Provence-accomodations & homebases
 

We'll be spending about 10 days in Provence. We will have a car and be driving from the Black Forest.
We planned to stay in the Aix area for the first 5 nights then proceed to Antibes for another 5 nights.
Now my questions: Should we stay near St.Remy for 3 nights and then Aix for 2 nights? Also can anyone recommend
B&Bs (chambres) in any of the 3 towns I mentioned.
We'd need a triple and really don't want to spend more than 90 Euros a night, if we can help it. Thanks for your help in advance!

St.-Rémy and Antibes are both pricey areas; you can find B&Bs around St.-Rémy, however, but in Antibes there's not much because the town is jammed full of apartment buildings and up-scale hotels. You would do better price-wise by staying inland or checking out possibilities for family lodgings at Cap d'Antibes/Juan-les-Pins. For an overview, start with provenceweb.com so you'll get an idea of what's available for what prices.

uhoh busted and I are both partial to this wonderful b & b near st remy. We were there this last July, and had a great experience. Let me know if I can be of more help. http://presbytere.thomas.free.fr/index_us.htm

Thanks for the help so far, what do you think of using two bases Aix (2nights) & St Remy (3nights) for bases. Any suggested accomodations in Cap d'Antibe would be appreciaited.

I don't see any reason for not just staying in St. Remy or Aix for the full 5 nights. Of the two St. Remy would be my choice although you may find more economical hotel options in Aix. Have you considered Arles?
JoeG

No we haven't considered Arles, sell me! Seriously I've based these plans from my reading on this sight and the various guide books I've purchased. I tend to agree with staying in one homebase and traveling from there. Any accomodation suggestions for Arles. And Rex are you out there? I'd really value your input.

I stayed in Arles for 5 nights this past May, and thought it made a great base. Did day trips to St. Remy, Les Baux, etc.

Stayed at the charming and well-priced Hotel le Calendal. www.lecalendal.com

We found St. Remy much more central as a base than Aix. Aix is 55-60 miles from St. Remy, but from St. Remy most areas to visit are from 10-30 miles - much easier to navigate for day-tours. Whereas from Aix you're putting on many more miles.

Once you decide the places you wish to visit, and with a good map (Michelin #528 is excellent) you can better decide which is the better base.

JeriB,
I can second Lesli's recommendation of Hotel Le Calendal. It is a warm and comfortable hotel. The staff is very friendly, most are fluent in English, and they communicate well via email. Plus this will fit nicely in your budget. We thought it was a great value.
The hotel is situated across from the Antique Theatre and next to the Arena. There are loads of things to do in town and it only takes about 10 minutes to get out of town with easy access to Les Baux, St Remy, Pont du Gard, La Camargue, etc.
JoeG

Thanks to Sandi & JoeG, we already have a reply from Hotel Calendal, so it's looking good. Any other Provence info you'd like to share. Still looking for a place to stay on the coast, near Cap d'Antibe.

You might try the Mas Djoliba in Antibes; here's the web site. But I think you'll have to pay more than 90€ per night in this expensive territory.

http://www.hotel-djoliba.com/2menu.html

Is anyone here familiar with Les Ateliers d'Image in St. Remy. Reviews are awesome. I just couldnt get too many visuals from their website.

I posted about the Alekier on another post www.hotelphoto.com
But this is mainly to agree about the Calendal.

sorry-typo=Les Ateliers