The No Star Hotel in France

"...great hotels have always been social ideas, flawless mirrors to the particular societies they service." -Joan Didion

Friends frequently ask, "What's the best designed hotel you've ever stayed in?" I usually balk at this question, since my preferences are quirky, personal, and heavily dependent on budget. (For the record, however, I have listed ten favorites plus one below). But it so happens that this past summer I had the best hotel experience of my life, and it made me realize what it is that makes a hotel stay truly extraordinary. I'm passing this story along, and a request to hear back from you and your "best designed" hotel pick.

I found myself alone without a hotel reservation in a rural part of the Loire Valley in France on a Saturday night in June. The hotel in Sancerre where I had planned to stay was claustrophobic and kitschy. The town was overrun with tourists there for a car rally. So I made a hasty exit, willing to take my chances even with an unknown roadside motel. It was 6 PM and this was summer, so I had a good three hours of daylight. I recalled seeing some hillside troglodyte like a few days before along the Loire River that I assumed were not too far away.

I headed out along the Cher River, having learned by now that I was not on the Loire and nowhere near my quirky troglodyte hotel. Dusk was approaching. The map showed a sizeable town nearby named Vierzon.  I figured there must be a hotel there. I arrived to find one hotel with a proprietor used her best sarcastic French to tell me I was pretty much an idiot for thinking I could find an open hotel room on a Saturday night. I asked the local hair stylist for advice figuring, stereotypically, that he would have good taste. He just laughed. On my cell phone I contacted a Parisian friend who warned me that in the countryside hotels usually close around 9:00. For good measure, she also laughed at my predicament.

Not funny. I was hungry and tired and it was getting dark. I figured that I might be sleeping in the car, something I hadn't done in years, and especially not in a compact Renault. It might be an amusing enough adventure, but not without water, and not on an empty stomach. I found a roadside cafe to fill my water bottle, and the proprietor told me that there might be a hotel ten miles up the road in Mennetou sur Cher. I raced there and drove through the town, but saw no hotel. Circling back, I then found something non-descript but open. Parking was easy...not usually a good sign.

In the modest lobby, a 50-something woman carrying plates of food greeted me on the run. "Avez vous une chambre," I asked. "Oui" she nodded. She grabbed my arm and a key and literally ran me up the stairs. She opened a door and I saw a bed and shower and a realized I would not be sleeping in the Renault after all. The windows opened manually onto a courtyard with medieval ruins, and the room was done in atypical French IKEA simplicity. The woman tossed me the key and told me to get down to the restaurant quickly if I wanted to eat. There was no DSL line or mini bar in the room, but I couldn't have cared less.

What followed was a three course meal and two half bottles of local wines in a restaurant packed with foreigners. The couple who owned the place served over forty of us with no assistance. (They were also up before the guests the next morning fetching bread for breakfast). I took a late night walk down to the river and around the town. In an evening mist, the buildings along the river had a surreal quality. The town was rich in architectural details, with ancient stone towers standing next to current, lived-in residences. Click here for photos. The streets were tidy and well cared for as well as charming, and I had the place to myself, as if it were arranged just for me. There was some connection to Jeanne D' Arc, adding to the mystery of the place and reminding me of my woeful ignorance of French history.

Do we need to find ourselves in situations of peril to appreciate genuine hospitality? Probably not. But what made this hotel a singular and memorable treat was the unexpected surprise in what I experienced. Many of us have grown tired of formulas and the styling exercises that define many modern hotels. However much we might like the linens and toiletries, such amenities have become predictable if not mainstream. The Holiday Inn ran a successful campaign years ago promising their guests "no surprises." The modern world has brought up convenience, standardization, and consistency. We have come full circle. What we need now are surprises to keep up optimistic about the future.

