Hotel alternatives in France
There are loads of lodging options and alternative accommodations in France
There are dozens of hotel alternatives, from PAris apartments to country villas, farmhouse B&Bs to residences, and campgrounds to castles. Here's how to find the lot of them.
This is one of my favorite little-known tips for European travel. Not only are non-hotel lodging options usually cheaper than hotels, they also usually offer a far more interesting experience, a chance to get closer to the local people and culture. There are even ways to sleep for free.
For the record, the place in the image above are, starting with the upper left:
- Résidence Charles Floquet in Paris, with views of the Eiffel Tower (from €220)
- Château De La Coutancière in the Loire Valley (from €85)
- Apartment Les Patios du Marais in Paris (from €126)
- La Maison Gobert B&B in Paris (from €200)
★★★
★★☆
Serviced flats, residence hotels, Aparthotels, and other townhouse suite lodging in France
★★★
Stay on a working farm (Séjours à la ferme) and experience the best of French hospitality and countryside tradition
★★☆
Stay in a real château (castle) and live happily ever after (temporarily) as King and Queen of the castle
★★☆
A place to call your own for the night or the week—renting a gîte, villa, house, or cottage in France
★★☆
Free lodgings in France: Hospitality networks (couchsurfing), home swaps, and house sitting services
Couchsurfing and other hospitality networks allow you to sleep for free in other member's homes
Hospitality networks gather folks who are willing to put up fellow members in their homes for free or for a small fee
Trading spaces isn't just a show on basic cable anymore. It's a way to live life like a local on your travels absolutely for free—so long as you let the local borrow your life (and home) in return.
Sleep for free on vacation by watching someone's house (and, often, watering their plants and feeding their cat)
Camping and campgrounds (terrains de camping) are a cheap way to spend the night while traveling
Sleep in a religious guesthouse or retreat at abbeys, monasteries, priories, and convents across France from just €17
If you love sailing, or just have an unquenchable taste for adventure and new experiences, you can sign on to help crew a boat just about anywhere in the world, including France
Hotels links
- Booking.com - We have done extensive testing, and Booking.com is hands-down the single best booking engine, with by far the largest number of hotels (and other lodging options) in all price ranges.Partner
- Agoda.com - This booking engine, once just an Asia specialist, has recently rocketed to second-best all around the world.Partner
- HotelsCombined.com - An aggregator looks at the results of all the booking engines and presents the prices it finds at each side-by-side. It's a great concept (and works well for airfares), however in our tests the actual booking engines themselves often offered better deals on more properties.Partner
- Hostelz.com - A booking engine that specailizes in hostels and cheap hotels.Partner
- Hotels.com - Since Hotels.com absorbed its Venere.com sibling, it has been performing much better in Europe than it once did.Partner
- Priceline.com - Priceline not only offers decent deals on standard hotel bookings, but also "Express Deals" in which you only get to know the hotel's star rating and neighborhood before you pay for it—but the savings can be substantial (usually 18%–20%, though occasionally much higher).Partner
- Hotwire.com - Like its competition Priceline, Hotwire offers both straightforward hotel bookings as well as "Hot Rate" deals that save you 25%–65% on hotels that you book blindly, knowing only the neighborhood and star rating before booking (and paying) for it.Partner
B&Bs links
- Booking.com - One of the best general booking sites out there, and one of the few that includes B&Bs (filed variously under the categories of "Bed and Breakfasts," "Guesthouses," and "Inns"). By the numbers: 11,425 B&Bs in in France, including 3,971 B&Bs in Paris, 1,629 in Nice, 296 in Aix-en-Provence, 696 in Lyon.Partner
- Bedandbreakfast.com - B&B specialist listing more than 2,040 bed and breakfasts across France, with more than 100 in Paris alone, and 450 in the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region. User reviews help you make informed decisions.Partner
- Hotels.com - Another generalist lodging booking site with a decent representation of B&Bs: 34 in Paris, 56 in Nice.Partner
- Airbnb.com - Famous network of both official and unofficial B&Bs, homestays, room rentals, and apartment and house rentals. So many I can't even post total numbers here, but for an idea: There are more than 300 private room offerings in Central Paris for under €30 ($36) alone. The idea of someone inflating the old air mattress for you is just a metaphor. Usually, you stay in a guest bedroom, futon, or fold-out couch. Its rates are among the lowest around, averaging €46 ($55), though charging anywhere from €10 to €300 ($12 to $356) per night, with a handful charging more. Airbnb.com is less regulated than most official or online resources, and many of the places to stay are not registered with the local authorities—which helps make them cheaper, but they are not inspected, or subject to official compaints, and certainly do not pay taxes. Buyer beware.
