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Send them an email. The address is on their website. It is winter now, so do not expect a rapid response!!How do I go about making a reservation at the auberge in Orisson? I've been told one needs to be made 3 months in advance. Need reservation for one night for at least one pilgrim; two if I acquire a traveling companion before the reservation is made. Planning on walking in mid to late August or very early September, 2018.
Wow, Robert that is a little harsh but I do understand your sentiment. I'm sure you may get some similar blow back from other faithful users of Orisson.The albergue at Orisson, and it's unique location, reminds me of my trip to China where I spent a couple of hours climbing up the Great Wall to the top of a mountain. Once I reached the top I was excited to see a man selling bottles of water. As I approached him I saw a sign announcing that a bottle of water was roughly $12 in local currency. I told him that was outrageous. He smiled and said in perfect English, "Do you see anyone else selling water up here?"
So I dug out $24.
My point is that the folks who run Orrison can run it anyway they want. If you don't like how they are running it, you can always open a competing albergue next door. Otherwise, you are stuck with their service just like I was stuck paying $12 a bottle for water on top of the Great Wall.
There is no way I would ever contend they overcharge . . . they serve beer and wine on their terrace for prices comparable to those in cafe and bars in Biarritz.
Robert, I totally agree with you.I don't think they overcharge either. In fact, I think they provide a great place to stay and a great meal at a reasonable price. It was one of my favorite stops on the Camino. I'd stay there again.
My point is this. They are a private business. Which means they are allowed to run it as they see fit.
As you stated , Orisson is a business .Orisson auberge is a business. It is not a parochial or municipal albergue run by volunteers.
And a successful business. The owners opened a kind of branch down the road –good for the pilgrims also, who have another much needed option.
But, as a business, it should be accountable for the services and attention it provides, as any other hotel or hostal. Answering the mail and phone calls of customers asap is the abc of hostelry. If the owner is in a well merited vacation, he should put an automatic answer in his mail, and a note in his webpage announcing that he will answer after some date. It is not difficult...
I don’t think Orisson should get a kind of pass on basic commercial attention.
Felipe
(a pilgrim who never received and answer when he called Orisson, being in the Camino, two days before arriving at SJPP).
Anyone expecting Spanish (or French) businesses to be run on the American model is guaranteed to be disappointed! Leisure often is more important than maximizing profit. Relationship to a pilgrim business base is often less important than the relationship to neighbors and community. Using a foreign language instead of Spanish (or other Spain-language) is a bit of an attack on national pride. The guest is expected to adapt to the host, not the other way around. I have always found the welcome in Spain to be very warm, if a bit guarded, and I think I understand my role as a guest. I find the business model very rational, especially for a crummy five to twelve Euros ...As you stated , Orisson is a business .
It’s his business and it is not you or some one else to judge how he has to run it.
That is my opinion anyway.
As you stated , Orisson is a business .
It’s his business and it is not you or some one else to judge how he has to run it.
That is my opinion anyway.
A couple of years ago I arrived in St Jean Pied de Port late in the main pilgrim season and found a notice on the door of Beilari explaining that they had closed for the day for family reasons. A disappointment as a previous stay had been memorable in many ways. When I stayed there on a later visit Joseph apologised and explained that he had shut up shop for a day so that he, his family and his assistants could all join in a family gathering up in the mountains. That sounded to me like someone getting their priorities right.Anyone expecting Spanish (or French) businesses to be run on the American model is guaranteed to be disappointed! Leisure often is more important than maximizing profit. Relationship to a pilgrim business base is often less important than the relationship to neighbors and community.
Send them an email. The address is on their website. It is winter now, so do not expect a rapid response!!
It is as you said a great place to stay.If I do ever stay at Orisson again I might be tempted ring and book.... but it is a wonderful place and in a stunning setting, the bed is comfortable, the dinner wonderful, the staff /owners are really lovely, and @Peter Fransiscus the other pilgrims are good company
Somehow a post concerning an albergue stopover turned into a conversation on capitalism? If you have problems with this place, the proprietor, or the tariff-grin and bear it or go by way of Valcarlos-it's a free country and an open Camino.
Wow, Robert that is a little harsh but I do understand your sentiment. I'm sure you may get some similar blow back from other faithful users of Orisson.
There is no way I would ever contend they overcharge. It's a privately run refuge with beds and a dinner for a reasonable price, they will prepare a sandwich for the following day for a price equal to those in SJPdP. They serve beer and wine on their terrace for prices comparable to those in cafe and bars in Biarritz. I will grant you they could be doing what your Chinese water vendor was doing but they don't and the same is true of the guy with the van at the top of the hill.
They don't live in the refuge during the winter because the snow on the road make it inaccessible and their pipes are frozen, etc. I would venture to guess whether they are vacationing some place warm or possibly hunkered down in SJPdP during the winter, knowing they have family there. They deserve a rest because they work their butts off for us in the summer and deserve some downtime and a holiday away in someplace warmer than the winter in Basque Country and they are fortunate enough to put their business on hold while they can.
