French Road Trip Hotel Review

Since we were staying in so many different places, we needed to book four different places.

Lyon was an easy choice - they have a Hilton. We used points. It was one of the nicest Hiltons we've stayed at, partly because of the room, and partly because we suspect we were the only ones on the floor.

Since we have the nifty Hilton card, we automatically get a bump to the executive floor with access to the lounge. The room was a junior suite with TWO bathrooms!

When we got there we knew we were in for a good time, because there were macaroons waiting:

Here's the bedroom...

And also the sitting area....

Both of which face the Rhone river.

After checking in, we walked down to the lounge where it was tea time. When the Hiltons have an executive lounge, you're in for a good time. Not only are there breakfast and free drinks throughout the day, but they also have sweets setup for tea time in the afternoon, and then assorted happy hour treats (including booze) for the evening. Really, there's so much to eat that if you wanted to, you could totally just nibble throughout the day.

The lounge, of course had views of the river as well...

And this awesome statue. I feel like I need this in my life.

For breakfast, they had some of the best scrambled eggs I think I've ever had. The French really know what they're doing, because their eggs turn out so uniformly fluffy and in small bits, it's simply perfect. Paired with some sliced ham, bacon, assorted cheeses and your choice of Nespresso coffee, it was an outstanding way to start the day. And since we were some of the only people on the floor, the lounge felt like it was our personal space.

I didn't partake, but Matt tried out the whirlpool one evening and really enjoyed it.

Avignon:
I didn't post any photos from Avignon, but we stayed at the Hotel Danieli, which was smack dab in the center of town. You really couldn't beat the location, but the room was on the lower end of the spectrum of niceness. It was only a three-star, which in European jargon meant that it was on par with a lower-end U.S. hotel (Days Inn, anyone?). The bed wasn't great, you only got two teeny pillows (very common in Europe), and the room itself was slanted. What was nice was the size of the bathroom, which was spacious unlike other similar hotels. I wish the towels weren't so scratchy, though...

Matt picked it, and I picked the next one.

Montpellier:
Which was better? This one. While it wasn't in the center of town, the Park & Suites Elegance was really nice for the price we paid. This chain of hotels caters to the business crowd and those on extended stays, so each room has a little kitchenette, including a microwave. Since we don't have a microwave, this was a novel thing for us, and I was more than happy to heat up my banana bar for breakfast. Mmm.

This guy was also a three-star, but you wouldn't guess it. It's very new, bright and airy. Overall, I liked it.

Beaune:
Oh, Beaune. We wanted to treat ourselves for the last night and decided on the four-star Abbaye de Maizieres right in town. I mean, why pass up the opportunity to spend the night in an abbey from the 12th century?!

I mentioned it in an earlier post, but it was incredibly nice. When we checked in the receptionist walked us upstairs and explained the history of the building along the way.

I loved the exposed brick in the room...and what girl doesn't love a unicorn on tapestry?

Coolest bathroom ever....

And can we talk about the linens and towels? All logoed and the best quality I've ever had anywhere. I felt like a medieval queen sleeping on such a comfortable bed on top of the finest sheets.

All in all, France has some nice hotels if you look for them. We just started using Hotels.com to book because when you do 10 nights, you get one for free. I really like incentives to continue traveling...