Advice please: I'm staying in Aix-en-Provence in April 2006 for three nights and want a hotel or B&B in town.

I've researched hotels on travel websites, in this forum and on TripAdvisor, but every hotel in my price range (100 euro) has very mixed reviews.

My criteria are cleanliness, an ensuite bathroom, quiet at night, comfortable beds and a room large enough for two people and their luggage.


There is availability at the Hotel des Augustins, the Hotel St. Christophe and the Hotel du Globe.
Where would you stay, or do you have another suggestion?

Thanks
Julie

Hi Julie,

I stayed at the St. Christophe for one night in January. It's nothing to write home about in terms of charm, but my choices were limited as it was the off-season and many hotels were closed.

Out of curiosity I checked the reviews on trip advisor; I certainly didn't think the staff was rude. In fact, they were quite friendly and accommodating. Room was small, but could probably handle 2 perople with luggage. Bad view, very convenient location.

My first choice in Aix was Le Manoir, but if you look on tripadvisor the reviews for that hotel are quite mixed as well. I was also considering Les Quatre Dauphins.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help. Aix is lovely!

Sorry, let me be more direct regarding the St. Christophe:

en suite bathroom: yes

clean: yes, but maybe a little smoky (I'm not sensitive to that when I'm France)

quiet at night: yes, but it was the dead of winter--the whole town was relatively quiet

comfortable beds: don't remember

roomy: not huge, but deal-able. I was just one person, so it felt plenty big to me.

Good luck!

Leely, thanks for your good counsel. I will add Le Manoir to my list of possibilities.

Re Les Quartres Dauphins, again, very mixed reviews in this forum and on TripAdvisor.

Thanks again
J

We really liked Augustins. We had a wonderful room, and the staff was extremely helpful and friendly. At first we were a bit put off when they told us their parking was about two blocks away. But once we got used to the garage it was in, we decided it was a lot more convenient that if we had been trying to drive in or out of the hotel itself.

My main memory though is getting up one morning, turning on the news and trying to figure out through all the French why they kept showing pictures of Princess Diana. Finally when they showed pictures of the car, etc., we figured it out. Sad day.

Patrick thank you for your feedback on Hotel Des Augustins.

In the meantime I've learned that the St. Christophe can only provide a "mezzanine" room, where the bed is on a second floor, up an open stairway.

Does anyone have any experience with this arrangement?

Thanks

Wanted to bring this back up as friends are looking at the Saint Cristophe for next spring and were offered a mezzanine suite. Anyone have experience with this hotel?
Many thanks,
Peg

We stayed at the Manoir and had a nice clean room and very quiet although it is right in town but set back with it's own car park but the breakfast( served in the Cloister) was the worst coffee and O.J.

www.hotelmanoir.com/

Thanks, Mimi. They contacted Le Manoir and were told it's too early to book for next year. They said to contact them in Feb.

I lived in Aix 3 years ago. My mom and grandma stayed at St. Christophe, it has a good location and the rooms were nice.
Last May I was in Aix and my friends and I stayed at du Globe. We were very pleased with this hotel. It was clean, cute and also a good location. I also enjoyed the rooftop terrace-great views of the city.
People have also recommended Quatre Dauphins to me, so that might be worth checking out.
Bonne Chance and enjoy Aix- I miss it so much!

We had a junior suite at the Hotel St. Christophe last May. It was very small; they took a medium sized room, put in a bathroom and put the bed on a mezzanine. Both the bed area and the non-bath-non-stairway section on the first level were so tight as to make us uncomfortable. And the lobby seemed dingy, if not dirty. We moved on to the the Rotonde, not quite so centrally located but roomier and with onsite parking.

Le Manoir was our first choice also. And it sure looks good from the outside. But when we tried to make reservations in December, they told us the same thing: check back in February. When we did on Feb 2 or 3, they were booked.