Cupid Checks In: Your Vote for Europe's Most Romantic Night's Sleep

Hi Katie. This one has me thinking.

One of our favorite spots is Hotel Raphael in Paris. An apartment on the top floor opens to a rooftop terrace with 360degree views with the Eiffel Tower and Arc du Triomphe. You can still enjoy the views without renting the apartment as all have access to the rooftop. But it still is somewhat of a secret, so 'shhhh'.

Not yet experienced: Chateau Eza, in the Medieval village of Eza between Nice and Monaco on the Moyenna Corniche. I can definitely see myself being swept away with those views and charm! I wish dh & I could be there now!

http://www.chateaueza.com/index.php

BeachGirl

We love La Calcina in Venice for similar reasons. Not a rooftop apartment, but they have a rooftip terrace you can reserve for private use. We went at sunset, with a bottle of wine and antipasti from the local grocery. Our best and most romantic dinner in Venice.

I would nominate the Villa D'Este. Standing on the balcony of our room and looking at Lake Como and the villages beyond and in the evening the fireworks on the lake. This is a very special place.

12 years ago we had a corner room in the Hotel Continental on the Grand Canal--we could look across or up the canal. Very romantic at night after the canal traffic calmed down.

Room 11 in the Manoir de Minimes in Amboise. I will never forget that evening on the balcony. The lights on the Loire bridge, it was a magical night.

Hotel Cipriani in Venice, Italy.

For me nothing beats taking refuge from the elements underneath the best bed linen I've ever had in a hotel, at Hotel 101 in Reykjavik.

OH, this place is wonderful, very romantic !!

Château d'Artigny in the Loire Valley

http://www.slh.com/france/montbazon/mondar.html

Hi K,

Moulin de Cambelong outisde Conques, Fr

We loved our stay at the Hotel Antiche Figure in Venice. It was our first trip to Venice -- our first to Italy, in fact -- and stepping out of the train station to be faced by the Grand Canal was a breath-taking experience.

The hotel itself was charming. I'd originally booked a room away from the canal since my SO is a light sleeper, but my younger and wiser sister said, "Well, why would you pay for a hotel on the Grand Canal and then not look out your window at it?" Wise girl.

We upgraded to a canal-front room on the second floor, with floor-to-ceiling windows and a tiny Juliet balcony. Gondolas were parked below our window! Our room had a Murano glass chandelier and our absolutely gorgeous bathroom (dark wood, marble tile) had matching Murano sconces on the wall-to-wall mirror.

A beautiful hotel, a beautiful room, and our most romantic experience of our visit to Venice happened purely by mistake -- ours. We'd checked into our room and then went out to hop on the vaporetto to go to St. Marks Square. By that time it was early evening and the sky had gotten quite overcast. Not knowing what the heck we were doing, we mistakenly got on the vaporetto going the wrong way. It started to rain and we stayed outside as long as we could manage but once it started to pour, we went inside and huddled up together to keep warm. We stayed on that wrong-way vaporetto till the end of the line, when it turned around and finally went the right way for us. It was a beautiful, romantic, stormy tour of the Grand Canal from end to end, all for the price of a vaporetto ticket. It was our romantic introduction to Venice and one we'll never forget.

Our overnight trip on the Venice Simplon Orient Express (from Venice to London).

Exceptional, leisurely, candle light dinner with excellent French wines as we rode through the Swiss Alps. Then heading to the lounge car for after dinner drinks with soft jazz being played on the grand piano. And finally retiring to our compartment with a bottle of champagne.....

My vote for all-around experience goes to...

Hotel auf Schoenburg, Oberwesel, Rhine Valley, Germany
www.hotel-schoenburg.com
A perfect getaway includes the 7-course tasting menu and a night in the Falcon or honeymoon suite!

Hausfrau!! Thank you so much for that rec. I think I will have to add that spot for our trip to Germany/Austria this winter.

In which room did you stay?

jenblase, we were in the Falkonsuite. It was picture-perfect! BTW, I've been mulling over your itinerary and trying to decide how best to respond...you'll be hearing from me.

Katikies Santorini

Say no more.

Yipper

The rooms with the view of the Guidecca canal in Venice at Pensione La Calcina (along with their rooftop private patio).

OMG, without a doubt, The Ritz London! The opulence, the bedding, the bar...the place just made me weak in the knees, lol.

In June 1994, seventeen friends and relatives spent three weeks driving through France. When we stopped in Brantome for a break, DW and I spotted the Hotel Chabrol and we went to look at it. So impressed were we that we decided if we ever got back to France, we would definately stay there.

