CLERMONT-FERRAND HOTELS
 

Thank you for all of your suggestions of a center place to stay while visiting the Chateuaxs in the Loire Valley. I think we have it narrowed down to either Domaine des Hauts de Loire or Manoir Les Minimes. They both look fantastic.

We also wanted to stay two days in the Clermont-Ferrand area to see Le Puy-en-Velay, but I am having a hard time finding a hotel. Any suggestions? Thanks as always.
Jan

My tip is to find Clermont-Ferrand on a Google map, then 'search businesses' using "hotel". Then cross-match with reviews on Tripadvisor...

Jan, my wife and I stayed in the Dav'Hôtel in Clermont-Ferrand for two nights. It's in the centre of the city, which may not appeal to you. You can read about the hotel and a restaurant we dined in near the cathedral in our trip report:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34742279

Take a look, too, at Radio, a hotel on the western side of CF. It was our first choice, but was closed for holidays when we were there. Here's a review from TripAdvisor:

http://tinyurl.com/rfxka

It's a beautiful area; you'll love it.

Anselm

I know an excellent French website that is very comprehensive in listing almost all hotels in a particular prefecture or departement in France, and you can search by a map, and then a specific town. It also has other information on there, but has lots of good hotel info, and categorizes them by stars (some have links)
It is www.gaf.tm.fr

I think it has an English flag, if you need that language. This is the page you get if you choose the Clermont-Ferrand area -- click on the "hotels" part near the top of the page, and you get at least 6-10 of both 2* and 3* hotels (no 4* hotels there, apparently).
http://preview.tinyurl.com/37rmbd

If you are prepared to stay in a village close to Le Puy-en-Velay, I can highly recommend a Chambres d'Hotes in Arlanc. It is http://www.ma-cachette.com.

Arlanc is within easy reach of Le Puy-en-Velay, Ambert,where you can se how they still make paper by hand, St Nectarine,beautiful church and cheese with the same name, Cheyrac, with its lovely garden and La Chaise-Dieu with its wonderful Cathedral where an International classical music festival is held annually at the end of August. The Cathedral is worth a visit for its lovely Echo Chamber and tapestries dating from the Middle Ages.