Belgium, but this arrangement ceased in October 2010. You must now buy a ticket to "Any Belgian Station", which is listed as a separate destination, costing £6 more one-way or £10 more return than a standard class ticket to Brussels.  In first class, it"s £9 one-way, £17 return more than the price of a Standard Premier or Business Premier ticket to Brussels.  With a Eurostar ticket to Any Belgian Station you can hop on any onward train from Brussels to anywhere in Belgium within 24 hours of your Eurostar arrival in Brussels.  On the return leg, you can use any suitable train from your Belgian starting point to Brussels within 24 hours of your Eurostar departure back to London.  No reservation is necessary for Belgian domestic trains, you just hop on any train you want.  It"s not valid on high-speed Thalys or German high-speed ICE trains (not to be confused with Belgian or Dutch IC trains, which certainly can be used).

The travel time from Brussels-Midi to Namur is approximately 1 hour.

Travelling to Namur?

If you buy a Eurostar ticket to Any Belgian Station, it"s valid by Eurostar to Brussels and then by any suitable connecting train service from Brussels to anywhere in Belgium as long as you complete the journey within 24 hours of the Eurostar arriving in Brussels. You can"t use high-speed Thalys or ICE trains, but Belgian InterCity (IC) trains are fine.

In the inbound direction, you can travel from anywhere in Belgium to Brussels on any suitable train except Thalys or ICE high-speed trains within the 24 hours before your Eurostar departure from Brussels to London.  Again, InterCity (IC) trains are fine.  Trains generally run hourly or half-hourly between Brussels and all main Belgian cities, no reservation is necessary, you just hop on and find any empty seat.

A ticket to Any Belgian Station costs £6 more one-way or £10 more return than a Eurostar ticket to Brussels, in other words, from £79 return in standard class, which is extremely good value.  In first class, it costs £9 one-way or £17 return more than the price of a Standard Premier or Business Premier ticket to Brussels.

Beware of out-of-date advice.  Until 11 October 2010, a Eurostar ticket to Brussels was automatically valid to any station in Belgium.  This was a fantastic deal for passengers, but less fantastic for Belgian national railways (SNCB) as they received no revenue from this arrangement.  The arrangement ceased on 11 October 2010, and there are now two separate destinations shown on the Eurostar website, "Brussels" if you just want Brussels itself and "Any Belgian Station" if you want to travel beyond Brussels, the latter priced higher than Brussels.  Incidentally, a ticket to "Brussels" still allows a free train transfer from Brussels Midi to Brussels Central, Brussels Nord, and several other central Brussels stations, but no longer to anywhere in Belgium.

You can use the online timetable at www.bahn.de or www.b-rail.be to check train times.  Allow at least 20 minutes in Brussels to make a connection on the outward journey, and 45 minutes (preferably more) on the return to allow for the 30-minute Eurostar check-in.

Buy a through ticket to Brussels from over 130 UK towns & cities...

Eurostar offer through tickets from over 130 UK towns & cities to Brussels or Any Belgian Station - use the booking form on Seat61.com to see which UK stations have through tickets to Brussels or any Belgian station by Eurostar & to book online.

... or buy separate UK & Eurostar tickets...
Alternatively, you can buy separate tickets for the UK part of your journey.  There are special tickets to "London International" from most UK stations which have better terms and conditions specially designed for connecting with Eurostar:  Buy a special add-on ticket from almost any station in Britain to London International (St Pancras).

Seat61.com has a wealth of detail on routes and other options (car/ferry etc) so it"s well worth a read and bookmarking for that matter.


Loco2.com

Very useful site for booking from your local station to Namur (or anywhere) including Eurostar.

Shows you the steps of your journey too when you click the little arrow.

[Paulie_D]

Getting There - By Air

The other option is, of course, to fly. Brussels is a business hub and is well served both by train and by air.

I"ll leave it to the individual player to decide on their best option.