Fast forward to June 2000 and DW and I were back in France for another three week trip. Being somewhat of a romantic, I planned it so we would spend our fortieth anniversay at the Hotel Chabrol.

We were warmly greeted and shown to our very nice room wich had a small balcony looking out over the river. While still admirering the beautiful room and view, and before I could pour some Calvados, there was a knock at the door. It was the very apologetic manager explaining to us that a mistake had been made and we were given the wrong room.

So out the door we went to our new room which turned out to be ..... the larger, even more beautiful bridal suite. It turned out that a friend had notified the hotel that we would be staying there on our anniversary and management gave us the upgrade.

I can't begin to describe how royally we were treated during the outstanding several course meal we enjoyed at their outside restaurant.

Durn, hausfrau beat me to it. The Auf Schoenburg Castle Hotel in Oberwestel on the Rhine is wonderful. You can have a drink out on the terrace overlooking the Rhine River and have an amazing dinner in their restaurant.

I don't remember the room we had, but it was lovely and well appointed with all the little touches.

And the good thing about the Auf Schoenburg is that it is still an "affordable luxury" which is becoming a rarity in Europe.

Any night in Europe with my wife is romantic, no matter where.

That said . . . , I think our most romantic nights' sleep were spent at Le Traverse, just outside of Pienza. It didn't hurt that we were there in May, when the poppies were raging.

Hmmm Katie, probably the first one that comes to mind was the Hotel Europa in Anacapri, I say was as the hotel was sold and now has a different name and it is not quite the same type of hotel.

The next hotel that comes to mind is the Hotel Exceslior in Florence. We had a beautiful suit with a very lovely large veranda overlooking the River Arno (the River was across the street).

But some very sweet and inexpensive hotels have been very special also. One in MassaLubrense (just a bit south of Sorrento) wasn't that expensive but we looked out over the water to the Isle of Capri. Very lovely especially the night there was a magnificant electrical/rain storm and we watched all the lights on Capri go off due to the storm. Our power went off also. A couple of bottles of good Italian wine and lots of food we had picked up earlier due to the storm meant the most wonderful picnic on the veranda in the dark except for candles while we watched Mother Nature's show and saw the waves suddenly pounding up on the land below us.

Hey Goddesstogo, love you story. Your rainy night is what travel is all about I think, turning what could have been a disaster into a really lovely memory. Well done!

I've really enjoyed these. I agree that some of the more romantic moments do come out of something "going wrong"-- loss of power, you're lost, it's raining cats and dogs.

Jay--- I was curious about this hotel you mentioned in Reykjavik- Hotel 101. It looks pretty sleek from the photos; http://www.101hotel.is/.

I don't see Spain represented here...

Katie (et al),

The Hotel Avenida Palace in Lisbon, Portugal. DH and I stayed in this wonderful centrally-located hotel: all old world charm, lush decor and the faint whiff of espionage.

The hotel is adjacent to the train station and there are (apparently) passageways that spies used during WWII when Portugal retained a sort of neutrality. I am assuming that messages could be taken to and from the hotel by spies in black cloaks in the dead of night and whisked off to London or Paris on the overnight express.

The rooms are comfortable, but quirky, with oddly shaped ante-rooms and wonderful old-fashioned tubs in the bathrooms. The elevator is a work of art in mahoghany and the bar is like something from an Audrey Hepburn movie. The dining room is gorgeous, all satin and elegance and the food was fine (maybe the weak point, but then there are fine restaurants in Lisbona and you have to leave the room sometime.)

DH and I spent a magnificent three days here on our 20th anniversary reminding eachother why we married in the first place.

Anywhere in Venice, Italy (!)

Hotel Caesar Augustus on Capri comes to mind; spectacular views. Also a few nameless small hotels in small villages in the Dordogne river valley in France with rapids roaring right outside your bedroom.

We have stayed in great places with character in Spain, but the hotel NH Palacio de Castellanos in Salamanca is right at the top for a great place to stay with a very romantic ambience. Our room was cozy and definitely my pick for a fun St. Valentine!

