My wife and I (were in our early 30s) are traveling to France for two weeks this August. We are starting in the south of France, going through Provence, then Burgundy, on up to Paris. I have booked several hotels and wanted to get feedback from others who may have stayed there in the past. Any feedback on the following hotels?

Nice - Hotel Beau Rivage
St. Tropez - Hotel La Bastide du Port
Cannes - Hotel Gray D'Albion
Aix-en-Provence - Chateau de Pioline
Beaune/Veugeot - Chateau des Gilly

I would also be interested in hearing any recommendations on other luxury accomodations in these cities. Thanks.

We are staying at the newly renovated Beau Rivage in September; there have been good reivews of the hotel at tripadvisor.com. It's a great location for Vieux Nice.

Bonjour,
I stayed in Chateau des Gilly
a few years ago and loved it!
The stone vaulted cellar where
the restaurant is, is fabulous!
It is in a small lovely village too.
Bon voyage!

ttt

Near San Tropez, I can highly recommend the Chateau Valmer in la Croix Valmer

Ron,

That hotel has interested me for quite a while. What's it like?

Are you thinking of staying in both Nice AND Cannes or are you just hedging your bets? They are relatively close together. If the plan is to stay as you've listed, doubling back from St Tropez, I wonder if you wouldn't enjoy trying one of the hill towns (or a smaller town) instead of both Nice and Cannes. There are top hotels in Eze, St Paul de Vence and Mougins just to name a few. August will be crazy in that area and you might find it a bit more relaxing further away from the coast.

To Underhill:
The Chateau Valmer is an elegant hotel with all the ammenities. Very large beautifully furnished rooms, good restaurant with terrace dining, overlooking the large pool and the grounds with palm terees and a vineyard. It is about 1/4 miles from the beach, where they have a sister hotel. Here you can have lunch [with a nice array of desserts in a dugout canoe], enjoy the private sandy beach or the pool. Just west of San Tropez. Reserve early.

I can highly recommend La Bailie de Suffren in Rayol Canandel. We stayed there in may for a few days, and it has a great pool, and a nice beach. The rooms are beautiful, and the restaurant is very good. It is about 20 minutes out of St. Tropez.Cheers, AL

I checked the Chateau des Gilly web site but couldn't determine if the rooms are air conditioned. Can anyone who has stayed there help? We are planning a trip to this area next July and suspect A/C would be advised.

We recently stayed at the Beau Rivage in Nice and did not much like it. See my detailed report on tripadvisor.com.

For a charming, luxurious, and well located hotel in Nice, head to the La Pérouse. It's delightful. Another hotel in the same class is Le Meridien; it's right on the Promenade des Anglais. It has more of a hotel chain feel to it, but the rooms are prettily decorated and well maintained.

I stayed at the Gray D'Albion. Its nice but really in the middle of everything, which in my case, wasnt ideal. Since I was there for work, I preffered to get away from it all once work ended. I switched to the Sofitel Royal Casino which is in Mandielieu - about 10 mins by cab from the city centre, but far enough to relax at the beach without the traffic!

As a follow-up to earlier posts I have to say that we did not like the Beau Rivage at all--drab coloring (just about everything was grey), hot halls, very minimalist in style, small bathrooms, no charm of Provence whatsoever. Desk staff a bit brusque.

Sorry, Jean, i hope My Perouse is still delightful.