I didn’t cheap out on this trip since it was a relatively short one, and we stayed in some nice places.

Hotel Cour du Corbeau – Strasbourg

Now an Accor hotel, Cour du Corbeau has been an inn since 1528. It’s nestled in a charming old courtyard, but the rooms are modern and comfortable.

I upgraded to a deluxe room and asked for a quiet room since I’d read that the rooms on the courtyard could be noisy. We got a very nice room with a patio, which I loved. Unfortunately, since we arrived during the (second) heatwave we couldn’t use the patio our first two days, but we did have coffee there our last morning.

The hotel’s location is perfect because it is just across the river from the historic center, but felt less touristy. There were plenty of bars and restaurants nearby, and we spent our evenings people watching from sidewalk cafes.

Breakfast was good, and they will even make eggs to order, not that common in Europe. We also visited the friendly bartenders a couple of times.

I would definitely recommend the hotel.

Villa Emilia – Nancy

I already went on about this beautiful apartment in my post on Nancy. I rented it through Airbnb, but it’s also available on Booking.com, and now I see the owner is taking bookings directly. I believe it’s been recently renovated and turned into a rental. As such, everything was clean and the design was outstanding. In typical French fashion, the toilet was in a separate room from the bathroom, but the owner also added a sink. Magnifique! Because no sink is the downside to having the toilet in a separate room.

As is also common in homes in France, it did not have air conditioning. The owner provided two large fans, and the heat wave subsided the day we arrived. If it had stayed at 100 degrees we would probably have been looking for a hotel.

The location was great – five minutes to the train station and to the main square. One possible downside is that it’s on a busy, modern street so it lacked the historic feel we Americans love in Europe. But on the plus side, it was close to a supermarket where we picked up supplies and right above a storefront selling baked goods for breakfast and then ice cream later in the day.

Nancy is off the normal American tourist trail, but I’d definitely recommend Villa Emilia for travels – outside the summer months – for anyone visiting the city.

Hotel & Spa La Belle Juliette

The friends we were meeting in Paris had selected this hotel, so we joined them here. It’s located in Saint-Germain-des-Pres and is near plenty of charming cafes and restaurants. It’s five minutes from the Montparnasse train station, which was convenient for us because we used the metro from the station to get to the Eiffel Tower, and then the train to get to the Loire Valley.

But it’s a quite a walk to get to major tourist attractions like the Musee d’Orsay and Notre Dame, so not the best location for a first trip to Paris.

I didn’t upgrade our room here, and it was as tiny as I expected. (At least we didn’t have to climb over the bed to get to the bathroom, as we did many years ago in a hotel in the Marais.) We faced the street, but the glazing on the windows must have been good because it was very quiet.

Our friends had upgraded their room and said they had a nice view of the garden, but their bathroom was so dark my friend had to do her makeup while sitting on the bed. What really annoyed us, though, was that the bar and restaurant were closed every night of our visit. Twice because they’re not open on Sunday and Monday and two other times because they were having private events. The one day we wanted to use the pool it was closed for a photo shoot. That is not how you should treat your guests.

So I wouldn’t recommend this hotel, especially with so many to choose from in Paris.

Le Clos d’Amboise – Amboise

I chose to stay in Amboise while in the Loire Valley over the more convenient Tours because I wanted a relaxing, small town experience after Paris. This hotel fit the bill.

The hotel was a manor house in the 17th century. It has many charming touches throughout, plus a lovely garden where breakfast is served and a pool. It’s located in the center of town so it’s an easy walk to shops and restaurants as well as the two main tourist attractions, the Chateau d’Amboise and the Clos du Luce. It also has a well-respected restaurant where we had one of the best meals of our trip.

I upgraded here because I had read that some of the rooms had an odd layout, since it’s a reconfigured manor house. Our room was lovely – large with a bathtub and a shower – and overlooked the peaceful gardens.

I would recommend Le Clos d’Amboise.

Citizen M – Paris Charles de Gaulle

As I write this, I’m sitting in our hotel room just outside of CDG where we’ll get our flight home tomorrow. I’m amused because just after writing that I wouldn’t have to crawl across the bed to get to the bathroom, it looked like I’d have to do just that! But this hipster hotel has the answer – you just flip the pillows to the other side so both parties can exit the bed for the bathroom without crawling over the other person.

The room has the feel of a cruise ship cabin, though the lobby area is funky and fun. It will work for one night.