Arles Hotel
Jun 5th, 2015, 12:26 PM
#1
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Arles Hotel
My husband and I are driving around Provence in mid-September and would like to use Arles as a home base for a few days. I haven't seen recent posts for the hotels there so I'm asking you good people for advice. We stay in two and three star hotels, don't want to spend more than 130 euros including breakfast, if possible, per night. I read that parking and driving in and out of Arles is difficult. Any thoughts on that? Thank you for any help.
Jun 5th, 2015, 12:34 PM
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Don't know if you would be interested, or if it is available, but we rented a little house in Arles less than a block from the coloseum. It had one room on each floor, kitchen and living on first and bedroom and bath on second. It was by a big church that seemed to have lots of parking, but that may have been for residents. The house was painted VanGogh colors inside, so a bit funky, but we loved it. It also had a tiny terrace in front. The location was perfect. It did not look to me that driving would be bad if you looked at a map and got oriented. However, the train into Avignon was quick and cheap and there was a bus that took us directly to Les Beaux. Of that interests you, I can post details.
Jun 5th, 2015, 12:38 PM
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Why Arles? When touring an area by car, we always choose to stay somewhere other than a city or large town because of potential difficulties with parking and access. When we were in Provence, we stayed in an apartment on the outskirts of St.-Rémy which we found very central for visiting the region. There are other towns in that same area similarly located. Sorry, can't help with hotels, but there are quite a few in and around St.-Rémy and probably some that will fit your price range.
Jun 5th, 2015, 12:45 PM
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Same here, why Arles? Where are you heading to? Arles is a great base if you are using trains or buses. With a car, I use St-Remy as a driving base area around Arles. Big enough to have good choice of restaurants and cafes, but small enough to drive easily through the center of the town to head to any direction except on Wednesday market day morning.
Jun 5th, 2015, 12:55 PM
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My wife and I stayed at the Hotel Regence last summer and were quite pleased. It is a budget hotel but the room was clean, lots of parking close to the hotel, and it was a great location for exploring Arles. I believe we paid a little over $100 per night.
Jun 5th, 2015, 03:06 PM
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Several years ago we stayed at Le Calendal, which was right across from the Roman theater. It was a lovely hotel with a great staff. I had requested a particular room but we arrived a day early and it was filled, so they put us in another room and moved us themselves the next day. Don't know about price or parking, though. It has an 8.6 rating on booking.com. http://www.lecalendal.com/home.html
They're usually fully booked so check with them as early as you can.
They're usually fully booked so check with them as early as you can.
Jun 5th, 2015, 10:09 PM
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Several years ago we stayed at the Hotel d'Arlatan in a 15th century building in the old town near the place du Forum. They had garage parking. Having said that, on later trips we stayed in small villages.
It also is an 8.6 Booking.com
http://www.hotel-arlatan.fr/us/index.htm
It also is an 8.6 Booking.com
http://www.hotel-arlatan.fr/us/index.htm
Jun 6th, 2015, 01:42 PM
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Thank you for your suggestions. I considered Arles due to reading a favorite guide book that recommended it as a base. However, due to comments about difficult parking and your thoughts I am now looking at St. Remy or Les Baux.
We had planned to go to Vaisson de la Romaine and stay a few days there and look around before heading to St. Paul de Vence where we have a hotel rented for 4 nights.
We are 70 and don't put as many hours into seeing every darn thing in each city per day as we used to do. So I like being back at the hotel around dinner, relax and walk the streets of the town and find a nice restaurant there. Do the small towns offer that kind of night life?
We had planned to go to Vaisson de la Romaine and stay a few days there and look around before heading to St. Paul de Vence where we have a hotel rented for 4 nights.
We are 70 and don't put as many hours into seeing every darn thing in each city per day as we used to do. So I like being back at the hotel around dinner, relax and walk the streets of the town and find a nice restaurant there. Do the small towns offer that kind of night life?
Jun 6th, 2015, 01:59 PM
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I hope you are aware of St. Paul de Vence (old town) being extremely touristy during the day due to being a popular group tour and cruise ship shore excursion destination. Also, it is a vertical town except for one road that goes along the rampart.
Jun 6th, 2015, 03:26 PM
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We loved Arles. It was a nice relaxing break for a couple of days after a lot of rushing around in Paris. We went to the Roman amphitheater, strolled down through the square and had a very nice dinner, then just walked around, checking out the Van Gogh spots. Very nice town. We were there mid-September, just as you will be, and the weather was pleasant.
I'll be considered a philistine for saying this, but we had a great breakfast at McDonald's. They have US style meals but we had a French one--yogurt, a small baguette with jam and a small chocolate.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/...like-fast-food
I'll be considered a philistine for saying this, but we had a great breakfast at McDonald's. They have US style meals but we had a French one--yogurt, a small baguette with jam and a small chocolate.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/...like-fast-food
Jun 6th, 2015, 05:41 PM
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We also like Arles a lot. I mentioned that we rented a little house there. While it is not a village, it is not big and except for a hilly bit around the Roman Arena, it is fairly flat. To give an idea of size, you can walk all the way across the main part of town from one side to the other in about 30 minutes. From the Arena in the center, it is about a 15 minute walk to the train station or bus station.
As someone else said, it is a great base for using trains or busses. You might consider waiting and renting the car after your time is Arles is over. We spent our first day (Sat) visiting the market and buying fresh things for a few meals. Then, one day walking all around Arles, another in Les Beaux and another in Avignon, so four days there went quickly and we were able to visit two other places.
We did like the cafes and restaurants open in the evening, nice for walking, though pretty quiet. There are several interesting squares with people dining out in the evening.
Just a little aside. Perhaps other people here knew, but I did not. All of Van Gogh's lovely yellow and blue awnings over cafes and bright chairs, etc. were his invention. At the time, of course, the people of Arles wanted him gone, but they have since painted some of the cafes to match his paintings.
If you do go to Arles, there is a tiny bakery that made the best citrus tarts I have had anywhere. I kept trying to find any as good and never did on the rest of our trip. They also had wonderful vegetable tarts which we picked up for lunch some days. We lucked out finding it our first day and made it our first and last stop every day there. With a map, if you were walking from the arena towards the train station, it is on the right in one of the last blocks before the traffic circle.
As someone else said, it is a great base for using trains or busses. You might consider waiting and renting the car after your time is Arles is over. We spent our first day (Sat) visiting the market and buying fresh things for a few meals. Then, one day walking all around Arles, another in Les Beaux and another in Avignon, so four days there went quickly and we were able to visit two other places.
We did like the cafes and restaurants open in the evening, nice for walking, though pretty quiet. There are several interesting squares with people dining out in the evening.
Just a little aside. Perhaps other people here knew, but I did not. All of Van Gogh's lovely yellow and blue awnings over cafes and bright chairs, etc. were his invention. At the time, of course, the people of Arles wanted him gone, but they have since painted some of the cafes to match his paintings.
If you do go to Arles, there is a tiny bakery that made the best citrus tarts I have had anywhere. I kept trying to find any as good and never did on the rest of our trip. They also had wonderful vegetable tarts which we picked up for lunch some days. We lucked out finding it our first day and made it our first and last stop every day there. With a map, if you were walking from the arena towards the train station, it is on the right in one of the last blocks before the traffic circle.
Jun 7th, 2015, 03:56 AM
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Les Baux is a tourist site, I don't know why you'd base there. It wouldn't be convenient. Yes, some people live up there, but it's not a good idea IMO. I'd much rather stay in Arles than Les Baux.
