HotelChatter

Not A Cruise...
This is the new concept from easyCruise, the same people who do easyHotels.com. Ignore the name: it's not a cruise ship. It's a basic, cheap hotel room on a small ship that sails to nice places in Greece and the Greek islands every night.

There's a bar and basic restaurant, an outdoor hot tub and a sauna, and a bunch of optional extras ranging from getting your room cleaned to having a 50 minute aromatherapy massage from a cute Chinese masseuse.

Occasionally they forget it's not a cruise and try to put on tacky evening entertainments like twingy Greek music and trivia quizzes. Happy hour's enough for most people.

Have a Nice Trip?
And another novelty extra - trips and tours. All the nice places you wake up in have nice bits and pieces in the area, and easyCruise can bus you out with a top local tour guide for less than an English-language tour costs to arrange locally.

(Not Much) Room Reaction
Okay, so your hotel room's no great shakes (except when the wind gets up). The standard rooms are tiny containers with two hard mattresses on the floor and a bright orange bathroom.

Pay a little more and get a window. Pay a little more than that for a suite, which has a double bed, sofa and a balcony. Worth it, trust me, unless you have vampire tomb-sleeping fantasies. And pay the extra for room-cleaning unless you're a complete stig of the dump.

Speling and Grammer
...And I don't think it's racist to say that people who don't speak English very well shouldn't have the final say on the info sheets and posters easyCruise gives out...this ain't for spelling and grammar pedants.

Ponce Off
Take your Ponce hat off and stick your Kiss Me Quick hat on: easyCruise's cheap and cheerful floating, travelling hotel is a top concept for sociable travellers from all over.

Unlike a normal hotel, you don't just see people at the breakfast table - it's a great way to meet others and make friends. And unlike a normal transport service you don't leave your travelling companions at the end of the line.

The Bottom Line
Why bother fighting with the queues and crowds, cockroach-crawling port hotels and screaming ticket inspectors? Just take it easy...cruise.

easyCruise: Fun and different or totally nauseating? Let us know what you think.

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· Monica Guy [HotelChatter]