Post by Megan on Jun 9, 2009 8:35:46 GMT -5
This was named as the Times top 100 cheap European hotels - anyone stayed here ?
1 MAMA SHELTER, Paris
Deep in the rebellious St-Blaise neighbourhood, Mama Shelter feels like a set of prison cells, but in heaven. Philippe Starck has teamed simple white beds with giant iMac screens mounted on steely grey walls. Spots of colour appear in bedside lamps fashioned from animal masks, but that’s about it. Downstairs, tree stumps stand in for bar stools, and there’s a cosy room filled with books, newspapers and squidgy sofas.
Doubles from £77, room-only; 00 33 1 43 48 48 48, mamashelter.com
Not Paris I know but heres another for those French get aways
LES ORANGERIES, Poitou-Charentes
Eco-hotels don’t have to wear their green credentials on their sleeve. This classy restoration of an 18th-century mansion has authenticity, charm, wooden floors, big windows and a warm welcome. The ethical stuff — locally sourced food, renewable energy and all — slips in almost unnoticed.
Doubles from £65, room-only; 00 33 5 49 84 07 07, lesorangeries.com
5 HOTEL DIDEROT, Loire
In this regal corner of France, you need a place where the corridors creak, where there’s an aroma of old, polished wood and a friendly face in the kitchen, making jam. You require the Diderot, a 15th-century hotel hidden in Chinon. The rooms combine heavy furniture with a lightness of touch. Through spring and summer, the garden is overcome with flowers; the welcome is warm and the jams are first-class.
Doubles from £47, room-only; 00 33 2 47 93 18 87, hoteldiderot.com
7 NICE GARDEN HOTEL, Nice
This one ticks all the boxes: city, beach, bargain. A minute from the Promenade des Anglais, it has shuttered windows and shaded verandas to keep you from overheating. Fling open the huge windows in any of the airy, tile-floored rooms to inhale wafts of citrus from the orange garden.
Doubles from £56, room-only; 00 33 4 93 87 35 62, nicegardenhotel.com
6 HOTEL DU PARC, Montpellier
What was good enough for former owner Count Vivier de Châtelard is good enough for us. Spiral staircases and heaps of elegance lead the way to sumptuous rooms. Stroll Montpellier’s medieval alleys, then head back to the hotel for a glass of red on the terrace.
Doubles from £78, room-only; 00 33 4 67 41 16 49, www.hotelduparc-montpellier.com
1 MAMA SHELTER, Paris
Deep in the rebellious St-Blaise neighbourhood, Mama Shelter feels like a set of prison cells, but in heaven. Philippe Starck has teamed simple white beds with giant iMac screens mounted on steely grey walls. Spots of colour appear in bedside lamps fashioned from animal masks, but that’s about it. Downstairs, tree stumps stand in for bar stools, and there’s a cosy room filled with books, newspapers and squidgy sofas.
Doubles from £77, room-only; 00 33 1 43 48 48 48, mamashelter.com
Not Paris I know but heres another for those French get aways
LES ORANGERIES, Poitou-Charentes
Eco-hotels don’t have to wear their green credentials on their sleeve. This classy restoration of an 18th-century mansion has authenticity, charm, wooden floors, big windows and a warm welcome. The ethical stuff — locally sourced food, renewable energy and all — slips in almost unnoticed.
Doubles from £65, room-only; 00 33 5 49 84 07 07, lesorangeries.com
5 HOTEL DIDEROT, Loire
In this regal corner of France, you need a place where the corridors creak, where there’s an aroma of old, polished wood and a friendly face in the kitchen, making jam. You require the Diderot, a 15th-century hotel hidden in Chinon. The rooms combine heavy furniture with a lightness of touch. Through spring and summer, the garden is overcome with flowers; the welcome is warm and the jams are first-class.
Doubles from £47, room-only; 00 33 2 47 93 18 87, hoteldiderot.com
7 NICE GARDEN HOTEL, Nice
This one ticks all the boxes: city, beach, bargain. A minute from the Promenade des Anglais, it has shuttered windows and shaded verandas to keep you from overheating. Fling open the huge windows in any of the airy, tile-floored rooms to inhale wafts of citrus from the orange garden.
Doubles from £56, room-only; 00 33 4 93 87 35 62, nicegardenhotel.com
6 HOTEL DU PARC, Montpellier
What was good enough for former owner Count Vivier de Châtelard is good enough for us. Spiral staircases and heaps of elegance lead the way to sumptuous rooms. Stroll Montpellier’s medieval alleys, then head back to the hotel for a glass of red on the terrace.
Doubles from £78, room-only; 00 33 4 67 41 16 49, www.hotelduparc-montpellier.com