My husband and I are lovers of mountains and lakes as opposed to beaches so we have found our favorites to be the lakeside hotels of Villa D'Este on Lake Como, Italy and the Grand Hotel in Zell am See in Austria although we only had lunch at Grand Hotel - we were staying nearby and wished we had stayed there- it gets great reviews and has a fabulous setting on the lake with a walking path that goes around the entire lake. Lunch on the terrace overlooking the lake was fabulous. We ate a picnic dinner one evening in a small park nearby with the moon reflecting in the still lake. The Grand Hotel is very handy to the train station, restaurants, shopping (with some charming unique stores), bike rentals - we did find it was a helathy walk up hill to the mountain lift there are busses as well. There are many wonderful daytrips that can be taken from there. Boat transport around the respective lakes is available near each of these hotels. A trip to Bellagio on Lake Como is special. We've stayed at Villa D'Este twice (thanks for my husband's employer!) - May and September - and just loved it. Exploring the "ramparts" on the grounds makes for an interesting hike that we repeated nearly everyday without getting bored. Drinks and appetizers on the lakeside terrace can suffice for dinner at least once. We do get tired of the huge dinners after a while!

We arrived at Garmisch-Partenkierchen and stayed outside at Panorama Hotel, that we didn´t know. After a very good dinner we went to our room.
In the next morning, when we opened the door to the balcony we saw an unforgetable view:
The hill covered with pine trees, both towns and closing the scene the Zugspitze.

There are three I can never forget. One is in Paris where the Chef is my good friend, Philippe Legendre of Le Cinq, an outstanding restaurant with a spotless kitchen. I konw because I have cooked there. The hotel is the Four Seasons George V.
Next is the historic Hotel Sacher in Wien (Vienna). The Restaurant Ann Sacher is superb. And don't forget the Sachertorte.
Finally is L'Andana in Italy by the famous Petra Winery. E favoloso!
Enjoy! By Dr. Michael Lim The Travelling Gourmet

LJ--
I checked out your Lisbon recommendation.

Photos here for curious folks:
http://www.hotelavenidapalace.pt/EN/gallery.html

The lobby at first glance reminded me of one of the most impressive lobbies I've ever walked through--- The Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, Virginia.

Definitely looks romantic!

My votes:

1. Albergo Barbara, Vernazza, Italy - After a day on the town's beach, walk across the main square (getting wrapped up in the party with the local marching band and drinks and food provided by the town:
http://tinyurl.com/yrvae8), grab a local bottle from the wine bar (have them open it and provide two glasses), walk to the other side of the square and open the ten foot wooden door to Albergo Barbara (http://www.albergobarbara.it/). Climb the stone steps up to the 2nd floor, where the setting sun crashes through your perfectly westward window, and share a glass of wine as you watch the crowds slip into other buildings to get ready for the event of the evening: dinner. After a cool shower, walk back down and dine under a romantic sunset at one of the phenomenal beach-side trattorias right in the square. Spend the next day walking hand-in-hand down the via della amore, a cliffside pathway in between nearby beautiful mediterranean fishing villages. It's pretty much impossible not to end up kissing in Cinque Terre.

2. Pier Hotel, Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland - After a day of walking in the scottish highlands, return to town to walk around the quaint cove and dip into a classic fish and chip shop right on the pier. Share a serving and a bottle of beer, and then take a few bottles up to your room at the Pier Hotel (http://www.pier-hotel.co.uk/) with a view over the harbour. We found this a very romantic setting, with the majestic scottish highlands and the friendlyness of the small town.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14891650@N08/1971038687/in/set-72157603089349952/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14891650@N08/1971856880/in/set-72157603089349952/

Jeff--- love the hotel room shot. Your photos are really great. This one especially of Vernazza:

http://tinyurl.com/2c3otl

Le Sirenuse in Positano.

Gorgeous room with a balcony overlooking the sea. Watching a beautiful sunset while sipping an apertivo. And the best breakfast ever - salame, prosciutto, fresh mozzerella, marinated tomatoes - on the flower-filled terrace.

The Crillon-Le-Brave in Provence. It's built on terraces, the pool on one, the bistro on another, the dining room on another terrace and secluded tables overlooking miles of vinyards and farms where two alone can drink a pastis and I could pluck the figs from the tree beside me. I miss my Valentine.

Thank you, Katie...are you also interested in UK suggestions? if so then folks might like to check out the Farlam Hall Hotel in Brampton, England, near Hadrian's Wall ..my husband and I spent an anniversary there quite by accident once: our car broke down literally at the gates and it was absolutely lovely... we had a four-poster bed and views of the spacious lawns...I felt like a duchess!
http://www.johansens.co.uk/cnj/hotel.aspx?code=H0606

Hotel Casmona
The room with the Huge Window and the Loft Overhead
Camogli, Italy

This enormous window opened out onto the sea. And open it was, all night even though it was October, and even though we could hear champagne corks popping below late into the night for the wedding party outdoors, below.

It's not a luxurious accommodation, but it's not about that. It's about a window far larger than most doors, that indeed opens like a double door, grabs you like Peter Pan, and next you know, you're flying out over the ocean.