Surprises are what awaken our senses, the kind of unanticipated newness that makes you smile when you experience a new chair or lamp or wine--you had not imagined something exactly like this before; some human being, whether an engineer, a designer, or the proprietor of a small hotel, through an act of innovation and generosity of spirit, made it compelling and honest. If I ran a hotel I would get the staff to think about honest surprises. The last surprise, as I check out the next morning, was the bill: $88.50, and more than half of that was from the two bottles of wine I had with dinner. When was the last time you did not balk at some unexpected surcharge?

You won't find this hotel in the Michelin guide. It has no stars. Well actually it had two stars, so faded in the signage that they went unnoticed. Perhaps that says it all.

I'm developing a list of best designed hotels, and I would greatly appreciate the name of the one hotel that comes to mind when asked "which is your favorite hotel".  If you have the time to explain why that would be terrific also. You can send me a message here.

Ten hotels where I have stayed and where you will find a surprise. These will have write ups on the website shortly:

Camper, Barcelona
Maritime, New York
Seefeld, Zurich   
Der Teufelhof, Basel       
Thunderbird, Marfa
Spadari, Milan
Parco dei Principi, Sorrento
Hotel Therme, Vals
Miracle Manor, Desert Hot Springs
Albergo Pietrasanta, Pietrasanta

Just added, avec plaisir:

Auberge de la Tour, Mennetou sur Cher

Best,
   

Comments

[Grace]

We return to Cristiana Guesthaus often.
http://www.cristianaguesthaus.com/
It is not fancy, but it has everything we need in a mountain lodge. The husband and wife team are incredibly knowledgeable about trail conditions, wildflowers and restaurants, important in a ski town also known as the wildflower capital of Colorado and the fat tire capital of the world.

They serve an ample breakfast EARLY so guests can hit the trails before the crowds and afternoon thunderstorms. There is ample ice or a hot tub with a mountain view for aching bodies at the end of the day.

[Leslie Wilson]

Well, I guess it all depends on what you mean by design and best designed.

This will not make your list, but I love it just the same: La Mirande in Avignon. An example of what design might have REALLY meant, when it was the almost efforless end result, the WHOLE effect. - not just a part - i.e exterior, interior, etc.

Check it out.

Leslie Wilson

[Margaret]

Dear Rob:

I have to say that la Torretta in the town of Manarola in the Cinque Terre pretty much crushed all places I have been to. If you can drag yourself and your luggage up a very steep vertiginous street it is worth it! The view is insane and they serve these very weird compartmentalized breakfasts that you will want to photograph.

http://www.torrettas.com/movie.html

By the way, you were very kind to me a few years back when Agnes Bourne asked you to talk to me when I was looking for work. I appreciated your kindness and advice very much.

I am also enjoying the e.newsletter!

[Tim Smith]

Michel Bras in Laguiole, France (in the Aubrac) is probably the most sublime hospitality/dining experience of my life. Words fail me, but the images on their website tell the story. Being there grabs your soul and never lets go.

www.michel-bras.com

[Anonymous]

I am impressed that you could remember what town you stayed in after two bottles of wine!

[Anonymous]

Hotel New York in Rotterdam!

[Anonymous]

Hi-

Your sentiment about surprise in travel is so true--I have been feeling more and more that much of my reality has been hyped and packaged by some design/marketing ideal and that very little feels real--just a pastiche of cliches....

[F]

There are few places that I would consider staying for a full month. This is one of them:

http://www.lesrayes.fr/

Yes, it looks a bit like Texas in the south of France but they feed you three times a day and the food is fantastic. It is traditional and slightly heavy, just how I like French food. I spent a week there with just the boys and we had a great time. Nearby is the Citadel in Sisteron and various other smashed up fortresses. The people were very nice and the view was incredible. I highly recommend it.

[Anonymous]

One of the best hotels I ever stayed in was the Casa Malibu. It was/is (I'll get to the "is" part in a second) right on the beach in the north part of Malibu, where you would expect an expensive, pretentious hotel to be, but instead it was a small, simple motel, with old big rooms, patios right on the sand off of each room, a very friendly family-type staff, and reasonable prices (something like 120$ at the time, 7 years ago).

