Accommodation in France: the savvy traveller’s guide

Accommodation in France - MYFrenchLife.orgWhat do online dating, hiring a new recruit at work, and choosing holiday accommodation have in common? Let us simply say that not everything is how it appears on the Internet…

We’ve all heard the horror stories. And sometimes they’re enough to make us snap our laptops shut and never book another holiday again.

When planning a trip, if you’re not sure whether to trust something, it’s always accompanied by that gut-wrenching feeling of ‘what if’. It keeps you awake for an extra 20 minutes each night, until you arrive at the door of your holiday ‘dream escape’: your fears are either confirmed or assuaged.

Or – gulp – perhaps it’s far worse than you could ever have imagined…

Facing our French fears

We’ve been there. And gosh – don’t we know how valuable peace of mind can be. It means you spend the time before your travels enjoying the feeling of anticipation, rather than dreading it! Because that’s how it should be when you’re planning your dream trip, right? We think so!

Staying in France - Accommodation in France - MyFrenchlife.org

And then the other thing – that only applies to Francophiles comme nous – is the fact that for us, travelling to France for us is about experiencing the French way of life and French culture. It’s something that’s often quite hard to come by when staying in a hotel.

However nice the experience, most of the people around you will be speaking English and trying to make you feel at home – when all you want is to feel like you’re not at home at all but in a foreign country!

Too many options, too little time

The fabulous thing about France is that, as the country of tourism, it has a seemingly endless list of accommodation. The downside of this is of course that there are far too many options on the table.

Then the self-doubt and niggling little worries begin to creep up once again… Will I make the right choice? Will I compleeeetely ruin my holiday with just one mouse click (or three, and the entering of your credit card details)?

Vacation uncertainty - accommodation in France - staying in France - MyFrenchLife.org

So we’re taking a stand: no more pre-holiday jitters. No more panic in the face of too many options and not enough helpful information with which to decipher them. Time to vanquish vacation uncertainty for good!

Perfect for who?

We’ve dug deep and compiled our best advice and research into an ultimate guide to selecting the perfect accommodation in France. And when we say perfect, we mean perfect for you. There’s never a one-size-fits-all approach here.

This is what this series is all about: sorting through the mess and coming out with a clear answer. So stay tuned for the next installments in our savvy traveller’s guide to staying in France!

How to access our special accommodation offer!

We also have a fabulous special offer to all MyFrenchLife.org members to be announced next week!

Sign up now by clicking the big red semi circle found at the top right of our homepage to be eligible for special member offers.

Follow this ‘Staying in France series’ to access the special offer.

Stay tuned - Accommodation in France - staying in France - MyFrenchLife.org3

Do you have any horror stories to share? Or tips on how to overcome pre-travel nerves? What’s your accommodation style of choice? We’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions – share them below.

About the Contributor

Judy MacMahon

Experience FRANCE beyond the CLICHÉ with MyFrenchLife.org MyFrenchLife is for Curious Savvy Francophiles wherever you are. Meet Francophiles in France, online, and/or wherever you live. You’re very welcome to join us - Judy MacMahon - MyFrenchLife.org

Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!

4 Comments

  1. merri Mar 8, 2014 at 4:43 AM - Reply

    When is your next installment? We’re ready to book our hotel this week! Any advice in advance?

    • Judy MacMahon Mar 8, 2014 at 4:21 PM - Reply

      Hi Merri, thanks for your question. We will be covering all types of accommodation in France and then a specific Guide for Paris itself! Facts, pros, cons and solutions! However as this is a series we will not get to our Paris alternatives in time for you to book a hotel in Paris this week 🙁 If you like to email me and the team at info@MyFrenchLife.org we’d be happy to privately give you a few tips from our experience. In order for us to do this please explain the purpose of your trip, the duration in each place and your per night budget and we’ll be happy to come back to you asap.
      Lovely to welcome you as a new as a new member of our MyFrenchLife.org community!
      We’d love it if you’d help us spread the word if you like what you are discovering here It really healps us 🙂
      Merci d’avance !

      Judy
      FONDATRICE
      http://www.MyFrenchLife.org

  2. Sandra E Brown Mar 8, 2014 at 4:24 PM - Reply

    Apparently only two fully wheelchair accessible apartments e.g. with roll-in shower and adapted kitchen (as opposed to hotel rooms or an apartment that has a lift) exist for rent in Paris. At least that’s the conclusion I’ve come to after scouting multiple websites, researching in both French and English, and putting out pleas on LinkedIn and Twitter. Seriously, I find this conclusion hard to believe so I have to conclude that the French keep this access info a secret for themselves!

    • Judy MacMahon Mar 8, 2014 at 5:06 PM - Reply

      That’s hard to believe isn’t it Sandra! Of course the old buildings would make it really difficult but surely there are more then two. We try to dig for more information too. We are focusing on France for our guides first but we’ll get to paris as soon as possible. Thanks for sharing this information Sandra.

Leave A Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.