Relais Il Campanile - Florence

Address: Via Ricasoli 10, 50123 Florence, Italy

Website: http://www.relaiscampanile.it/

 

Staying here was a good experience. It could be described as something between a bed-and-breakfast and a hotel. It is quite small with no restaurant or bar and relatively few rooms. Particularly good is the absolute central location - practically in the shadow of the Duomo. It is also very convenient to the train station.

 

I especially liked the friendly atmosphere. The staff were helpful and made the stay very pleasant. I also liked the independence of being able to come and go freely - rather like staying in an apartment - with no reception as such. The staff were not always there after breakfast but available by phone.

 

The room was quiet and comfortable - much more spacious than I had expected - with a well equipped private bathroom and plenty of wardrobe space. The decor was traditional and very charming.

 

Breakfast was continental-style and very plentiful - served on a tray and delivered to the room at a set time, according to your wishes).

 

I was very happy with this hotel and it was good value. I would definitely go back on my next trip to Florence.

Hotel Viator

Address: 1 rue Parrot, 75012 Paris, France
Website: (via booking.com) http://www.booking.com/hotel/fr/viator.en.html

The hotel is a few minutes' walk from the Gare de Lyon and because of the friendliness and efficiency of the front desk staff, the welcome was very pleasant.
The room, facing the street, was well furnished, spotlessly clean and perfectly quiet when the double-glazed windows were closed. At other times there was a little street noise but rue Parrot is reasonably quiet. The bathroom was very large and rather beautiful with good quality toiletries. Incidentally, because this is an issue with some hotels, I can say that the accommodation was exactly as pictured in the hotel publicity photos.

These are my own photos (left)

The only slight drawback was the lack of facilities to make tea and coffee in the room; this is common in Paris hotels.
The concierge was very happy, however, to chill a bottle of champagne and lend some glasses.



Breakfast was perfectly fine - the usual pastries, confiture and coffee but also eggs and a range of cereals - not so common in many Parisian hotels.

A good place to stay. It was a little more expensive than it should have been but very pleasant.

Hotel Annapolis - Aix-les-Bains, France

Address: 60 Avenue Marie-De-Salms, 73100 Aix-les-Bains, France
Website: (in French)           www.annapolis.fr/
              (via booking.com) www.booking.com/Annapolis


I arrived very late (and very tired) from Paris and was given an extremely warm welcome.

The outstanding thing about Hotel Annapolis is the delightful owner, who does everything to make guests feel happy and comfortable. From offering advice about things to see and do in the area to friendly chats at breakfast, she was the perfect host.

 

The room was spacious and comfortable with older style furnishing, which I found charming, and a good sized bathroom. This is not luxury accommodation but more than satisfactory and extremely well maintained. The rooom had a television and a fan but there were no facilities to make tea/coffee, which was the only small thing I might have wanted to change.

 

There is no lift in the hotel and the stairs might be a problem for some. The public areas are welcoming and very attractively furnished.

 

Breakfast was simple but plentiful - croissants, rolls, coffee and juice.

The hotel is a 2-3 minutes walk to the train station and a few more minutes in the other direction takes you straight into the heart of Aix-les-Bains.

 

This is a very highly recommended place to stay in this beautiful town.

Le Musée Carnavalet

Address: 23 Rue de Sévigné, 75003 Paris
Website: (in English) http://carnavalet.paris.fr/en/museum-carnavalet
 

This is an excellent museum which traces the history of Paris with dozens of rooms filled with art and artefacts, furniture, costumes and decorative items from ancient times to the present.

The gardens and buildings in which the museum is housed are incredibly beautiful. You can spend hours here and, almost unbelievably, it's free.

Click here to read more

Lavoir Moderne Parisien – 35 rue Léon, 75018 Paris

This is a place worth checking. You can see more details and find out what's on here (an English-language website)

The place has a very sixties feel and it was packed on the evenings I was there. It's difficult to generalise but tickets for concerts range from 8 to 15 euros