- Hostelz.com - Aggregator bringing together from many hostel and cheap hotel booking engines. If you select "Guesthouses" as the Accommodation Type you will find plenty of B&Bs in there.Partner
- Bedandbreakfast.eu - Massive database of 64,000 places to stay around France (around 2,300 in Paris alone), but it is more of a classifieds site, with each property submitting and writing its own listing, and many are not, actually, B&Bs in the traditional sense. Still, a good resource for the room hunt.
Apartments links
- Homeaway.com - So many places it doesn't even bother listing rentals past the first 5,000—and that's just in Paris.Partner
- Vrbo.com - VRBO stands for "Vacation Rentals By Owner," a worldwide virtual classifieds section devoted to villas, apartments, cottages, houses, and other places to lay your head from as little as $280 per week—and that's in the Latin Qurter of Paris (one of more than 5,000 flats available in the City of Light alone). Though designed to allow villa and vacation home owners to rent to the public directly—ostensibly cutting out the extra costs involved in working through a middle-man rental agency—in my experience plenty of small-fry local rental agencies use it as well (not that there's anything wrong with renting through those folks; just wanted to let you know that not every property listed is truly direct from the owner).Partner
- Booking.com - More than 36,000 apartments across France, including more than 2,250 in Paris.Partner
- Rentalo.com - Another sizeable database for one-stop shopping, with around 1,000 properties in Paris alone. They also handle everything from standard hotels to B&Bs, agriturism, and even castles.Partner
- Hotels.com - Good generalist booking engine with plenty of "Apartments" options in the filter screens for each destination.Partner
- Cobblestoneparis.com - Around 30 lovely Parisian apartments rented by expat American couple Jennifer sent Ryan. Excellent customer service.
- Interhomeusa.com - 3,829 rentals in France, of which a handful in Paris. Partner
- Villasintl.com - Around 1,876 rental homes and flats of all sizes across France, of which 556 in Paris.
- Belvilla.com - 3,350 holiday cottages across France, the vast majority villas or houses (570 in Provence, 273 on the Riviera, 150 in Normandy), with just a handful of apartments in cities.Partner
- Airbnb.com - Tens of thousands of listings—but caveat emptor. Anyone can post a listing, so trust only the ones with lots of reviews.
- Agoda.com - Good generalist booking agency with a resepctable 114 apartments available in Paris.Partner
- Milleetunparis.com - Reps about 90 apartments in Paris starting at €32 per night with a two-night minimum.
Farm stays links
- Organicholidays.com - B&Bs, rental cottages, camping slites, or homestays all on working organic farms—34 across France.
- Gites-de-france.com - One of the world's original networks of countryside lodgings—for a long time, "gîte" was the nickname for any rental cottage in the European countryside. It's still mostly self-catering holiday cottages, but there are also thousands of farmhouse B&B and camping opportunities hidden amongst all the options (all 60,000 of them!).
- Booking.com - The general booking site lists around 350 farm stays, "Country House" lodgings, and luxury tents across the United Kingdom.Partner
- Bienvenue-a-la-ferme.com - Lists a full 6,000 farms across France, but that covers all aspects of agriturism, from staying on the farm to simply touring a farm or sampling its wares. Of farm stays, there are roughly 1,800. Click on "Séjours" ("Accommodation") and you can search just ones where you can stay (camping on farms, bed and breakfast, rural cottages, and guest farms). Oddly, there is no English-language version of the site (OK, it's France—more proud than practical—so perhaps that's not so odd).
