When choosing a hotel for a holiday by the sea, we focus on many criteria, including its location. Are the pros and cons of front line hotels so obvious? Is it worth saving and settling far from the sea? Let's figure it out.
What is the first line
There is a generally accepted classification of hotels, which allows you to find out the location of the hotel with only one phrase - the first, second, third line.
If you see the phrase "First line hotel" on the booking site or in the advertising guide, you will immediately understand that the hotel is built on the seashore, has direct access to the beach, which may be public, but more often it is intended exclusively for guests of this hotel complex.
First line hotels are characterized by:
- the distance to the coastline from the buildings of such a hotel will be no more than 100 meters;
- some rooms offer a magnificent view of the water element, which is not obscured by other buildings;
- on the coast you can usually find hotels marked with 4 and 5 stars.
The second line hotels are built at a distance of about 200 m from the sea and are separated from the beaches by a street or road. Hotels marked with 3 stars are usually built on the second line. Some of them have their own beaches. Due to the proximity of the sea, guests are not brought to the beaches.
Hotels of the third line are usually separated from the beaches by 300 meters or more. These hotels often do not offer their own beaches to their clients, but no one deprives tourists of a beach holiday: people are brought to the sea by special transport.
Hotels of different levels of comfort are being built far from the beaches. Five-star hotels of the third line differ from those on the first line only by the absence of beaches in the immediate vicinity of residential buildings.
Advantages of first line hotels
Should you book a hotel right on the coast and pay extra for it?
Many tourists believe that the advantages of such hotels are much more significant than the disadvantages. The main advantage of a hotel near the sea will be a gorgeous view from the rooms that face the beaches, from open terraces, and actually, from anywhere in front of the main facade. For a splendid panorama, many tourists are ready to shell out considerable sums.
If you book a room with a sea view, you will be able to breathe the fresh sea air at any time of the day, not just when you go to the beach.
Finally, many travelers choose accommodation on the beach because it is near the water that there are many cafes, bars, restaurants, that is, places where you can have fun and interesting time. Also, usually on private hotel beaches there are playgrounds and sports equipment rental offices. Hotel guests thus have no problem finding entertainment.
Disadvantages of first line hotels
The hotel, which is presented to the public as being on the first line, is not always located right at the water's edge. Sometimes the coast may not be suitable for large construction, so the hotel is erected on a hill, but the sea is still at a distance of 100 meters from it. True, the owners of the hotel on booking sites are silent that the road to the beach will be steep and will not be suitable, for example, for elderly people or family tourists with small children.
The disadvantages of a first line hotel include the high cost of living in it. The prices for rooms in hotels by the sea during the high season will be 50-70 percent higher than in hotels of the second and third line. If you have extra money, you can order accommodation on the first line. If a tourist is on a budget, then you should think about hotels more separated from the beaches.
Finally, the fat minus of the hotel on the coast will be the eternal dampness in the rooms. This is not so noticeable in Mediterranean climates, but becomes critical somewhere in the tropics, when linen and towels do not dry out for hours.
Among the advantages of the first line hotels, we mentioned the availability of various entertainment establishments within walking distance. For people who love silence, this plus will become an annoying factor and turn into a minus. Beach discos under the windows make a lot of noise, and vacationers wandering around until the morning cause a lot of inconvenience.
