Staying in a chateau in August w/o air conditioning
 

We are planning to travel to the Loire Valley in August and would love to stay in a chateau/hotel for one or two nights. They don't seem to have a/c. Would this be a mistake or should we tough it out for the experience?

If you pick the right place, there will be no worries about "toughing it out!"

What's with this forum's obsession with air con and ice? Is it an American thing?

Yes, AR, it is.

AR -

Once you are used to AC the idea of suffering through a summer without it is intolerable - at least to me and many other heat phobes. AC is the first thing I look for in a hotel in hot weather territory from May to September - doing without during the day is bearable - but not being able to sleep at night isn't.

Hard question, mainly because last summer's intense heat wave kind of put all bets off. I'll be at home in the Dordogne this August, and like all houses in the area, we have no AC, but we do have shutters and fans in every room. Stone houses/buildings are slow to heat up, and only if June and July have been persistently hot, or if the shutters have been kept open 24/7, will it be too hot to sleep at night. That said, I know we'll use the fans.

A large stone building like a château will not normally get terribly hot inside during the summer if the owners keep the shutters closed in the afternoons when the sun is beating down. But I'd certainly ask if they have fans (ventilateurs), as in previous Julys and Augusts in France when I've been without A/C it was very nice to have moving air and a bit of "white noise" at night.

It IS a bit of an American obsession to need A/C and ice cubes. After spending as much time in Europe as I have, I don't feel the need for either any more except when it is truly scorching, and in the USA I absolutely despise going in and out of frigidly airconditioned stores and restaurants and such when it's hot outside. The contrasting temperatures seems very unhealthy and abnormal to me. I appreciate being comfortable, but being blasted by A/C doesn't seem comfortable at all, it just seems wasteful.

Hi SM,

Will your trip be ruined if you can't get to sleep before 2-3 AM one or two nights?

If it's an hot balmy night stay up late with a cognac, cigar, some other nightcap, talk, laugh, have fun. Going to sleep early is so dreadfully dull.

AR, not it most definitely is NOT an American thing. Sales of central air systems in France are up 30% this year over last. Sales of portable AC machines are up by more than that, up 60% in some communities. And sales would be even higher if the manufacturers (80% from China) and installers could keep up with demand.
For one or two nights, it shouldn't make a big deal. If it turns out to be a hot day, take it easy if your lodging has no AC. And take a cool shower or bath before you go to bed.

Ask for a room on a lower floor where the ceilings are likely to be very high. If a room on the north side is available, that would make a differnce too. Just a bit of common-sense advice. Given that the Loire is commonly used to define the demarcation between northern and southern climates ("au-dessous de la Loire"/ "au-dessus de la Loire") you will not be in the hottest part of France, anyway. There's a lot of difference between "la France meridionale" and "la France septentrionale" -- though differences are least in August, of course.

A glass or two of a nice Vouvray in the evening should help too!

Fair enough BTilke - but if a/c is such a big deal, does that mean that you would shun a beautiful gite in the south of France which almost certainly does not have aircon and prefer to stay in a Holiday Inn? And as for ice............

smbrown,

You can generally avoid the worst of the heat by asking for a room on a low floor. As other have mentioned, the thick stone walls and small windows of the chateaux provide natural "a/c", but sometimes rooms are located right under the roof and they can be stifling!

Re: a/c being an "American" thing, I agree, but happen to find that it is genuinely important in (small) hotel rooms - in a house or larger apartment you at least have cross ventilation, whereas a hotel room can get unbearable very quickly.

Hope this helps,
Andre

AR, what makes you think the choices are so stark? Last month, we stayed at a beautiful renovated Renaissance abbey in Bourges and our room was air conditioned. One of my favorite hotels in Vienna dates back to the 14th century and the rooms are air conditioned. You don't have to choose between a beautiful place with character with no AC and a bland box that does. You can have flair, character and AC these days.
Why are you are leaping to stereotypes about Americans? Here in Brussels (where we live in an early 19th century building with no AC), we are constantly having to tell waiters NOT to put ice in drinks. Our former home in Portland, OR, didn't have AC (with summer temps that can exceed 100 degrees F), the home I grew up in rural Pennsylvania didn't have AC and summers could get pretty darn hot there too.
There are places in the U.S. that are so hot and muggy in the summer that not having AC would make life very difficult. It wasn't so long ago that Brits working in Washington, DC, were paid extra because the hot muggy summers qualified it as a hardship post.
Smbrown, this summer in the Loire Valley has been much cooler than last summer. So (knock wood) you won't encounter a prolonged heat wave like the one in 2003. (A few days of heat are no big deal, it's when it goes on and on that it becomes exhausting.)

The Ch&ateau de la Menaudière, in Montrichard, has a/c; so does the Château Colbert,in Maulévrier.

We stayed in a chateau in Amboise in July one year and the problem wasn't the heat as much as it was the mosquitoes. We are from Louisiana so we are used to dealing with the critters but not while we are trying to sleep. Go with the A/C!

BTilke - You're getting rather excited. Calm down. Please read my first posting again. I was asking if it was an American thing - not suggesting it WAS and American thing. Subtle difference. Asking if peanut butter is liked in the US is not the same as stereotyping all Americans by saying they ONLY eat peanut butter.
When I visit countries like Cyprus, Egypt or a Greek Island, I too look towards aircon as a must. However, this summer in Provence, I have gone for location and the villa's other facilities before aircon. It is just that it is not an essential for a county like France (which, yes I agree can become hot, but not Luxor hot or Mumbai hot or even DC hot) so many other things matter more when choosing a place to stay - which was the original question on this post, or am I wrong?
As for ice, well that's just my flippancy. How many threads here are concerned with what to wear and what will the weather be like and why don't Europeans have ice machines??!!!!
As for stereotyping, a Japanese aquaintance thought we Brits all wore Bowler hats (Derbies) before she visited (and when we took her out for Fish and Chips, she took a photo of the plate) and when in Vegas 2 years ago, I was asked if the UK had such traffic problems, why didn't we just cycle from city to city as the country was so small?

..dear brown..not to be flippant but just open the windows. I am sure the owners of the chateau are attuned to their guests' needs (as well as their own needs) so probably have some effective way to maintain confort...you cant tell about weather...remember last summer was not typical..at the moment im glad i have a sweater packed for france!

My husband is an A/C addict we have central and he still needs a window unit in the Bedroom, I sleep with Down all summer and he has to have it 58-60F and he too was worried about our hotel in Nice not having it. But it was not as hot as he expected, and having the windows open was enough to keep it comfortable even for him--great for me who prefers about 66F.

I would expect that if you are near water or on a hill where there will be a breeze, you will be ok. Also you can take a cool shower at night if you really need some additional cooling.

When we were in Germany two years ago and had temps in the 90s (actually hit 100 one day), a lot of Germans were forking out for window air conditioners. And those hotels with no cross ventilation can be miserable.

Will you die from it? Not likely, though many Europeans did that summer, but if you want to be well rested so you can actually enjoy your vacation, air conditioning can be a real help if it does get very hot. If you only have 2 or 3 weeks in Europe and happen to hit a heat wave, it can make things quite unpleasant when you're trying to be out and about and active all day, and then you can't sleep at night.