- Wwoof.net - If you really want to get your hands dirty, sign up to become a temporary farmhand through this volunteer organization. Gigs last from a few weeks to a few months, and while you pay (a mdoest sum) to join, room and board is free in exchange for your work.
- Helpx.net - Similar to Wwoof, but with more varied opportuniites, Helpx is another place where you can volunteer your services—as a farmhand, handyman, or other skill—in exchange for room and (sometimes) board on farms, B&Bs, hostels, and boats. Gigs can last from a few weeks to a few months.
- Unlitaupre.fr - Eight organic French farms that use the Feather Down Days luxury tents (like a safari tent on steroids with a rustic touch—basically part cabin, part canvas) and ethos.
Castle hotels links
- Castleandpalacehotels.com - Not the most complete, but by far the most user-friendly site, maintained by professional travel writer and guidebook author Pamela Barrus (always gotta give props to my colleagues). All castles—52 in France—are hand-selected. The interface is quick and intuitive: Click on a country, click on a region, then click on a castle (or palatial hotel) to get a concise but info-packed single page on the property, complete with photographs, prices, direct contact info, brochure-like descriptions of the castle and its history, and a few choice words and tips on the hotel from Pamela herself. Other nice touches: basic intel on how castle hotels work in each country, useful phrases in each language for booking a room, information on holding weddings, etc. She also just has a good eye for castles. I've written about them myself—for guidebooks and magazine articles—so I know what's out there and can tell you that Pamela tends to pick some of the best.
- Bienvenueauchateau.com - Nearly 150 chateau and country manor hotels across France.
- Castlesontheweb.com - Bukoos links on the "Accommodations" page. Could do with some organization though: some are booking engines, some direct links, some hotel reservations services... still, most seem to at least hook you up with bona fide fortresses. Happy hunting.
- Relaischateaux.com - One of the granddaddies of refined luxury, an association with extremely high standards (and price tags) with aroudn 150 properties in France. Not all are castles, despite the name, but even the manor houses, palaces, mansions, historic villas, and regular hotels are of the utmost in comfort, quality, charm, history, and are usually really, really expensive.
Hostels links
- Booking.com - Booking.com lists more than 156 hostels across France, with nearly 125 in Paris alone, complete with verified user reviews.Partner
- Hostelz.com - An aggregator shows you the rates its can find at multiple booking engines at once, so you can find the lowest price out there on hostels and other cheap accommodations.Partner
- Hostelworld.com - Booking site with hostels, cheap hotels, apartments, and B&Bs in more than 463 hostels across France, including an impressive 177 in Paris alone. Partner
- Bookhostels.com - A classic hostel booking engine, offering deals on more than 141 hostels just in Paris.Partner
- Hihostels.com - The official hostelling site, linking to all 93 official YHA hostels and bunkhouses in France. This does mean, however, it ignores the many, many excellent private hostels.
- Fuaj.org - The official hostelling body of France. Useful for rules and links to offial HI hostels (though note that official HI hostels are usually the least interesting and most restrictive).
Residence hotels links
- Booking.com - More than 1,990 residence hotels, aparthotels, condo hotels, and townhouse suites in France.Partner
- Hotels.com - Booking engine listing about 61 apart-hotels, residences, and condo hotel accommodations in Paris alone.Partner
- Adagio-city.com - A excellent chain of residence hotels in 47 cities all across France, including 27 properties in Paris.Partner
- Sacoapartments.com - Some 46 serviced flats in 160 locations around the world, including in 46 in 11 cities and town across France.
- Citadines.com -
Major French chain of ApartHotels, with 17 properties in Paris (as well as ones in Toulouse, Marseille, Lyon, Montpellier, Strasbourg, Lille, Grenoble, Nantes, and Cannes). There are other locations thoughout Europe and Asia. One nice thing is that you can book for even just one night.
