simon

What is your favorite hotel in Avignon or Aix-en-Provence? This will be our first visit to the region. Any comments appreciated.

Bob

We recently stayed at Mas de Entremont just outside Aix. Aix is a fairly large city and we preferred to stay outside of town so we could easily drive to visit the sights in the general area and not have to navigate the traffic in town. We visited Avignon for a short time and frankly wouldn't return nor would we consider staying in the city. Too crowded and touristy for us. Let me know if you would like any info on Mas de Entremont.

Carey

We stayed in Lacoste. It is a quaint little town close to Gordes. I would try to find a tiny town. If you have a car.....it's a lot more fun to explore!

Lindsey

In Aix-en-Provence we stayed in the Hotel Le Pigonnet, which has much to recommend it. It's slightly out of the town centre, possibly a ten minute walk, but benefits from beautiful formal gardens and a lovely terrrace where meals and drinks are served. The hotel is full of gorgeous antiques, all the rooms are individual and very stylish, bathrooms are good, food is great and it's not too expensive. And the swimming pool is a lovely place to be at the end of a long day . . .!

violet

In Avignon I will stay in Hotel D'Europe or La Miranda. Both hotels have nice decor, good restaurant and sevice is very good. I stayed at the Hotel Pigonnet last year and will not recommend the hotel. Yes, the garden is very nice,but the rooms are small, sparcely furnished, sevice is bad and the walk to town is 15 minutes. My choice will be Villa Gallici if I could get resevation.

Book Chick

In Avignon, the Hotel du Palais des Papes. Some of the rooms have a view of the Palais des Papes, which was particularly spectacular at night. All staff members speak English fluently. Address is 1 rue Gerard-Phillipe, phone is 04.90.86.04.13, fax is 04.90.27.91.17. <BR>Bon Voyage! <BR>BC

Christina

I also have stayed at Mas d'Entremont just outside Aix on route N7. It's not only my favorite hotel there but in the world. It's wonderful, can't say enough, and very cheap for what you get (my double room was only about 800F as I recall, but it's more than a simple room and not really a "hotel" but a country inn/mas. It was a little tricky to find, but driving around Aix is tricky in itself. It's well-marked on RN7, it was just getting onto RN7 coming up to Aix from Marseille was a real challenge. It would be easy to find coming in from the west, say from Avignon, right on RN7. In fact, I drove to Avignon from there upon leaving on RN7 very easily. They have a website on www.francemarket.com. Not only were accommodations superb, so was their restaurant, and the staff were attentive and friendly. I just stayed in a modest 2-star hotel in Avignon.

Christina

I want to qualify my hyperbole -- Mas d'Entremont is ONE of my favorite hotels in the world, but I don't have that many.

Dennis

Simon, <BR> <BR>We recently returned from Avignon and stayed at Hotel d'Europe. We enjoyed our stay there very much. Large, tastefully decorated rooms, wonderful outside courtyard, friendly staff, and outstanding restaurant. Good luck and enjoy this very beautiful part of the world.

mimi taylor

One year travelling by myself, my hotel choice was the Prieure in Villeneuve lez Avignon, across the brige from Avignon. Why there? <BR>1. I don't drive <BR>2.I needed to be near transportation. <BR>3 I wanted to feel safe and I wanted beauty. <BR>I got all, loved my oval room the food, garden, wonderful. I could walk across the bridge, take the bus or my usual choice the boat which docked at the road leading to the hotel. And once in avignon I had day trip buses or the train. My only disappointment was that every time I wanted to visit one of the most famous gardens of Provence, St. Andre's in Villeneuve, it was always closed.

Pino

At one visit to France I spent two nights at the Europe very nice but my room(asingle very small) Lovely outdoor dining. Staff very nice.

Capo

We didn't stay there, but we passed by the Hotel des Augustins, in the heart of Aix, and it looked wonderful. <BR> <BR>http://www.filfranck.com/hotel%20des%20augustins.htm

Mary

I spent 5 nights in Provence this past June. It was my first time in France and I planned my trip using advice from here. Aix was MUCH larger than I expected and our train connections were in and out of Avignon. I thought Avignon was OK but I was very glad we didn't stay there. Like another poster we stayed in Lacoste. Since we had a car we were able to drive to many of the fabulous small hillside villages each day. We got a map and a list telling market day for each town ( some of the info in the books we had studied told wrong days.. so check it out when you get there). Anyway, I would highly recommend that you stay in one of the smaller villages such as:Roussillon ( the red town),Bonnieux, Mennerbes, Gordes, or Lacoste.

Helen

Stayed in both Avignon and Aix July 2001. Avignon-Hotel Medieval, a two star hotel, with a great location but... We requested a quiet, airy, garden side room and got a fourth floor (no lift), airless room. Parking was three blocks away in the Les Halles parking garage. Kind of a hassle with luggage and it being our first night after a SFO-Paris flight and the drive down. Check the Karen Brown website--www.karenbrown.com-for Avignon reviews. Had one full day in Avignon, enjoyed the Palace, museum, the bridge, the market--enough time. <BR> <BR>Aix was a bit of a let down. The Cours M. was under renovation so it was dusty, dirty, and full of trucks. Two women tried to reach into our backpack but were foiled by the way we had positioned the zippers and my sweetheart's in-your-face response. Shopping was good. Maybe an extra day would have allowed to see more sights. Hotel Caravelle recomm. by Frommer's gave me my first case of bed bug bites. The airconditioning wasn't working properly and condensation formed quite a puddle on the floor and an unpleasant sound in the ear. Parking was three blocks away in a public lot. I wasn't prepared for that angle of having a rental car. We went on market day and had the best time there...the olives, fresh produce, bagged lavender, and scented soaps. <BR> <BR>WE LOVED ARLES--make sure you go there. <BR> <BR>

Barb

We stayed at Le Pigonnet this summer and liked it. It is a bit of a walk into town - 15 min. The rooms vary quite a bit in size. I saw some rooms that were quite small. We had a larger room that was nicely air conditioned (it was hot outside!) and smelled delightfully of lavendar when we returned from our daily outings. My son loved the pool and we all liked the gardens. We found the staff friendly. We like to speak in French to practice, they tactfully corrected phrasing and pronunication for us, which we liked. The restaurant was quite expensive, although tasty, but we only used it one night. We never used their breakfast service, once again, it was quite expensive and we enjoyed going to a sidewalk cafe instead.They didn't look very crowded, probably due to the price! My husband complained that there were only Americans at this hotel, he prefers to stay at a hotel that Europeans frequent. Around the pool, I only heard English.