Need a hotel in Honfleur
 

I had hoped to stay at the Hotel l'Ecrin, but it looks as though I waited too long, and they are booked for the night we want to stay there in May. Does anyone recommend any others that are in town and w/in walking distance of sites, and 120 E or less, and of course, clean, etc.? I'm looking at Hotel des Loges and Le Cheval Blanc online; anyone know anything about them?

I may be back here asking about hotels around Les Andelys, if I get turned down by La Chaine d'Or.

Thank you!

We were pleased with the Hotel du Dauphin, which was less than 100 Euros per night. It is one block from the harbor (Bassin) near St Catherine's church.

Smueller, thank you for writing about the Dauphin; I just finished reading about it online. I need to do something w/in the next couple of days, and this just may be it.
The location sounds good; I assume it was clean, comfortable, etc. Was there a place to park a car?

Thanks to you and any others who may respond.

grandmere, have you considered the Absinthe?

http://www.filfranck.com/hotel_l_abs..._Normandy.html

No, I've never seen it mentioned online when I google; thanks for the tip, Mimi; will check it out! I do see it as restaurant, n'est-ce pas?

nice hotel and restaurant :)

Our trip was back in 2001 but here is what I posted then about our hotel:

The Hotel Le Cheval Blanc has a wonderful location looking out on the outer harbour. It is not directly looking out over the internal basin harbour which is featured in the pictures but is only yards away from that and you can see it from the windows at an angle. Perfect location. Rooms were quite small and very ordinary, considering I booked deluxe, but they were clean, and comfortable and had a harbour view. Ruth and John's room was smaller, and newly furnished and decorated, making it a little more attractive, ours was larger, being on the far corner, with lookouts in two directions which was a bonus, but with old, dated and tacky wallpaper, linens and furniture. Good size bathroom though plain, but with nice strong shower with hook attachment so can shower standing up. No A/C but swung the windows open. Both rooms were fine but nothing to rave about, however I would definitely stay here again for the location, view, comfort and friendliness. Friendly and helpful reception staff. Also the hotel offered a plastic card which gave discounts on local attractions, we used it once each for a discount on the boat trip. It also gave discounts on the horse and buggy rides around twon, local museums and purchases from local farm shops.

My first choice in Honfleur, which we have visited repeatedly in the past 18 years, would not not be a hotel but a bed and breakast, run by Liliane Giaglis, on the rue du Puits.
http://www.giaglis.com/HONFLEUR/PAGESGB/chambres.htm

It's in the historic district but away from the crowds, with very generously sized rooms, pleasantly decorated rooms, and Liliane and her husband, Antoine are exceptionally gracious.

The Absinthe has a fine fine restaurant, and we have recently stayed in their suite, which is also spacious, but not as nice at more than double the price.

It's now been 8 years, but we loved a several day stay at Hotel LeChat right in the center. We had a wonderful corner room facing the market, and unfortunately our first morning there was Saturday, so the set-up woke us about at about 6 AM., but it was a warm and friendly place with nice rooms. Parking is in their lot a couple blocks away however.

This is a new place.

www.lamaisondelucie.com

You mentioned parking. It is scarce in Honfleur. It doesn't hurt to try finding a public parking place near where you're staying, but it rarely works. Among hotels (excluding those on the periphery, where I doubt you want to stay) very few have parking. L'Absinthe does, but it's in a garage that's a fair hike from the hotel. The main town parking lot is on the edge of the historic district. The Giaglis' bed and breakfast is about a three minute walk from the Old Harbor -- dead center of town, about the same distance from the harbor as L'Ecrin. In Honfleur, the lack of parking is a (very worthwhile) trade-off for over-the-top charm, in a plece where streets were laid out centuries ago. At any rate, you will not be using a car to go to restaurants or museums, because there will be nowhere to park when you got there! And by the way, when you go, do go to Au P'tit Mareyeur, the best restaurant in town.

Just an addendum to what Patrick had to say. We have also stayed several times at Le Chat and liked it. Great location on the Place St. Catherine, though the rooms were small. However, the hotel (which was owned by the same folks who own L'Ecrin) changed hands in the last year or so. It appears to have been "upscaled" and I believe the name has been changed. Unfortunately, I don't recall the new name.

Good point re parking. Our hotel also had parking available but it HAD to be booked in advance and it wasn't right next to the hotel. Parking in Honfleur is hard to find...

Dave, do you know anything about Giaglis' b&b? I am considering it for July, but would love your input.

BTW, La Maison de Lea is the former Hotel LeChat.

Wren, do you mean the one I posted maison de lucie?

Forget It wren, I found it. It looks like they did a wonderful brighting of the place.

