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Orisson auberge

JanelMcB

Active Member
Time of past OR future Camino
CF (2018)
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.
 
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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.
Send them an email. The address is on their website. It is winter now, so do not expect a rapid response!!
 
Jean-Jacques is a very busy man...until the snow falls! He should be now enjoying a well deserved break! Look here:
http://www.refuge-orisson.com/en/
Make your reservation online and then, well before you leave, call him on the phone to confirm! Mistakes can happen, no room in the inn means an unexpected 18k trek on to Roncevalles! Spend a dime on an international call, will save you heartbreak and/or blisters later.
 
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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).
 
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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
 
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.
 
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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.
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.
 
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.

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.
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
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.
Robert, I totally agree with you.
 
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).
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.
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 ...
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
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.

I agree, it is a private business. The owner can manage it as he prefers.
And it is a customer's right to give his/her opinion. That's as supply and demand works, isn' it?
 
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.
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.
 
Send them an email. The address is on their website. It is winter now, so do not expect a rapid response!!

Can I also add that sometimes the French can have a very different relationship to email than the Brits (and maybe Americans?). I say this in a very loving way as I've lived in France for 11 years and I am very happy to call it home.

I sometimes find I email a company and hear nothing... either because they have done what I asked quickly and promptly... or because they can't help... sadly though sometimes I'm not sure which :D

I've stayed at Orisson three times and each time I emailed and the reply was slow but the bed was booked. I changed a date once and again the reply was slow but the change had been made. Once I had to cancel and I emailed but heard nothing... I emailed again and heard nothing... I emailed again and finally they replied to say that it had already been done. Actually they had cancelled the first time but had refunded my money to an old Paypal account... so it was my fault.

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 too :D

So... at the end of all this... I think it could just be a cultural thing?
 
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€46,-
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
It is as you said a great place to stay.

Wish you well Colleen.
 
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.
 
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.

Yep. Capitalism creeps in at the cracks of everything. Happily, that's how the light gets in, too.
 
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
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.

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'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 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...
 
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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!!
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.
 
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 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 Easter
 
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.
What date in April are you booked in for. He would not make a booking for April 6th
 
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
Anyone expecting Spanish (or French) businesses to be run on the American model is guaranteed to be disappointed!

I shall endeavor to run my businesses on the American model so as not to disappoint my clients. :oops:

Oh, by the way....

What exactly ‘is’ the American model ? :D ;););)
 
I shall endeavor to run my businesses on the American model so as not to disappoint my clients. :oops:

Oh, by the way....

What exactly ‘is’ the American model ? :D ;););)
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 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...
Hi Selina,

A response may not come until after the Holiday Season. Be patient. Even if the worst happens, there is overflow available.
 
Very light, comfortable and compressible poncho. Specially designed for protection against water for any activity.

Our Atmospheric H30 poncho offers lightness and waterproofness. Easily compressible and made with our Waterproof fabric, its heat-sealed interior seams guarantee its waterproofness. Includes carrying bag.

€60,-
What exactly ‘is’ the American model ?
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!

By the way, a profit motive is not the same thing as capitalism. The operation at Orisson is free enterprise, but it is hardly a capitalist venture in the exploitive sense. It is a family making a living by providing a service (and I think they are Basque French, not Spanish, though the business models are very similar in the two countries). They modified the family farm to start a business catering to the passing pilgrims. They make a living by serving the short-hitters who don't want to hike all the way to Roncevaux, the traditional first stage end point. The is no overlord in a financial center in Europe. Just Jean-Jacques, who takes it easy in the winter. If that is Capitalism, I guess all work is Capitalism!:)
 
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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.
Your post has sealed it for me, Michelle..
 
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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.
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.
 
Transport luggage-passengers.
From airports to SJPP
Luggage from SJPP to Roncevalles
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Sent off an enquiry for the 6th of May about a week ago just received an invoice for booking took 2 minutes to pay all done . So it will happen . Cheers Scott
 
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.

It depends. 5 Euro for 200mL of orange juice is a bit of an overcharge, IMO, and they wouldn't stamp my credential unless I bought something.

But it's a beautiful location, and of course they can charge what they want and run it as they see fit! Obviously, people will pay the prices they're asking, as I did.
 
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The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.

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