Le Mans - Hospitality & inside parking
Discussion
The SpeedChills fellows provide a fine service, although not in The Village (technically it is within the perimeter of the circuit 
).
Some of the ticket agencies (Page&Moy, MRI, Airtrack etc.) sell hospitality which ranges from a trackside tent to full blown sit-down dinners.
I recall last year some swish 'club' type hospitality over at the big cylinderical Sports centre by the Mulsanne Straight. It was plugged and discussed on here, so a trawl of the archives might find it.
The ACO themselves offer a couple of options, all members get access to the Vistor's Centre place plus there is the Welcome Centre at extra cost.
I don't think you'll find any sort of 'inside' parking.
). Some of the ticket agencies (Page&Moy, MRI, Airtrack etc.) sell hospitality which ranges from a trackside tent to full blown sit-down dinners.
I recall last year some swish 'club' type hospitality over at the big cylinderical Sports centre by the Mulsanne Straight. It was plugged and discussed on here, so a trawl of the archives might find it.
The ACO themselves offer a couple of options, all members get access to the Vistor's Centre place plus there is the Welcome Centre at extra cost.
I don't think you'll find any sort of 'inside' parking.
We did MRI last year, which is one of the trackside tent kind of hospitality. The good bits involved getting participating and recent drivers to come and give mini-talks, the TVs for when you wanted to sit quietly (!) for a bit and a decent toilet...the not so good was having to pay again for any food or drink, etc.
All said and done, we're doing it again this year!
All said and done, we're doing it again this year!
personally would avoid using MRI (having used them for a number of years) leave a very unsatisfactory taste in the mouth and have no interest in anything other than extracting as much cash out of you as possible. After much research we are going with www.speedchills.com this year..
Indeed. One of the other ticket providers has the cheek to state in their brochure that they only had a £20 surcharge on each ticket, which perhaps is acceptable on a £100 Formula-One ticket but not on a Thirty Quid LM ticket, plus many people buy 3 tickets (entry, camping and grandstand) so that 3x £20 before you even start. The same place also made it very difficult to make a purchase without buying their very expensive insurance either, I had to fax in a copy of my own travel insurance policy...
But, like you say if you want a decent camping spot then going to an agency seems to be the only route.
But, like you say if you want a decent camping spot then going to an agency seems to be the only route.
baffles me why people keep using MRI and paying inflated prices. You can get general admission tickets on the gate, done it every year for a decade. Also with the likes of speedferries and speedchills out there you can get ferries, camping and hospitality for £60 pp vs c.£200 from MRI.... they must be laughing all the way to the bank
I do agree and trust me, I will not be using MRI again. The only reason we used them was because it is our first time we wanted a known quantity but by the sound of it, no matter how you get down there or which campsite you are on, it is going to be a fantastic experience.
A friend did manage to get a Houx Annexe campsite ticket from Just Tickets but he did have to buy 2 race tickets from them at the same time. Wasnt too bad as he only had to pay approx £28 over the odds for the entry tickets but the remaining 8 of us webt with MRI and therefore were hit with a considerably larger bill.
Im just glad Im going and Im sure the cost will be forgotten about once I sink my first beer watching the race with an load of like minded race/beer fans....
That said, will be getting in early next year to get a reserved plot on Houx or Maison Blanche!!
A friend did manage to get a Houx Annexe campsite ticket from Just Tickets but he did have to buy 2 race tickets from them at the same time. Wasnt too bad as he only had to pay approx £28 over the odds for the entry tickets but the remaining 8 of us webt with MRI and therefore were hit with a considerably larger bill.
Im just glad Im going and Im sure the cost will be forgotten about once I sink my first beer watching the race with an load of like minded race/beer fans....
That said, will be getting in early next year to get a reserved plot on Houx or Maison Blanche!!
You pays your money and you takes your choice. Myself and 12 mates have made the pilgrimage for the last 3 years with MRI and we are of course booked for this year (with them again).
This is THE most important (week)end of the year for most of us, so a few extra quid is not that important to make sure everything is how we want it.
Just how much are we talking about here ? with MRI we paid £190 for entrance/ferry and Maison Blanche camping. IMHO that is nothing to be sure of getting the ferry times we want and importantly MB camping, which seems to be a huge lottery if you ask the ACO for it.
The MRI marquee/bar/driver talks etc are nice - I wouldn't book with them because of it, but it's another way of them adding a bit of value. The toilets are a godsend though.
Anyhow, like I said, you pays your money and you takes your gamble. Were all on the Weds 15th, 11:15am ferry, back home on the 17:00 Mon 20th. Maybe see some of you around.
This is THE most important (week)end of the year for most of us, so a few extra quid is not that important to make sure everything is how we want it.
Just how much are we talking about here ? with MRI we paid £190 for entrance/ferry and Maison Blanche camping. IMHO that is nothing to be sure of getting the ferry times we want and importantly MB camping, which seems to be a huge lottery if you ask the ACO for it.