Hotel l'Absinthe is very well located in Honfleur. It is like an annex of the restaurant across the alley, in fact we had to check in at the restaurant. The suite on the top floor is spacious and has one window with a harbor view. The hotel parking is a brisk walk. The restaurant is nice as is their brasserie,Grenouille, but the best by far to our group was La Terrasse et L'Assiette. Honfleur is a quaint little walking town with a still active fishing/shrimping fleet. We used it as our base for 8 days while taking day trips in that area of Normandy.

We also were woken up very early by the market outside our window at Le Chat. Our room was also very tiny, even by French standards. The owners also demanded at least half-board. I guess this is all moot since it's been acquired by new owners recently. We much preferred the L'Ecrin.

Thank you, everyone! I wrote a reply about an hour ago, and it never posted. These all sound like very good suggestions, and I will follow up on them. Right now I'm leaning towards Dave in Paris' suggestion about the B and B. We'll see what happens!
I can't get rates for l'Absinthe online; any ballpark estimates, anyone?

I'm assuming that all lodging mentioned allows for dropping off luggage, then driving car to a garage or whatever? I don't mind walking, but don't want to be pulling my suitcase very far down the street in this quaint little town!

You can drop of your luggage at an Honfleur hotel and then go park, though this will be more of a challenge at some hotels than others, depending on their location. Also, since it hasn't been mentioned in this string, I thought it should be mentioned that L'Ecrin does have parking, right at the hotel. Wren asked if I could expand on my remarks about Liliane Giaglis's bed and breakfast. It's relatively new, in the buildings of a former convent, with a pleasant courtyard where breakfast is served when the weather is nice. The setting provides more quiet than some other lodgings in town. We were immediately struck by three things: the quality of the renovation, furniture, etc. in the rooms; the size of the rooms (ours included a small open kitchen!); and the graciousness of Liliane and her husband, Antoine. These are highly gregarious folks who really want you to enjoy your stay in Honfleur. In lodging of course, everything is relative. In this case, we judged our room at the Giaglis' bed and breakfast several notches about the Absinthe's suite, at less than half the price, aspproximately 200 euros in the case of L'Absinthe. Thanks Wren, for providing the name of La Maison de Lea, the former Le Chat. One sad note concerning that establishment: Le Chat had a dining room that could, on some evenings, provide a memorable feast. As far as I know, the redone hotel has no restaurant. Finally, Cigalechanta mentioned La Maison de Lucie. We haven't visited that hotel, but it looks promising based on location, in a quiet part of the historic district, and on Liliane Giaglis's recommendation.

The best meal we had in Honfleur was at the Manoir du Butin, a charming country inn on the outskirts of town.

Dave in Paris, I sent an email last night to the Giaglises (?) and am awaiting a reply. Do they have a place they recommend for parking?

Thanks, again!

On out first stay, we went by train from Paris. On our second, we found street parking near the b&b (but this was mid-week in September). Do ask Liliane before you arrive. I expect she'll suggest the large lot just to the east of the Old Harbor. Have a great stay!

Dave, I am so glad to read about your recommendation. I have seen the Giaglis website and thought it would be a good fit for us this summer when my husband, 22 y.o. daughter, and I are there. I was hesitant though b/c no one had mentioned it here, and websites can be deceiving. Are there any particular rooms you would suggest? I noticed there are several properties.

Dave, I saw the beautiful photos of the Hotel de Lucie in this Month's
"Maisons a vivre," that my husbband bought me with other magazines this month as I have been home sick.

Wren,

In addition to the bed and breakfast, Liliane Giaglis manages a few other properties, apartments and one small house, owned by others in the historic district of Honfleur. These are what you see if you click on the right side of her welcome page. At the b&B, we stayed in the upper right room shown in the supplemental photos on the site(at least I think we did). We saw another room at the b&b on a pre-stay scouting trip and that looked great, too. I believe the b&b has been reviewed by Rick Steves, as well as the Rivages "Hotels et Auberges de Charmes en France Guide," though I have seen neither write-up. Rivages has some of its reviews online, and it's a great resource. We've used it often for trips.

Cigalechanta,

I'll look for that issue. Thank you. I do like to read about Honfleur. I have one of the two standard histories of the town, in three volumes. That French reading may wait until retirement. Get well soon.

Dave in Paris,I've not gotten a reply from Mme Giaglis since I emailed Tues. eve.; am I being too impatient, and would she probably write back even if she had no availability?

The Hotel du Dauphin has an arrangement with a nearby school that allows guests to park in their lot free of charge. The school was about two blocks from the hotel.

Our room, which was above an art gallery owned by the the hotel proprietors, was roomy and the bathroom was one of the nicest we've had in Europe - large, clean and modern. I believe the building itself is several centuries old. More than a year later, I still clearly remember the massive dark supporting wooden beams that ran across the ceiling.

The location was perfect for us, since we didn't want to stay right along the busy (and presumably noisy) Old Harbor. I believe the square next to the hotel is called Place Berthelot.