Please note, however, that flying will only get you to Brussels...you would still need to make your way to Namur, presumably by train. So you might wish to refer to Seat61.com again [Linky]

Flight Searching

My preferred site for flight searches is Skyscanner.net . You cannot book through Skyscanner but it will link you to the appropriate airline site.



Flying to Charleroi (Brussels South)
(added by DodgyEnd)

As already mentioned, Charleroi is closer to Namur. So this might be a good option depending on where you are.

There are direct Ryanair flights to Charleroi from:
Dublin (£52)
Edinburgh (£72)
Manchester (£40)


Getting from the airport to the hotel
(added by DodgyEnd)

If you don"t want to go through the trouble of finding a train or a cab, we (APAT Belgium) can provide a shuttle service for you. We have contacted a company who will drive you from Brussels or Charleroi to your hotel in Namur. They have small vans for 8 people, and the price is approx. 50 EUR (Charleroi) or 90 EUR (Brussels) for a 1-way trip (for max. 8 people).

If you are interested, please give us your flight details (PM or tom@apat.be), and we"ll check the availability and the exact price! And if more people can share, it"ll be the cheapest way to get to the casino.

[AceOnTheRiver]

Yeah Yeah Yeah, but where"s the information on the BARS!!!

After all, the Belgiums are pretty good at making beer.

I"m off to read the Belgian chapter of Pete Brown"s "Three Sheets to the Wind". Again!

On a serious note, this thread is much appreciated Paulie.

[hi_am_chris]

You can fly to Charleroi too i believe which is a little bit closer than Brussels?

[Paulie_D]

Yeah Yeah Yeah, but where"s the information on the BARS!!!

After all, the Belgiums are pretty good at making beer.

It"s of little interest to me now that I"m riding the wagon.

However, I"ll see what I can do...frankly, I don"t see us leaving the casino much...we hardly ever do.

That said, a Sunday night meal in Downtown Namur might be fun...of course, you"ll have to eat without me...I"ll still be playing.

Hopefully, our local rep [ BelgianTom to avoid confusion] will be able to recommend somewhere.

[Paulie_D]

You can fly to Charleroi too i believe which is a little bit closer than Brussels?

Indeed it is...about 20 miles away...30 minute drive.

That"s a good option although no flights from London it seems..he said after a quick check.

If you have someone comfortable with European driving a car would be about £20 a day to hire. Not bad if chopped up a couple/three days.

[hi_am_chris]

Found return flights from Manchester for 44 quid too which seems pretty good?

[Quadran666 (Christoff Apat.be)]

[Quadran666 (Christoff Apat.be)]

You can fly to Charleroi too i believe which is a little bit closer than Brussels?

Hi Chris, It"s about the same distance but Dodgyend will post some more details later today or tomorrow about the trip.

If there"s enough people coming we might put in a coach or something to cover the distance from Brussels/Charleroi to Namur, but more about that soooooon.

[Paulie_D]

Loving all this....

I"m getting excited....almost makes up for no Vegas this year...almost!

[IrishTom]

Loving all this....

I"m getting excited....almost makes up for no Vegas this year...almost!

Don"t worry Paulie there is a Vegas this year (roll on next week!).....

[Paulie_D]

Loving all this....

I"m getting excited....almost makes up for no Vegas this year...almost!

Don"t worry Paulie there is a Vegas this year (roll on next week!).....

Not for me unfortunately...

[Paulie_D]

Thanks to our local Belgian contingent for adding some extra useful info to the tips above...all clearly labelled.

Another site worth checking which I mention in one of my edits is Trivago. It scrapes more sites for you so it does have a greater reach than Booking.com (which is owned by Priceline).

[AAroddersAA]

However, I"ll see what I can do...frankly, I don"t see us leaving the casino much...we hardly ever do.

Thought we had all agreed this needed to change, help encourage new members to enjoy themselves and all make them want to come to more.

I will be looking into ensuring time off work for this one today btw. Calendar is getting very full between now and end of year.