French hotel recommendations anyone?

[elliott]

Newly optimistic from my first really relaxing family holiday, I'm thinking about the next....
Would love to go to a traditional french hotel (middle range, not posh) and be cooked for.

It would need to have interconnecting rooms and have good gardens for playing (or walking distance to beach). We'd eat together so food would need to be reasonably child friendly and available from 7pm!

Any thoughts, oh well-travelled mumsnetters?
Or is it a case of browsing through the logis de france site (not found any reference to interconnecting rooms there though!)

just realised its a bit daft starting thsi thread in half term! I'll have to remember to bump next week...

Following you around

If you are not too bothered about being in the North of france rather than the sunny south, the Westminster Hotel in Le Touquet ticks a lot of your boxes.

Le Touquet is fab with children lovely beaches a little fair and nice child friendly restaurants all along the sea front.

The Westminster hotel is a lovely art deco hotel with huge bedrooms and nice big bathrooms. I think they do interconnecting rooms, but you can also get family rooms too.

Has a lovely swimming pool as well.

Lots of very lovely shops too, but they are pretty pricey!

thanks soapbox! not too bothered where in France - though I did go on a school trip to le touquet so don't have very exotic/exciting associations with it - that was nearly 30 years ago though (blimey I feel old...)

Slightly different approach but have you considered half board at a Chambre D'Hote. Not as formal as a hotel and some have pools, also serve traditional regional french dishes. You can check out the whole country on www.gites-de-france.fr

thanks lapsedrunner, that would be good but the main thing is trying to find the right room set up - couldn't bear a family room - and my french isn't really up to asking for 'interconnecting rooms'!

have you looked at the Alistair Sawday guides. My sister has just booked to stay in one of their recommended properties with her 3 kids and dh. it has a pool and they have 2 interconnectong rooms ( suite). The owners of this Chambres D'hote are going to make them dinner on arrival and this can be arranged in lots of the places in that guide. Some of the Chambres d'hotes are owned by english speakers- it tells you online.
www.specialplacestostay.com

\link{http://www.lefleurayhotel.com/looks nice}

If you are into paper guides at all I'd recommend the Cadogan guides - we stayed at some places found in their Short Breaks in Northern France guide and they were great.

Can't help with the interconnecting rooms though!

Hear hear acnebride, never been disappointed with the Cadogan Guides yet. Will put my thinking cap on for you Elliott, wondered if the Red Fox in Le Touquet might be able to help. Not been there, but it has a nice reputation.
Don't bother with the otherwise lovely sounding Matelote in Boulogne by the way - they must be one of the only hotels in France who really don't want little guests

Oops, see there is NO nostalgie de la boue (sable?) for Le Touquet Elliott!

elliot - agree with you entirely on need for seperate rooms, it's just not a holiday otherwise! Sorrel also mentioned Chambre d'hotes, the gites-de-france website also shows which ones speak English. Happy hunting .