Luxury hotels in western France

[theop]

Convinced the missus to come with me for 4 days mid August to Normandy, Bretagne and Loire Valley.
The trade off is we have to spend the afternoons chilling in Luxury Inns/Hotels, have the odd swim, play tho odd tennis, do the odd country luxury hotel...

I don't mind that as such, but neither can I afford Eur 250 Leading Hotels of the World per night ... ( i d rather spend it eating and drinking wine) My budget needs to be £1000 for the both of us, 3-4 nights, food, petrol, tickets... Everything..

So, ideas with sweet cosy places that people know and have been before are welcome... The £100-130 per night range should get us places hopefully...

Many thanks in advance

Rgds,
Theo

 

[(RIP) Shenzi]

First off August is the worst possible time to visit France, it is THE high season and the hotels will be as full as they are ever going to get. I really don't know about Brittany but down here is already sold out even in July! I suspect it will be the same everywhere. Brittany is very popular with Parisiens not to mention all the rest of Europe!
The weekends will be horrendous on the roads so try to avoid those. My advice would be to book everything before leaving to be sure you have somewhere to sleep. I think the hotels over here are generally good value for money so choose a place as a base then search the net for a hotel and book it!
Better still come in September!

EDIT I just read your post again, Normandy, Brittany and the Loire valley in four days in August? I hope your divorce goes better than mine did!

 

[bladerunner]

In order of expense:


Alan Sawdays "Special places to stay - France"

Chateaux-Relais group of hotels

JPMoser.com



4 day loop - turm right at Calais, across Brittany to Golf du Morbihan, down to Loire, follow river east to chateaux, turn left at Blois for Normandy and home. - Easily do-able, very enjoyable. August busiest month


KR

 

[Malcvtr]

First off August is the worst possible time to visit France, it is THE high season and the hotels will be as full as they are ever going to get. I really don't know about Brittany but down here is already sold out even in July! I suspect it will be the same everywhere.

Hi Shenzi. Your posts about everywhere being full already scared me because I'm heading to France from the 4th - 18th and I've almost never booked hotels in France before and never had a problem. I've turned up to the Syndicat d'Initiative in whatever town I happen to be in at between 4 p.m. - 5 p.m. and they've always fixed me up. Has something gone crazy this year and do I need to panic??

I've done a quick spot check on Via Michelin and even around Antibes, there's availability in August, but I guess you're warning that that will soon disappear?

You're in a much better position than me to know, mate, so your comments would be welcome

 

[(RIP) Shenzi]

Hi Shenzi. Your posts about everywhere being full already scared me because I'm heading to France from the 4th - 18th and I've almost never booked hotels in France before and never had a problem. I've turned up to the Syndicat d'Initiative in whatever town I happen to be in at between 4 p.m. - 5 p.m. and they've always fixed me up. Has something gone crazy this year and do I need to panic??

I've done a quick spot check on Via Michelin and even around Antibes, there's availability in August, but I guess you're warning that that will soon disappear?

You're in a much better position than me to know, mate, so your comments would be welcome

I really don't have any idea about what is happening elsewhere in France but the numbers down here came as a shock to everyone. On Monday evening I was at a dinner party with someone from the Maire of Cap d'Agde and he said they were full, 250,000 people! The Languedoc coast caters primarily for families and young people so I think the increase in numbers won't be the same in places like Antibes, you can always drop back inland. Clearly this is caused by the economic situation so I would be wary about areas similar to ours that cater for families. My advice would be to book in advance if you can or begin looking earlier in the day for accomodation.
I will begin paying attention to the national news to see if anything is mentioned worth posting on here. Hope this helps!

 

[Malcvtr]

Cheers mate It certainly makes sense that the economic situation is causing more French families to holiday in France. As a result, I will shake myself out of my laid-back ways and start booking!

Thanks again for the advice.

 

[theop]

@ Shenzi: Thanks for this - unfortunately this is the common break we have, so we ll need to chance it... Did a bit of western Scotland in 5 days last year so I can't see what else we could do in the limites amount of time... Even that seems alot by what you are saying given we shall not be riding more than 5hrs per day...

I hope the weather is ok.. But you are right we will def book everything.. Its my task for the week to do actually...

@bladerunner: Thanks, v useful and I will investigate pronto..

 

[(RIP) Shenzi]

@ Shenzi: Thanks for this - unfortunately this is the common break we have, so we ll need to chance it... Did a bit of western Scotland in 5 days last year so I can't see what else we could do in the limites amount of time... Even that seems alot by what you are saying given we shall not be riding more than 5hrs per day...

I hope the weather is ok.. But you are right we will def book everything.. Its my task for the week to do actually...

@bladerunner: Thanks, v useful and I will investigate pronto..

Rather than do lots of miles why don't you really get to know one area, really easy to lose four days in Brittany, lots to see and some nice roads. Oysters, langoustines, pretty villages, magic if the weather is good.
Did I mention the oysters and langoustines?

 

[Wapping]

As Shenzi suggets, you are covering a huge area and (whilst not unknown) many of the punters on UKGSer - myself included - will, more often than not, be staying in hotels under the prices you are looking at.

My suggestions:

The red Michelin guide is excellent at grading hotels, as is its website, viaMichelin. Get busy with the surfing or turning the pages and then start calling.

Less money, but often not bad, could be a reasonably good Logis hotel, with a more expensive restaurant nearby, perhaps. The Logis and viaMichelin sites will sort those both out.

How about doing as Shenzi suggests, do less travel and more exploration. A very nice gite might be a good idea, perhaps?

Hotels like http://www.hotel-anneanjou.com/uk/default.cfm are part of a group of 'quality' hotels. Maybe you can find something to suit?

 

[Dansin]

The Mercure chain are usually that sort of money. We've used them loads and they've always been good.

 

[Chrisvh]

Relais du Silence chain

Have a look at the Relais du Silence chain of hotels. We have used them a lot in France and the coverage of the country is excellent. Don't be put off by the name. Vows of silence are not obligatory. They are just for grown ups. Food is invariably excellent.

http://www.relaisdusilence.com/EN/



Regards

Chris

 

[Wapping]

Have a look at the Relais du Silence chain of hotels. We have used them a lot in France and the coverage of the country is excellent. Don't be put off by the name. Vows of silence are not obligatory. They are just for grown ups. Food is invariably excellent.

http://www.relaisdusilence.com/EN/



Regards

Chris

That's bods I couldn't remember the name of

 

[theop]

lovely! many many thanks everyone...

Brittany it is then! (never been actually)

We ll probably access it by Portmouth to Le Havre ferry early morning Thu, have lunch Normandy and continue from there...

 

[Gaulois]

Another guide that's useful is the Gault & Millau. It's like the Michelin Red but gives a short description of the hotel/restaurant. They grade restaurant in 'toques' (chef's hats) with a maximum score of 20.

The Telegraph used to do a an English language version, don't know if they still do.