The MRI marquee/bar/driver talks etc are nice - I wouldn't book with them because of it, but it's another way of them adding a bit of value. The toilets are a godsend though.
Anyhow, like I said, you pays your money and you takes your gamble. Were all on the Weds 15th, 11:15am ferry, back home on the 17:00 Mon 20th. Maybe see some of you around.
andy_vtec said:
Just how much are we talking about here ? with MRI we paid £190 for entrance/ferry and Maison Blanche camping.
As a comparison, our group is paying £125 per head, for General Entrance, Beausejour camping and the Dunlop grandstand (tickets from the ACO) and ferry crossing on Speedferries.
The list price for GE and MB tickets is €45 and €72 which if you split the MB ticket and £50 Speedferries ticket 2-ways that comes to roughly £82.
Guy Humpage said:
Just how much are we talking about here ? with MRI we paid £190 for entrance/ferry and Maison Blanche camping.
As a comparison, our group is paying £125 per head, for General Entrance, Beausejour camping and the Dunlop grandstand (tickets from the ACO) and ferry crossing on Speedferries.
The list price for GE and MB tickets is €45 and €72 which if you split the MB ticket and £50 Speedferries ticket 2-ways that comes to roughly £82.
Well done. But I'm happy to pay an extra £100 for the convienience of a single phone call/one stop shop and guarenteed tickets for what I want.
andy_vtec said:
andy_vtec said:
Just how much are we talking about here ? with MRI we paid £190 for entrance/ferry and Maison Blanche camping.
As a comparison, our group is paying £125 per head, for General Entrance, Beausejour camping and the Dunlop grandstand (tickets from the ACO) and ferry crossing on Speedferries.
The list price for GE and MB tickets is €45 and €72 which if you split the MB ticket and £50 Speedferries ticket 2-ways that comes to roughly £82.
Well done. But I'm happy to pay an extra £100 for the convienience of a single phone call/one stop shop and guarenteed tickets for what I want.
so £192 for MRI and the benefit of one phone call vs logging on to two website?? speedferries is faster than P&O and gets you 30-45 mins further down the route... speedchills gives you much much better hospitality than MRI, no herding you in and out, no charging you €5 for a glass of orange juice and you get a campsite with showers.
Don't tell me you got stung for MRI's "insurance" as well??
Ferret Boy said:
so £192 for MRI and the benefit of one phone call vs logging on to two website?? speedferries is faster than P&O and gets you 30-45 mins further down the route... speedchills gives you much much better hospitality than MRI, no herding you in and out, no charging you €5 for a glass of orange juice and you get a campsite with showers.
Don't tell me you got stung for MRI's "insurance" as well??
It's all about having a choice, I'm paying more for the convienience of a single phone call and not going through the ACO lottery of which camp site they see fit to put me in.
When there is a sizable group of you going you need to be sure you are all in the same place (see other threads)
Like I said before, this is THE week of the year for our group, so for a few extra quid to have everything how we want it it's all good IMHO
You pays your money, you takes your choice. Roll on June.
agreed... it is all about choice. But I think some people are missing the fact that if you use speedchills that you can get both camping (at list price) and hospitality through them.
So the GBP150 we have saved (each) from lining MRI's pockets(!) will cover our fuel all the way down and back plus spending Sunday night in a fabulous Chateaux sampling their wine list...
So the GBP150 we have saved (each) from lining MRI's pockets(!) will cover our fuel all the way down and back plus spending Sunday night in a fabulous Chateaux sampling their wine list...
I paid £190 going with MRI as well and until I have seen what we get I am not going to pass too much judgement but no one likes paying over the odds for something.
The base price of £139 per person I could cope with because of the benefits mentioned but as I said, I was a little bit miffed at having to pay there over inflated prices for race tickets after I had called them up numerous times whilst enquiring about the package and no one had mentioned that you had to buy entrance tickets from them as well. Especially as there is NO reference in the brochure to it.
But I am now going and am quite thankful that I managed to get a campsite space on what appears to be the much sought after Houx Annex site and as the lady friend is coming as well, the amenities will be very useful so I dont get it in the neck and to be honest I suppose the extra price is worth it to keep her happy!!
I will just keep an eye out to see what the best sites are and whether the hospitality is worth it before I make a decision for next year.
The base price of £139 per person I could cope with because of the benefits mentioned but as I said, I was a little bit miffed at having to pay there over inflated prices for race tickets after I had called them up numerous times whilst enquiring about the package and no one had mentioned that you had to buy entrance tickets from them as well. Especially as there is NO reference in the brochure to it.
But I am now going and am quite thankful that I managed to get a campsite space on what appears to be the much sought after Houx Annex site and as the lady friend is coming as well, the amenities will be very useful so I dont get it in the neck and to be honest I suppose the extra price is worth it to keep her happy!!
I will just keep an eye out to see what the best sites are and whether the hospitality is worth it before I make a decision for next year.
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