I have been waiting for weeks for a reply. we are hoping to stay on April 28th. I just sent another message - this time in English in case my French was too bad...I've had no trouble making a reservation at Orisson. I've stayed there twice, and got a response to my email within a week both times. If you don't like the way a business is run you aren't obligated to use their services.
This is the email address I used to contact them:
refuge.orisson@wanadoo.fr
I had an email reply two weeks after my enquiry from Jean-Jacque. He requested a 50% deposit via PayPal and balance in cash on arrival. Much like most hotels and B&B's around the globe. I am happy with his pruce as it includes dinner and breakfast. We are booked for April 2018. Glad I booked well ahead of time.Send them an email. The address is on their website. It is winter now, so do not expect a rapid response!!
I received a reply a couple of days ago to my email requesting a reservation for April 6th. They said they were not taking bookings for April yet as they do not know if they will be open depending on weather. They recommended phoning the day before to check availability. I will try again closer to EasterHow do I go about making a reservation at the auberge in Orisson? I've been told one needs to be made 3 months in advance. Need reservation for one night for at least one pilgrim; two if I acquire a traveling companion before the reservation is made. Planning on walking in mid to late August or very early September, 2018.
What date in April are you booked in for. He would not make a booking for April 6thI had an email reply two weeks after my enquiry from Jean-Jacque. He requested a 50% deposit via PayPal and balance in cash on arrival. Much like most hotels and B&B's around the globe. I am happy with his pruce as it includes dinner and breakfast. We are booked for April 2018. Glad I booked well ahead of time.
Anyone expecting Spanish (or French) businesses to be run on the American model is guaranteed to be disappointed!
Need I say more than management rules over employees who do their best to serve the client, profits over service and worst of all no respect for the concept of time-off for major holidays. A customer with a credit card in hand is always right, Pricless as MasterCard coins it!I shall endeavor to run my businesses on the American model so as not to disappoint my clients.
Oh, by the way....
What exactly ‘is’ the American model ?
Hi Selina,I have been waiting for weeks for a reply. we are hoping to stay on April 28th. I just sent another message - this time in English in case my French was too bad...
The distinction I make between the American model and the Spanish model is that the American model is centered on the customer. "The customer is always right." I hope it goes without saying that this general rule has many exceptions! The Spanish model is centered on the owner. Again, it is a broad concept, and there are many exceptions, often from corporate businesses. The Spanish business is set up to provide a life and living to the owner. He knows that he must attract customers, so the service often is superb. However, the attitude is more "this is what I offer; I hope you like it. If not, move on to find a place you like better." Just as profit may be ruthlessly pursued under the American model, there can be ruthless self-interest under the Spanish model. A bar owner has regular customers, and they will receive priority service. If the pilgrim does not like it, the owner is unconcerned. The customer is right, but some customers are more right than others!What exactly ‘is’ the American model ?
Your post has sealed it for me, Michelle..Jean-Jacques and his Staff are usually the very first Angels anyone will encounter on the Camino. They live right in the same neighbourhood as Heaven. I know. I have been there and experienced it.
Next time there, drink too much water so it gets you up in the middle of the night. Fortunately for me, as I returned to my bunk, I looked out the window, the only one in the dorm below the open cafe across the road. The window was open and the breeze was wafting in with the fragrance of a million mountain flowers.
Below, covering the bottom of the valley, a blanket of cloud and not one single man made light was visible. And the sky...... The Moon was just rising above the mountain range on the other side of the valley and it looked like a huge gem hanging from a necklace of stars.
To top it all off, the sheep were moving far below Orisson and I heard their gentle bleets and bells.
All in all, it was an incredible picture, one that could never be done justice by trying to record it, except in my Heart.
I will definitely go by way of Orisson in Sept of 2018 when my best friend of 50 years and I make our Camino. What a beautiful reflection. By way of Orisson it is!Your post has sealed it for me, Michelle..
Hard to visit Heaven otherwise. Sunrise is unimaginably beautiful as well.Your post has sealed it for me, Michelle..
Spent as great night there in 2016 one of the best on the whole Camino. Got a quick and positive response to my email. While there the owner made it quite clear that he was neither French or Spanish but was a proud Basque, though I think he expressed this in his own language.How do I go about making a reservation at the auberge in Orisson? I've been told one needs to be made 3 months in advance. Need reservation for one night for at least one pilgrim; two if I acquire a traveling companion before the reservation is made. Planning on walking in mid to late August or very early September, 2018.
I don't think they overcharge either. In fact, I think they provide a great place to stay and a great meal at a reasonable price. It was one of my favorite stops on the Camino. I'd stay there again.
My point is this. They are a private business. Which means they are allowed to run it as they see fit.
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