- Agoda.com - Good generalist booking agency with a resepctable 113 serviced apartments available in Paris.Partner
- Snrt.fr - The Syndicat National des Résidences de Tourisme is the French naitonal association of "tourism residences"—which means a bunch of beach and ski rental properties alongside the city apartments. The 33 in Paris barely go beyond the Citadines and Adagio properties. Search can be a bit buggy, and pricing is often wildly off (it puts the rack rate for one at €300 per night, but if you go directly to the property's site prices actually start at €56.50). Still, with 1,030 residences in 447 destinations across France (from three dozen chains), a useful place to rummage around.
Couchsurfing links
- Couchsurfing.com - The largest free hospitality network, with mroe than 12 million users in 200,000 cities, including 173,833 hosts in Paris.
- Hospitalityclub.org - More than 53,000 users in France, including more than 9,500 in Paris
- Globalfreeloaders.com - More than 3,300 users in France, including more than 1,000 in Paris.
House sitting links
- Trustedhousesitters.com - By far the biggest, with thousands of house-sitting opportunities in 130 countries around the world, of which—at press time—43 in France, and 10 in Paris alone. This one is upfront that it is primarily a pet-sitting service. Fee: $99 a year.
- Luxuryhousesitting.com - Several hundred listings, and mostly in the U.S.—though there were 15 in France at press time. Fee: $25 a year.
- Mindmyhouse.com - Currently lists around 240 houses, including 22 in France. Fee: $20 a year.
- Housecarers.com - Currently lists around 300 houses, including eight in France. Fee: $50 a year.Partner
- Caretaker.org - It's a newsletter (physically and online), not an online database, with around 150 listings per bi-monthly issue. As you can tell from the name, many are for caretaking or staff positions rather than simple house-sitting. Still, lots of intriguing opportunities. Fee: $29.95 annual subscription ($49.95 for two years).
Home swapping links
- Homeexchange.com - This is the outfit the characters in the movie "The Holiday" used, one of the biggest around with more than 65,000 listings worldwide, including more than 9,500 in France (1,800+ in Paris)—though I have noticed that includes some regular rentals, not swaps. Membership: $150 per year.
- intervac-homeexchange.com - Intervac is one of the older ones (founded in 1953), with a focus on Europe, listing 1,680 in France, of which 475 in Paris. Membership: $99 per year.
- Homelink.org - Listing more than 1150 home swaps in France, including 299 in Paris. Membership: $95 for one year, $152 for two years.
- invented-city.com - This web-only service has the cheapest membership rates out there, currently listing about 150 properties in France, of which 40 in Paris. Membership: $25 for three months, $35 for six months, $59 per year.
Camping links
- Campingfrance.com - More than 9,200 campgrounds across France.
- Camping.fr - All sorts of resources—more than 7,000 campgrounds, directories, RV sales outlets, camping supply stores, etc.—all in France.
- Ffcc.fr - An association of more than 1,300 campgrounds across France. Members get 5% to 30% discounts.
- Booking.com - More than 1,250 campgrounds and "Resort village" holiday parks in France—though on this site you can book only cabins and other fixed rentals available in the campgrounds, not empty tent or RV sites.Partner
- Gites-de-france.com - Famous for cottages, this organization also lists more than 500 farms where you are welcome to pitch your tent or park your RV.
- Eurocamp.co.uk - Lists details on more than 100 lovely camping parks in France
- Camperonline.it - In Italian (though you can get an English version of the menu—though not the content), but choc-a-block with info on camping and RVing all across Europe, including hundreds of country-specific links to tons of other useful Internet resources, free sites to park your RV, and on-line camping catalogues.
- Caravanclub.co.uk - A British RV club with loads of intel on campgrounds across Europe as well.
- Campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk - A British motorhome club with links to information on camping sites across Europe
Tips
About the lodging star ratings (☆☆☆ to ★★★)
You will notice that all hotels, B&Bs, and other lodgingds (as well as sights and restaurants) on this site have a ReidsFrance.com star designation from ☆☆☆ to ★★★.
This merely indicates that I feel these accommodations offer a little something that makes them special (or extra-special, or extra-extra special, etc.).
These star ratings are entirely based on personal opinion, and have nothing to do with the official French hotel ratings—which have more to do with quantifiable amenities such as minibars, and not the intangibles that make a hotel truly stand out, like a combination of great location, friendly owners, nice style, and low prices.
