Customer Reviews

Special Places to Stay French Bed & Breakfast 9th

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I used this guide to plan my husband's and my last trip to France. Although we've been to France many times, the excellent bed and breakfasts in this book made this the best trip ever. The descriptions were accurate and the facilities all lived up to our expectations and more. This book must be popular in the U.K. because most of our fellow travelers were British and had found the B&B's through the book. The book indicates which B&B's serve evening meals along with the cost of the meals; we enjoyed the lively family style dinners immensely. The places we stayed were outside of the towns and cities but the book gave adequate directions to find them.

Many of the B&B's owners did not speak any English which can make telephone reservations difficult for anyone who does not speak French, however fax numbers are included where available. Although the book did not stress any need for reservations, we traveled off-season in the fall and many places were full and turning away drop-ins. I highly recommend the book for planning a casual trip in the French countryside.

An American friend resident in France and my wife and I used this guide last May on a trip through much of France. We set out with a fistful of books: three lodging guides in English and three general guides in French including the familiar Michelin. After a few days we used only Sawday. We found it rock-solid: reliable, authoritative, sensible, up to date, well illustrated, easy to use - all we could hope for. We would phone during the day for a place to stay that night and scored most times with our first choice. [A caution: While some proprietors spoke English, we relied on our friend's French for the cell phone.]

All was as advertised: our hosts welcoming, the accommodations clean and comfortable. A few miles from Omaha Beach we stayed in a new extension to a 18th C. manor house on a 100 acre dairy farm. The next morning, after a delightful breakfast, the proprietress gave us a tour of her milking barn. The average cost for was $50 for two, breakfast included.

Some hosts provided dinner for $15 to $30 including wine. On another farm, dinner included home grown vegetables and home brewed aperitif and digestif, all for $14. In Arlanc although we phoned late, the proprietor graciously made a special trip to purchase extra food for a gourmet meal.

It was a memorable, and thrifty, way to meet real people. What's more, Sawday maintains a searchable database for pre-planning and a most helpful staff. Overall, a superb resource.

My wife and I used this book as the basis for a planning a vacation driving through Normandy. We stayed in four different B&B's recommended in the book. We found the reality met or exceeded the descriptions and we were able to enjoy excellent stays. We recomend this book to any traveller to France wishing to use small hotels and B&B's.

Not one home in Normandy and Brittany was a disappointment. All booked on one day notice and offered romantic Norman towers, Breton water mills, and dinners we never could have had in a resturant. Each hostess went out of her way to praise my college graduate French and tell extra stories about the war years or the local economy. We met lovely British and Belge families. Everyone is now on our Chirstmas card list.

This volume describes 721 French B&B's in 370 pages, each B&B keyed to one of 18 useful regional maps. An additional 40 pages provide maps, indices, some French vocabulary and advertising for Sawday's other products. The descriptions are very useful and the book's organization conducive to effective planning of an independent trip.

I am using this volume to plan a trip from Nice to La Herradura in southern Spain during during the next few months. This permits me to compare this book to the companion volume, Special Places to Stay:Spain.

After reading the Spain volume I expected French B&B's to be as detailed as that of Spain. Certainly it provides information about B&B's in every corner of France. Yes, it too is a marvelous aid for planning the independent trip. Yes it is much stronger than any Rough Guide to France or Spain that I have read. It provides prices, the number and type of rooms, web site references, e-mail addresses, telephone and fax numbers. It very briefly describes what each B&B offers and when it is open or closed. What is lacking for my taste buds, compared to the "Spain volume", is the detailed descriptions provided by a pithy writing style descrbing the locale, the owners and of the cooking style that almost makes the roast kid aroma of a described culinary delight jump out of the pages. My wife misses photographs of the interiors of each B&B.

To provide considerable detail for two establishments per page is an ambitious task and the editors carry it off. Not withstanding my "comparative disillusionment", the word descriptions do compensate for the missing photographs, directions to local eating places anticipate culinary delights and "How to get there information" makes it easy to locate a Special Place on a detailed Michelin map.

Based on my personal experiences, the Spanish volume appears to be very reliable, I see no reason why the French B&B should not be equally so.

We have been to France twice now, with this book at the ready! We would not travel without it! The descriptions off each B & B are so true and we have never been dissapointed with the accomodation nor the prices - anything from £20 - £40 per night (for two of us - not each) including a tradtional french breakfast. We never know where we are going to end up, we book the B & B that morning to arrive in the evening, giving us a chance to travel, shop and explore the area before then crashing out! Last year we went to the Cote d'Azur and we found most of the B & B's had swimming pools a great way to end a hot day! Any more info? Then E mail us!

Really had fun exploring France's back roads looking for the unusual places listed here. Need to get a good map of France to find some of the off the road sites. We are planning our next holiday around the different B & B locations in this book. Better prices and more fun than a hotel.

I have bought every version of this book since 2001 and have stayed in perhaps 30 of the B and Bs recommended in the book. With only two exceptions, all have been excellent. I wrote to the publisher about a problem with one and it was noted in the next edition. This guide is not only dependable, it is well-organized. Once you know what region you want to stay in, it is easy to use the guide maps and descriptions to find the right place.

This is a delicious and absolutely reliable guide to the delightful B&B establishments of France. I wouldn't think of traveling without it. The selected accommodations always have some unique feature or special charm.