Many years ago I worked as a Tour Manager for Cosmos (over 5 seasons), mostly in France but also did a few multi-country western Europe tours. The hotel locations varied dramatically from some on the outskirts of towns, some in almost rural areas but some bang in the centre of town. THe Cosmos philosophy was that the value of the tours (read low cost) was supported by going for price over location on hotels. As JohnK observes, for the majority this was fine as the tour days are normally really packed and people are generally pretty knackered at the end of the day. Those with stamina would often do the evening optionals - yes they are definitely a matter of taste but I would suggest not to do any of them would be missing out on a bit of the cultural enjoyment.
Going into town of an evening will be possible from many places on public transport or by walking, but there will be a few where it's simply impossible. Also hotel lists are normally only confirmed with your final documentation and even then are subject to change. We would occasionally arrive in a town where we habitually stayed at the same place only to have to relocate to an alternative due to insufficient vacancies. It never created a problem for me or the tourists, but did require a bit of flexibility.
My advice on touring would be to go with the flow - you are part of a tour that may have up to 50 people on it, so the itinerary is designed to give the majority the broadest and best experience of the countries they visit. Touring isn't best suited to highly independent people as they get frustrated by having to 'be back at the bus by 2' when they wanted an extra hour or two at a stop. However it is a very effiecient and economical way of seeing a lot of places with which you're not familiar.
I hope you have a great time. I still look back on my five years in the job as some of the most exciting, challenging and enjoyable work I've ever done - hopefully you score a really passionate guide (in the right sense) who makes the trip come alive for you.