Customer Reviews
French Hotels and Chateaux - By: K. J. Russell, 09 Apr 2008 
Great book, beautiful pictures. The descriptions give you a real feel for the places & make you want to visit them all!
French Hotels & Chateaux - By: Suzinspain, 03 Apr 2008 Yet again Monsieur Sawday & his colleagues have surpassed themselves with this latest edition of 'French Hotels & Chateaux'. Having read just a few pages I was ready to pack my suitcase & head towards the Pyrenees (I livein Spain). The entries are superbly described, each one having its own page, the symbols are clear & the whole book is a real delight.
If you fancy a breakin France that is 'special' & at a price you can afford, you must be able to find the perfect place to spend either the night or the weekin this book. It's an absolute must if you are travelling anywherein France.
claw foot baths and pepperpot turrets - By: S. Hayman, 26 Mar 2008 We used to drive through France, gazing at all those palatial Châteaux, elegant Maisons, lush Domaines, Grande Hotels & intimate little Relais & Auberges, & wonder how on earth you got to know about them. Holiday companies never have such gems on their books & none of the guides seem to go for places of character or charm. You might be guaranteed a trouser press or a kettle to make instant coffeein your room but is that what you want when visiting France on holiday? Me, I want canopied beds or a vaulted dining room or a view over a millpond, complete with fish & herons. Then a few years ago, we discovered Alastair Sawday. French Bed & Breakfastin one hand, French Holiday Homesin another we've addressed the delightful task of planning that year's holiday many a time. But still it nagged - B&B is wonderful, self catering is grand, but how do you find a hotel that comes up to the Sawday exacting standard? And then - zut alors! He & his team did it again. French Hotels & Chateaux precisely plugs the gap. Want to stayin a 16th century manor house with deer & coypuin the grounds, sleepin a wrought iron bed & bathein an old-fashioned claw foot bath? Or a 10th century pepperpot turret, with a canopied bed? Or off a cobbled streetin old Rouen, with a view of Gothic marvels? Here are luxurious & decidedly pricy palaces side by side with small, reasonably priced inns, city haunts & rural retreats. All share one thing - they are anything but banal. They have beauty, buzz, elegance & that little bit of French je ne sais quoi. Owners pay to bein a Sawday guide but they can't buy their way in. All are checked by the editors. We've been using the guides for years & never been disappointed. This updated guide to French Hotels & Chateaux is the business. It's jam-packed with luscious treats - I can't wait for our summer holidays!
The only problem you might have is deciding whether to first choose your area - Picardy, Poitou-Charentes, midi-Pyrenees or even department - Tarn-et-Garonne, Var, Creuse - & see what is available there. There will be something, never fear. Or leaf through & pick on particular place & find the area you will be visiting that way. We've done both with Sawday & always bit the jackpot. You may find yourself burning the midnight oil or hitting the coffee. And speaking of which, do join Sawday aficionadosin looking out for the joke entry; every guide has one. As for me - we've already booked 3 places for a fortnight's tourin September. So tough, if one of them was your choice!
French Secrets - By: PG Collings, 24 Mar 2008 So you fancy going to France & you want to be looked after? Can't decide whether to go for the rural idyll, the small & friendly hotel or more gracious living? Need somewhere family-friendly? Must have a pool? Addicted to beautiful bathrooms? Looking for a special gastronomic experience? Here's the guide which will leave you spoilt for choice! No fewer than 383 entries make their appearancein this 5th edition of the Francophile holiday maker's indispensable reading.
Existing Sawday fans like me will not be disappointed! The usual colourful, honest, conversational style of each entry is here full of the quirky detail which is the cachet of Special Places to Stay. And, yes, there's the spoof entry - find it for yourselves!
The book is a joy to browse through & so very well organised for maximum information before making contact for availability: Arranged by region, one entry per page, delicious photographs capture ambiance & you can refer to the relevant map at the beginning of the book. Quick reference indexes at the end give further refinement to decision-making for those on a budget or needing wheelchair access for example.
Can't wait to go up that `spiral staircase lined with tapestries' for breakfastin the sunny courtyard......!
