Most French hotels are graded up to five stars. The price more or less corresponds to the number of stars, though the system is a little haphazard, having more to do with ratios of bathrooms-per-guest and so forth than genuine quality, and some unclassified and single-star hotels can be very good. What you get for your money varies enormously between establishments. For under €30, there won't be much soundproofing and the showers (douches) and toilets (WC or toilettes) may be communal. However, you should have your own bidet and washbasin (lavabo), often partitioned off from the rest of the room in an area referred to as a cabinet de toilette. The shared showers down the hall are occasionally free but usually cost around €2–3 per shower; if there's more than one of you, it might be worth upgrading to an en-suite room. Over €35 should get you a room with its own bath or shower though not necessarily a toilet, and, though the decor may not be anything to write home about, comfortable furniture. For around €45 you should expect a proper, separate bathroom (salle de bain) and TV, while at over €70, you'll find something approaching luxury. Hotels with one star or above have a telephone in the rooms, though some phones can only receive calls. Single rooms – if the hotel has any – are only marginally cheaper than doubles, so sharing always slashes costs, especially since most hotels willingly provide rooms with extra beds for three or more people at good discounts.Big cities have a good variety of cheap establishments; in small towns or villages where the choice is limited, you may not be so lucky. Swanky resorts, particularly those on the Côte d'Azur, have very high July and August prices, but are still less expensive than Paris, which is far more expensive than the rest of the country. If you're staying more than three days in a hotel it's often possible to negotiate a lower price, particularly out of season. Breakfast is not normally included and can add at least €4–5.50 per person to a bill – though there is no obligation to take it. The cost of eating dinner in a hotel's restaurant can be a more important factor to bear in mind when picking a place to stay. Officially, it's illegal for hotels to insist on your taking half-board (demi-pension), though some do during the summer peak. This is not always such a bad thing, however, since you can sometimes get a real bargain. Note that many family-run hotels close for two or three weeks a year. In smaller towns and villages they may also close for one or two nights a week, usually Sunday or Monday. Details are given where relevant in the Guide, but dates change from year to year and some places will close for a few days in low season if they have no bookings. The best precaution is to phone ahead to be sure. A very useful option, especially if you're driving and it's late at night, are the chain hotels located at motorway exits and on the outskirts of major towns. They may be soulless, but you can count on a decent and reliable standard. Among the cheapest (from around €23 for a three-person room with toilets and showers on the corridor) and biggest is the one-star Formule 1 chain (brochures available from Accor central reservation service: tel 08.92.68.56.85, €0.34 per min; www.hotelformule1.com). Other budget chains include B&B (tel 08.20.90.29.29, €0.12 per min; www.hotel-bb.com) and the slightly more upmarket Première Classe (tel 01.64.62.46.46, www.premiereclasse.fr) and Etap Hôtel (tel 08.92.68.89.00, €0.34 per min; www.etaphotel.com). More comfortable but still affordable chains are Ibis (tel 08.92.68.66.86, €0.34 per min; www.ibishotel.com) and Campanile (tel 01.64.62.46.46; www.campanile.fr), where en-suite rooms with satellite TV and direct-dial phones cost from around €40–50. Aside from the chains, there are a number of hotel federations in France. The biggest of these is Logis de France, an association of over 3000 hotels nationwide. They have a central reservation number (tel 01.45.84.83.84) and website (www.logis-de-france.fr), which you can contact to obtain their free yearly guide (or write to 88 av d'Italie, 75013 Paris). Two other, more upmarket federations worth mentioning are Châteaux & Hôtels de France (30 rue des Jeûneurs, 75002 Paris, tel 01.55.34.16.16, www.chateauxhotels.com) and the Relais du Silence (17 rue d'Ouessant, 75015 Paris, tel 01.44.49.79.00, www.silencehotel.com). Over forty cities in France now participate in the "Bon Weekend en Villes" programme, whereby you get two nights for the price of one at participating hotels. In most cases the offer is restricted to the winter period (Nov–March). Further details are available from tourist offices or online at www.tourisme.fr/week_end.
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