Where can I find a family friendly hotel in Provence?

Question

We'll be traveling with an 8 year old, can you please suggest a hotel or other type of lodging that would be suitable for a family of three? What should we especially make certain to see and do that would also interest a child? Many thanks!!

Answer 1

Three of us went to France and used Arles as our base in Provence. Now that I've been there, I would have preferred Avignon, but Arles was not bad. We stayed at the Hotel du Musée ( http://www.hoteldumusee.com/ ), and as I recall there were two beds in our room - a little unusual in France. Monsieur le patron was very helpful, and the hotel room rate included a continental breakfast taken on the beautiful courtyard (we were there in July).

The Arles railway depot is within walking distance, I think it was about 1/2 to 3/4 mile between the two. The depot has an Avis car rental agency where we rented a car for a day to visit Nimes and the Pont du Gard (both of which you must visit!). We also made day trips to Avignon and to Marseille by train.

For ideas on what to do with a child and where to stay, I would recommend Rick Steves' Provence book.
http://travelstore.ricksteves.com/catalog/index.cfm?fuseaction=product&theParentId=13&id=165

Bon voyage !
.

Answer 2

I recommend you this website which is quite well done.

http://www.provenceweb.fr/

I suggest you to choose a central place (Var department): you can go to West (Aix, Marseilles, Arles) or East (Nice, Cannes, Antibes) in a limited time and, if you are in a village, you do not have annoyance of overcrowded area. The best choice might be Les Arcs sur Argens. There are some nice hotels a station and/or, if you rent a car, the highway 8 nearby.

Answer 3

Try the Logis de France chain of hotels. They are small hotels with local owners and are usually pleasant to stay in and will accomodate you all in the same room. They have a website . www.logis-de-france.fr