My fellow teaching colleague and I will be travelling to Montpellier from Germany with a group of about 15-20 students in the end of September, arrival either via plane or bus.
One group wants to stay in a hotel/gite near Montpellier or Sete for 1 week, the other group will stay with host families outside of Montpellier. We're on a budget, ie. 30 Euros per night per student.

My questions:
1. Can you recommend accomodations with free airport shuttle, either near the Place de la Comedie in Montpellier or in Palavas? I stayed in the IBIS Comedie last year and found it to be just fine but they don't offer an airport shuttle service.

2. Where would be a good place to stay in Sete?

Thanks a bunch.

The Ibis Comedie is perhaps the largest and most reasonably priced hotel near the Place de la Comedie. Staying in Palavas will add transportation costs and the few hotels there are small and unlikely be any cheaper.

There are a good number of inexpensive hotels in Latte which is where the Montpellier airport is actually located.

A list of all possible accommodation options is available here:

http://www.ville-lattes.fr/docs%20a%...20tourisme.pdf

Thank you for the PDF. Very useful!

If we only have 1 1/2 days in Montpellier would you recommend going to Palavas to see the beach? We're planning on going to Sete for a day so might skip Palavas.

I stayed at the Etap Hôtel in Sète. I was just there last week, so here are a few photos that I took of both Montpellier and Sète:

Montpellier: http://tinyurl.com/6blxyke

Sète: http://tinyurl.com/6bak6pr

If your students are oriented towards history and culture they can prowl Montpellier for a day, see the Roman aqueduct, and appreciate a lively small French city (not town.) http://www.ot-montpellier.fr/en/
Sete is a small fishing town and harbour which promotes its beaches. http://www.en.ot-sete.fr/english-version.html The two municipalities are not equivalent.
You do not say your nationality, or the age, of your "students". If they are mid-adolescent Americans, a French beach will be what they talk about when they get home. If they are Germans, they will want to make their own decisions.

Super nice photos, Kerouac!

Southam- I'm US citizen, the kids are Germans, 14 yrs. old, and they can't wait to see the beach! We're going to spend 8 days with host families near Montpellier and will include one trip to Sete, a place I visited last year and really liked.