In general, a pricier place to stay has to impress me that it is worth the added expense.
This is why I give ★★★ to some (official) "two-star" hotels or B&Bs that happen to provide amazing value for the money—and similarly have ranked a few (official) "four-star" properties just (★★☆).
About the lodging price brackets (€–€€€)
Accommodations rates vary wildly—even at the same hotel or B&B—depending on type of room, number of people in it, and the season.
That's why here at ReidsFrance.com we simply provde a general price range indicating the rough rate you should expect to pay for a standard double room in mid-season.
There are three price ranges, giving you a sense of which lodgings are budget, which are moderate, and which are splurges:
| € | under €100 |
| €€ | €100–€200 |
| €€€ | over €200 |
Useful French phrases
Useful French for lodging
| English (anglais) | French (français) | Pro-nun-cee-YAY-shun |
| Where is? | Où est? | ou EH |
| ...a hotel | un hôtel | ehn OH-tel |
| ...a B&B | une chambre d'hôte | ooun SHAHM-bruh DOH-t |
| ...a rental room | une chambre de location | ooun SHAHM-bruh de lo-kah-SION |
| ...an apartment for rent | un appartement | ehn ah-part-teh-MOHN |
| ...a farm stay | un agrotourisme or un gîte |
ehn ah-grow-tour-EES-muh |
| ...a hostel | une auberge de jeunesse | ooun oh-BEAR-dzh de szou-NESS |
| How much is...? | Combien coute? | coam-bee-YEHN koot |
| a single room | une chambre pour une personne or une chambre simple |
ooun SHAUM-bra pour oou-n pair-SOHN or ooun SHAUM-bra SAHM-pluh |
| double room for single use [will often be offered if singles are unavailable] | une chambre double | ooun SHAUM-bra DOO-bluh |
| a double room with two beds | une chambre twin or une chambre double avec un duex lits |
ooun SHAUM-bra TWEEN or ooun SHAUM-bra DOO-bluh ah-VEHK ehn grahn lee |
| a double room with one big bed | une chambre double | ooun SHAUM-bra DOO-bluh |
| triple room | une chambre triple | ooun SHAUM-bra TREE-pluh |
| with private bathroom | avec salle de bain | ah-VEHK sal de bah |
| without private bathroom | sans salle de bain | SAHN sal de bah |
| for one night | pour un soir | pour ehn swa |
| for two nights | pour deux soirs | pour douh swa |
| for three nights | pour trois soirs | pour twa swa |
| Is breakfast included? | C'est compris le petit déjeuner? | say coam-PREE luh p'TEE day-zhuh-NAY |
| Is there WiFi? | Y'a t'il du WiFi? | yah-teel doo WHY-fy? |
| May I see the room? | Puis-je voir la chambre? | PWEE-zhuh vwah lah SHAWM-bra |
| That's too much | C'est trop | say troh |
| Is there a cheaper one? | Avez-vous une chambre bon marché? | ah-veh VOO ooun SHAWM-bra bone mar-SHAY |
Basic phrases in French
| English (anglais) | French (français) | pro-nun-see-YAY-shun |
| thank you | merci | mair-SEE |
| please | s'il vous plaît | seel-vou-PLAY |
| yes | oui | wee |
| no | non | no |
| Do you speak English? | Parlez-vous anglais? | par-lay-VOU on-GLAY |
| I don't understand | Je ne comprende pas | zhuh nuh COHM-prohnd pah |
| I'm sorry | Je suis desolée | zhuh swee day-zoh-LAY |
| How much does it cost? | Combien coute? | coam-bee-YEHN koot |
| That's too much | C'est trop | say troh |
| Good day | Bonjour | bohn-SZOURH |
| Good evening | Bon soir | bohn SWAH |
| Good night | Bon nuit | bohn NWEE |
| Goodbye | Au revoir | oh-ruh-VWAH |