It might be useful to know that there is a grocery store and laundromat just above the old town on Rue Republique. The grocery store is on the right and the laundromat on the left. Both are just a few blocks from the old town, about a ten-minute walk from the Old Harbor (Vieux Bassin).

We have stayed at Hotel Dauphin on
several occasions and it it is quite nice and well-located, but I suggest you briefly await a response from the Giaglis' b&b. I dimly remember something about them taking one January week off.

Dave

I will briefly await a response from Mme Giaglis and if no go, will get in touch with Hotel du Dauphin asap; they both sound lovely. Thank you, Smueller and Dave.

L'Absinthe is over 200 euro; more than I want to pay, unless I have to. I imagine it is quite lovely, though.

Did you check de Lucie?

Grandmere,

You can console yourself with the knowledge (firsthand and mine) that the Absinthe is NOT lovely. The suite was spacious, by my cramped and usually rather frugal Paris standards, but the decor was banal and it obvously had been in place for quite some time. The Dauphin used to be a rather basic hotel (we have not stayed there is ages and who,knows, they may have primped it up) but it really was just fine and certainly well-located.

Grandmere,

I just telephoned Liliane Giaglis. (I'm pretty determined for you to have a wonderful stay in Honfleur, and I think you'll enjoy it most from her b&b.) In short, she has just returned to Honfleur from two days in Paris where a daughter was moving into an apartment that Liliane and her husband own, and they were moving their things out. So I think you should have a reply shortly, though of course I couldn't tell her your name. Now, would you like restaurant ideas?

Best -- Dave

Quick reply-between appts. here at work. Thank you, Dave, you have been most helpful, and I do appreciate it!

Looking forward to hearing from Mme. G.!

Would love restaurant recs; just there one night, as off to Bayeux next day since we're using it as our Normandie base.

You've really gone the extra mile!

If it is just one meal, then you should to Au P'tit Mareyeur, on the rue Haute in the historic district. (That means "high street," and it's the second lowest street in town. Go figure.) We were attracted by the little sign out front that lists where the chef-owner buys his ingredients (including the fish from three childhood friends). It is primarily a seafood restaurant. This is not the most expensive eatery in town but we do believe it's the best. It's a fixed-price menu, either 25 or 30 euros, I forget. There sometimes are small supplements for certain menu items. They serve both lunch and dinner and you definitely should reserve for either.

If you are in Honfleur long enough for another, lighter meal, then the place to go is La Ciderie on the rue Homme de Bois. From the outside, it looks like a tourist trap, and for years we passed it by, but they make the most delicious crepes in the world (not to be confused with crepe place next door) with a buckwheat batter, and it's also a good place to sample "artisinal" cider -- and apple brandy if you aren't driving soon after lunch.

Enjoy! Dave

Dave, your posts are making me think we should allow more time for Honfleur, but kind of locked into our general timeframe b/c of hotel reservations.

You mentioned making reservations for Le P'tit Mareyeur; guess we should make them from home since we won't be in the area early enough to do so? I don't think we'll arrive in Honfleur until late afternoon, at best.

Since you're being very helpful, let me ask you another question! We're flying into CDG on Mon.5/9 and driving to Les Andelys for that night (Chaine d'Or). The next night is when we plan to stay in Honfleur, but I want to drive there via Etretat (I know, not exactly a direct route!). Does that make sense, time-wise? Thought we would try to make it to Etretat for lunch, then head for Honfleur. And then "do Honfleur" the next day, before we take off for Bayeux.

Thanks again!

Au P'tit Mareyeur has a Web site, www.auptitmareyeur.com so maybe you can reserve through it. I'm a bad person to ask for driving advice: We do keep a car in Burgundy, but we almost never drive long distances. When we go to Honfluer we either take the train to Deauville/Trouville and then the bus to Honfluer, or the train to Deauville and then pick up a rental car at the train station. You can have a great time in Honfleur in 24 hours!
Though I do remember my first departure
from there 17 years ago with a feeling
that was very close to heartache. I think you're going to want to come back! It's the ensemble of the architecture in the historic district that makes the charm of the town, so you don't need to worry too much about missing specific sites. You will want to go to the Old Harbor, of course, and then I would suggest St. Catherine's, the great wooden church built by ship's carpenters, and the Eugene Boudin art gallery, which has a nice little collection of works by painters of the Seine estuary. Honfleur has a multitude of art galleries - dozens - from the wonderful to the horrible. My favorite is Francis Venduege's on the rue Homme de Bois, on the way to the Boudin Museum. You should also look in the window of the Authur Boudin gallery near the old salt warehouses, older paintings, but I would not suggest buying anything there in less you're thinking of a second mortgage! If you'd like a glimpse of the work of some contemporary artists in and around Honfleur, go to http://www.comhonfleur.com/ateliers_artistes.htm and click on the inividual artists on the left-hand side. No English, unfortunately.

Dave

Dave, I'm a big Satie fan. Have you done his house tour? It's next time there on my list.