Now the "is" part--last I read, Geffen or one of these types, had bought the place for 20 million last year, and were going to turn it into what I imagine will be the usual suspects of boutique hotels you so well described. Too bad--but it was great while it lasted.

Baci from Milan,
Johanna

[Anonymous]

www.hotelchandler.com

My husband and I stayed at Hotel Chandler (12 East 31st, in Murray Hill area of Manhattan) in August. The interior design is genius. The rooms are Manhattan small, but expansive thanks to the color and design.
All the staff was friendly and more than accommodating.

One really nice little perk was the inviting library. We got in early and were able to sit there and relax while we waited for our room. It's difficult to find a reasonably priced hotel, centrally located, and not feel cramped in a tiny little spot.

[Patsy]

Here's my hands-town favorite: Glengorm Castle, Isle of Mull. Just a ferry ride from Oban. Mull is an island in the Hebrides. We walked through Mull's port town, Tobermory, and followed a hand-written sign to a local vegetable competition in the church. Pretty wonderful, with squashes laid out on black cloth as though they were pieces of fine art. My husband who's a real history buff, always chats up the oldest person in the room to hear the local lore. He was told that we should go out to Glengorm Castle, which was operating as a hotel of sorts.

Glengorm Castle sits atop a hillside on a 5,000 acre working farm, about a 20 minute dirt road drive from Tobermory. It looks like a storybook castle, grand, austere and imposing. The third generation owners, a young family, live in part of it and rent five or six rooms. Rooms are huge and sparsely furnished. Our bathroom would have made a good-sized hotel room in its own right. Furnishings are in the style I think of as Faded Grandeur. Windows look out over winding stone walls and green hills, with views all the way to the Atlantic. Better yet, hills are covered with highland cattle, the long-haired, shaggy and massive kind, and black faced sheep. No keys, not to our room or to much of anything else on the island, as far as we could tell.

I've just Googled Glengorm Castle, and it looks as though the place has gone
considerably more upscale since we were there. Which is a pity, at least in
my view. But it's still an extraordinary spot, no place like it.

Check it out: www.glengormcastle.co.uk

[Anonymous]

Loved your story about the "no star" hotel in France. It's this sort of experience that has made us travel junkies!

In late May this year, my husband & I stayed in the Hotel Tamariu in the tiny village of Tamariu north of Barcelona on the Costa Brava.

Another discovery on this same trip was the Hotel Los Siete Reys in Ainsa, Spain. This little B&B doesn't exactly fall in the "no star" category, but we felt it was quite a find anyway.

[Anonymous]

I travel to the Island of Hydra, Greece annually, and even though I rent a house in the neighboring village of Kamini, the Bratsera Hotel in Hydra town, is very special and I recommend it often to anyone traveling to the island. It was originally built as a sponge factory dating from the 18th century, small, with 28 rooms and very intimate. The architect of the hotel was awarded a Europa Nostra diploma in 1996 for his restoration of this hotel. It is quite simple and very greek. Perhaps it will make your cut!

[ageekymom]

My favorite hotel is L'Hotel in Paris. I stayed with my husband (then fiance) in 1983, 2 days before New Year's. We were on our way to London from Luxembourg. It was late in the evening when we stumbled upon it. We paid $80 for the last available room. The hotel was very unassuming from the outside, but when we stepped into the chandeliered elevator, we knew we had found something special.
Our room was the biggest surprise. It had a huge green marble bathroom just inside the door. The main room was decorated entirely in leopard prints.. the bedspread was faux leopard fur, which matched the wallpaper!
At the time, we had no idea of the hotel's fame (home to Oscar Wilde til his death.)
Having just looked at L'Hotel's website (and prices!), I'm glad we stayed there when we did!