| Excuse me (to get attention) | Excusez-moi | eh-skooze-ay-MWA |
| Excuse me (to get past someone) | Pardon | pah-rRDOHN |
| Where is? | Où est? | ou eh |
| ...the bathroom | la toilette | lah twah-LET |
| ...train station | la gare | lah gahr |
Days, months, and other calendar items in French
| English (anglais) | French (français) | Pro-nun-cee-YAY-shun |
| When is it open? | Quand est-il ouvert? | coan eh-TEEL oo-VAIR |
| When does it close? | Quand est l'heure de fermeture? | coan eh lure duh fair-mah-TOUR |
| At what time... | à quelle heure... | ah kell uhre |
| Yesterday | hier | ee-AIR |
| Today | aujoud'hui | ow-zhuhr-DWEE |
| Tomorrow | demain | duh-MEHN |
| Day after tomorrow | après demain | ah-PRAY duh-MEHN |
| a day | un jour | ooun zhuhr |
| Monday | Lundí | luhn-DEE |
| Tuesday | Maredí | mar-DEE |
| Wednesday | Mercredi | mair-cray-DEE |
| Thursday | Jeudi | zhuh-DEE |
| Friday | Vendredi | vawn-druh-DEE |
| Saturday | Samedi | saam-DEE |
| Sunday | Dimanche | DEE-maansh |
| a month | un mois | ooun mwa |
| January | janvier | zhan-vee-YAIR |
| February | février | feh-vree-YAIR |
| March | mars | mahr |
| April | avril | ah-VREEL |
| May | mai | may |
| June | juin | zhuh-WAH |
| July | juillet | zhuh-LYAY |
| August | août | ah-WOOT |
| September | septembre | sep-TUHM-bruh |
| October | octobre | ok-TOE-bruh |
| November | novembre | noh-VAUM-bruh |
| December | décembre | day-SAHM-bruh |
Numbers in French
| English (anglais) | French (français) | Pro-nun-cee-YAY-shun |
| 1 | un | ehn |
| 2 | deux | douh |
| 3 | trois | twa |
| 4 | quatre | KAH-truh |
| 5 | cinq | sank |
| 6 | six | sees |
| 7 | sept | sehp |
| 8 | huit | hwhee |
| 9 | neuf | nuhf |
| 10 | dix | dees |
| 11 | onze | ownz |
| 12 | douze | dooz |
| 13 | treize | trehz |
| 14 | quatorze | kah-TOHRZ |
| 15 | quinze | cans |
| 16 | seize | sez |
| 17 | dix-sept | dee-SEP |
| 18 | dix-huit | dee-SWEE |
| 19 | dix-neuf | dee-SNEUHF |
| 20 | vingt | vahn |
| 21* | vingt et un * | vahnt eh UHN |
| 22* | vingt deux * | vahn douh |
| 23* | vingt trois * | vahn twa |
| 30 | trente | truhnt |
| 40 | quarante | kah-RAHNT |
| 50 | cinquante | sahn-KAHNT |
| 60 | soixante | swaa-SAHNT |
| 70 | soixante-dix ‡ | swa-sahnt-DEES |
| 80 | quatre-vents ‡ | kat-tra-VAHN |
| 90 | quatre-vents-dix ‡ | kat-tra-vanht-DEES |
| 100 | cent | sant |
| 1,000 | mille | meel |
| 5,000 | cinq mille | sank meel |
| 10,000 | dix mille | dees meel |
* You can form any number between 20 and 99 just like the examples for 21, 22, and 23. For x2–x9, just say the tens-place number (trente for 30, quarante for 40, etc.), then the ones-place number (35 is trente cinq; 66 is soixsante six). The only excpetion is for 21, 31, 41, etc. For x1, say the tens-place number followed by "...et un" (trente et un, quarante et un, etc.).
‡ Yes, the French count very strangely once they get past 69. Rather than some version of "seventy,' they instead say "sixy-ten" (followed by "sixty-eleven," "sixty-twelve,' etc. up to "sixty-nineteen.") And then, just to keep things interesting, they chenge it up again and, for 80, say 'four twenties"—which always make me thinks of blackbirds baked in a pie for some reason. Ninety becomes "four-twenties-ten" and so on up to "four-nineties-ninteen" for 99, which is quite a mouthful: quartre-vingts-dix-neuf.