Just tying up the last few days of a trip to the Perigord. We'll be stopping on the way back in/near Toulouse and need a nice place to stay for two nights.

I found a really nice looking chateau to stay in outside of the city, but I am thinking it might be nice after 10 days of countryside to stay right in the heart of the city.

Anybody have a small hotel/B&B to recommend ? Looking for lots of charm and good location (who isn't ?)....

Thanks,
Kevin

We stayed at the Albert 1, not exactly the right name but I'm sure you can find it. Nice little hotel, great location, I'd stay there again for a night or two.

ditto Albert 1. we had a slightly more expensive room and it was very roomy!

breakfasts are good too - freshly squeezed orange and a machine for boiling your own eggs.

Fantastic thanks much. Exactly the type of place I was looking for - great location. Just booked it - so nothing to do now but wait for vacation !

-Kevin

hi kevin,

hope you have a great time.

regards, ann

Thanks - am sure we will. Incredible how much there is to see and do. We'll just be scratching the surface, I suppose in 12 days....

-Kevin

Yes, have a wonderful trip. Please post a report on Toulouse. We were only there for one day/night on the way to somewhere else but I LOVED the vibe in the city, it was a young college town, the one dinner we had was wonderful, can't remember the name though, the city was really beautiful. I'd love to hear more about this town.

Hi from the bay area!!!!!

And Hi back -

If I said I left my heart in San Francisco to come to Provence would you believe me ?

In any case, I will certainly post something when we get back, though we'll only be in Toulouse for a few nights. I'm hoping a good friend who is from Toulouse could meet us there and show us around....

-Kevin

Hope you get to see the Hotel d'Assezat, home of the Fondation Bemberg. The art isn't bad, and the building is fabulous
http://www.fondation-bemberg.fr/

And of course the Jacobins, with amazing palm tree columns and great cloisters. It's hard to be fond of the Dominicans and their inquisition, but it's kind of amazing to see where Thomas Aquinas ended up.
http://www.jacobins.mairie-toulouse....il/accjaco.htm

Hi Carlux,

Thanks for the tips. And maybe we'll meet up ???

-Kevin

We should be here. Call first

Anyone with experience at Toulouse Crowne Plaza, right on the main square??

Yes; we've stayed there twice. There's not a a lot to say. Perfectly fine, perfectly located,perfectly clean, perfectly bland.

They do do a good doctor if you've been hoying up all night, tho'

Thanks, Sheila. Perfectly fine, perfectly located, and perfectly clean do it for me.

"Bland"? So, do you recommend that we stay at the other place on the main square, Grand Hotel de L'Opera, with rooms decorated neo-bordello style?

Well, let's put it this way; we never have.

I think Toulouse lacks a a character hotel. All the big ones are interchangeable- give or take how baroque their decor is. The closest I've come is the Beaux Arts, and I guess I was a bit tee'd off because whilst my pals' room was fine, I got a garret.

I thought I responded to that post about the Crowne Plaza, but maybe it got lost. I said that I was thinking of staying there but it was either booked up or too expensive for me, so I stayed at the Mercure Place Wilson instead. When I was in Toulouse, I was actually glad because I preferred being over near place Wilson in a quiet street off it than being on the main square which was huge. And I didn't like the restaurants on it that much, they are more expensive, plus they were having a big event on the square during my stay and it would have been really noisy. The hotel I stayed at was just as convenient to the metro, etc. Of course the Mercure is perfectly bland, also, but I liked it and it was comfortable, quiet, and I liked the restaurants and things around it better than around the main place. Toulouse doesn't have a very good selection of decent 3* hotels, and not that many great 4* ones, either.

Christina, you did respond...and i responded to that , early this morning, thanking you for the advice and saying that right now, rates we found for late May are cheaper at CP. Yup, that disappeared too!! Weird!
I looked on mappy and the walk is only ten mins between CP and Mercure Wilson, so if not too jet lagged after 20 hour travel, we will stroll there for dinner per your restaurant advice.
Thank you for taking the time to respond again.

Hi, I live just outside Toulouse but go into town often and have stayed overnight too (saves driving after a few glasses of wine). The larger (name brand) hotels mentioned already are just as described. Some of the chain hotels like Ibis (Place Jeanne D'Arc) are not too bad if just looking for a place to get the head down - breakfast's are usually alright too.

I've heard that the Hotel Riquet (up near the train station Gare Matabiau) is good for tight budgets but I haven't stayed there yet.

I was at a launch event (Sept. 2010) for new serviced apartments on main drag (Allée Jean Jaures) and think I would like to stay there next time. They are at the top of tallest building in Toulouse, loft-style. Amazing views over city centre. Studio to 2 bedroom. Quite unique and worth enquiring about. Their site is http://theloftstoulouse.com

Just on outskirts (near airport) is the new Courtyard by Marriott. Our business club meets there and have toured the rooms and they have nice little junior suites at reasonable price if I remember correctly.

Anyway, hope that helps.

Thanks for additional ideas, StartUP. If we arrive very late into Toulouse airport (depending on flight times) we'll stay at Courtyard by the airport, s thank you for the info. If not late, staying in town will be better, non?

The airport area is really a drag !!!

Stu Dudley