Provence/Cote D'Azur hotel advice
 

Well, have narrowed choices and need advice re: convenience/quality, etc. before booking. Also, if hotel has restaurant, do you suggest we book table or look elsewhere for meals. Merci!
Aix - Villa Gallici
St. Remy - Chateau des Alpilles
Gordes - Mas Herbes Blanches
Moustiers Ste. Marie-La Bastide de Moustiers
St. Paul de Vence or Nice??? If Nice, what about Le Meridien

The Château des Alpilles is very nice. As for hotel restaurants, we like to dine where we stay to avoid having to drive out and back at night...and it allows us to drink all the wine we want that way.

We didn't especially like the Bastide de Moustiers. Our room was pretty, but the noise from the adjacent service room was annoying, and dinner at the restaurant was v e r y s l o w and not all that good. And it's all very expensive.

Le Meridien is Nice is good, but much nicer is La Pérouse, if you can get a room with a sea view. Both hotels are within easy walking distance of Vieux Nice and all its restaurants and shopping.

A nice four-star budget choice in Nice is Hotel le Grimaldi. It's in two Belle Epoque buldings, connected by a little garden in the back. We were there in May, in a twin, for 150EUR (170EUR if you opt for the hot/cold breakfast buffet for two). It has no view, but is on a nice street with a beautiful church across from it. We walked to the bus station and the train station from there (but don't try with luggage). It's about four blocks to the promenade and less to the pedestrian 'mall' area. About 10 blocks to old Nice.
We liked their service and rooms very much.

Thanks, Underhill and Maureen B for your responses. Now that I think about it, I agree with the reason it would be best to have dinner at the hotel.
What other hotel would you suggest then other than the La Bastide de Moustiers if we are planning to enjoy the Gorges du Verdon at a slow pace which I know my husband will want to do.

Well, I waited tooooo long to book.
Villa Gallici just emailed me and told me there is no vacancy.
Any suggestions for Aix?

Also, taking Underhills' thought into consideration, have looked into staying at Chateau Arnoux at the La Bonne Etape instead? Would appreciate feedback.
Will look into Le Perouse!

For Aix, look at Le Mas d'Entremont, which is perched atop a pleateau just north of Aix--easy, short drive down into the town. The hotel is a complex of several different building: the main bastide, cottages, and bungalows, all with very nice rooms. The dining room is excellent.

For Moustiers, give yourself a real treat and head 20 minutes south and stay at a real château owned by a youngish count and countess (she is Scottish). It's called the Château d'Esparron de Verdon; here's the web site:

http://www.provenceweb.fr/04/ukEsparron.htm

The owners are very charming people. You have breakfast (huge, including bacon and eggs if you wish) in the old kitchen, and M. de Castelanne usually offers Champagne out in the garden in the late afternoon.

We stayed at the Château when we arrived a day too early at the Bastide--if we could have cancelled our reservtion at Moustiers we would have and just stayed put.

It has been years since I've been to Provence, but one of my favorite places to stay is the Colombre "D'Or in St. Paul de Vence. It left me with some amazing memories and I'd go there is a heart beat!

We stayed at both 'Chateau des Alpilles' and 'La Bastide de Moustiers'. They were both expensive; the rooms were beautiful at both. At each place I would say 'for the money' you might find a more interesting dinner somewhere in the town. I will defer to Underhill on Moustiers as she's been to that area more than once.

And hopes to go again in October, leg permitting!

Underhill - thank you for suggestion re: Château d'Esparron - received confirmation of availability and am booking there! Which room would you suggest? They are looking for my choice. We need at least 1 double bed.
Merci

Hi Jennie, The Hotel Windsor in Nice is a very pleasant hotel particularly if you take one of the rooms with a balcony overlooking the garden and small pool (165 Euros). I have stayed there on two visits and will stay there again if I am in the area. It is a couple of blocks from the waterfront and about a 10 minute walk to the old town square. The website is annoying to navigate. Dont click "back" or you go back to the intro page, just click on the various links (rooms etc)

http://www.hotelwindsornice.com/

Ithink we stayed in Jouy--it's the one with the twin beds, fireplace, and large bathroom--but we peeked into the yellow bedroom, and it was lovely also. Enjoy your stay! FYI, the count speaks impeccable English, as of course does his wife. They met when working in Brussels for the EOC and have two charming children.

Colombre D'Or is a favorite of mine like the above posster, Nan. The food, the artworks, the location.

What about the road construction currently underway in Nice? I hear that it is quite disruptive and for this reason we are contempleting staying outside of Nice at the end of this month.

any reports or feedback?

ttt - would like to hear from anyone re: construction work going on. thanks

We were in Nice in May. The only construction we saw wasn't on the roads per se. It's all torn up for a square block or so, where they are working in town, to extend the pedestrian area, I think. It's very easy to avoid.

P.S. Nice did not feel too big to us. It had a nice md-sized feeling to it. We enjoyed it. Great day-trips to take from there. Especially Antibes was our favorite.

We stayed at Le Mas des Herbes Blanches a few years ago for 2 nights and it was absolutely lovely. It has a Michelin * and the food was wonderful. The dining room was extremely attractive. I highly recommend it.

That's too bad about the Villa Gallici; we stayed there in May and it is fantastic. Le Pigonnet is often considered the next-best hotel in Aix. My wife stayed there recently on business and was pleased (although not to the level of Gallici).

For restaurants, the dining room at Villa Gallici is now open to non-guests, and Le Clos de la Violette is considered one of the best in the region. I'd reserve either in advance.

http://www.villagallici.com/
http://www.closdelaviolette.fr/

Aix is a great town, and served as a great base for us for 4 days of touring.

Have a great trip.