There's no screen, and seemed to be no sort of pests that would necessitate one.

You can catch a glimpse of this room in these couple of tiny photos at this site -

http://www.booking.com/hotel/it/casmona.html?label=gog235jc;sid=ed19750341d1d8a177513b1c49acd6cc

Click on Photos and it's the white bed on right wall w/window (closed) to left, loft steps above the bed, and in the next of the thumbnails, a glimpse of the view out the closed window from the top of the loft.

The next couple of thumbnails are maps, then photos of views that are exactly what you see when looking right and left out this spectacular portal to the Ligurian Riviera.

The beach was full of sunbathers and swimmers on a sunny October day.

And I understand that San Valentino's is in fact an event in the town of Camogli.

The rates at Hotel Casmona are reasonable, but it must be said, this window is outrageous.

I would say that the 3 most romantic places that my wife and I have stayed at are: Auf Schoenburg on the Rhine River in Oberwessel Germany, Hotel Villa Ducale in Taormina, Sicily and Romantik Hotel Villa Pagoda in Nervi,Italy which is close to Genoa on the Ligurian coast.
You can't go wrong with the location and ambience of all these 3 hotels.
Paul

Ashford Castle (www.ashford.ie) and Dromoland Castle (www.dromoland.ie) are two spendid places in Ireland to consider. I stayed there in winter when rates are reasonable mid week but in summer they are very expensive

Of course I'm interested in the UK, LK-- what romantic soul hasn't wept during the BBC's adaption of Jane Eyre?

I've been to England many times but I've never really made it up north. Your pick really reminds me actually of that film:

http://www.farlamhall.co.uk/

I'm interested in all of these; but most of all I've liked the stories attached to many of your votes. I hope this has been (and continues to be) a happy distraction on V-day.

I love Paris as well (obviously) but I have to say we had quite a romantic time in Cesky Krumlov. I think any of the castles you can stay in would be quite enchanting as well.

The most romantic get-away I have experienced was in Paris on the River Seine. Yes, I said ON the river. The Bateau Simpatico a superb luxury accommodation is tied to a quai, moored in Port de Suffren, which is under the Eiffel. Well, it nearly is under the Eiffel, truly - less than a five-minute walk across the street and down the steps from the tower. In fact, you can see the Eiffel through its portholes. Another landmark close by is Le Bateaux Maxim's, the fabulous dinner-cruise boat.

And it's true when they say "the Seine is the only street in Paris where everyone knows each other."

My first stay on the Simpatico was a delightful surprise (oh yes, I've been back since). I had booked it on the Internet, not knowing what to expect. Photos and descriptions are not always as accurate as one would hope. But this time, I must say, I couldn't have wished for a more lovely setting. The environment and the boat were romantic in every sense.

It's Japanese sliding screens that separate the kingsize bedroom from the great room add to the charm of this floating paradise, as do the objets d'art placed throughout. Leather sofas, tables & chairs, have all been specially selected by the owner to blend with the comfy decor. It's sparkling interiors are immaculate with all the modern conveniences, even an Internet connection which is a must-have for me whereever I go.

I loved that first experience on the remodeled Dutch peniche so much, I made it a focal point and the residence of one of my main characters in my latest novel "Midnight at the Eiffel." In fact the proprietor of the Simpatico snapped the fabulous cover photograhs. I'll be there in March 2008, from the USA, to give him a signed copy for the Simpatico's library and hope to pop the cork on a bottle of champagne in celebration of it's release.

At night as you sit on the deck of the Simpatico or you're gazing from the portholes inside, the lights of the passing boats and those that are twinkling in the historic and beautiful townhouses and buildings on either shoreline make you feel as if you're in a fantasyland. It is incredible. Paris definitely lives up to it's moniker - "The City of Lights."

When morning comes and the river noises roust you from sleep, it's a short walk up the cobbled lane to sidewalk cafes for croissants, omelets and coffee, then it's off to a day of sight-seeing or shopping.

For me, the Bateau Simpatico is my preferred place to stay when I'm in Paris. It's proximity to everything is perfect. The RER and METRO stations are nearby, so I don't need a car when I'm doing research for my books.

But most of all, the Simpatico is a peaceful place to relax and sip champagne with romantic thoughts for romantic novels and short stories ... and if one is so inclined, it is the perfect place for a romantic interlude.

Forgot to leave the web site address for the Bateau Simpatico.

www.quai48parisvacation.com

Sorry 'bout that.

Oh Cigalechanta, I bet you miss your Valentile something aweful. Here is a hug for whatever it is worth.

Anna Roz