FRENCH HOTELS AND RESTARANTS: THE ROUGH GUIDE.

Book by Lexus

This is the third edition of the Rough Guide to French Hotels & Restaurants, a translation of the Routard guide, the best-selling French guide to good-value restaurants and accommodation in France. Revised every year, French Hotels & Restaurants is up-to-date, comprehensive and opens up the country in a way that no other guide does. Its critical listings include everything from simple hostels and family-run bistros to high-comfort rural retreats and city-centre three-stars, all selected and reviewed by Routard's team of locally based writers, who re-assess the entries for each edition. The hotels and restaurants selected tend to be small, independent establishments - look out for the Routard stickers on their front doors. There may also be a Logis de France sticker, too - a fireplace symbol with one, two or three fires, to indicate the level of facilities provided. This denotes membership to a scheme that promotes family-run hotels, often in rural locations well away from major towns. The guide's layout The Routard/Rough Guide is divided into twenty-two chapter regions, each with a map identifying the places where a hotel or restaurant is listed. The regions are listed alphabetically and within each chapter the main towns are listed in alphabetical order, their names appearing in a black box that also shows the post code, eg: QUIBERON

57170 Small towns and villages within a radius of 30km of a larger town are included under the entries for that town; these places are listed in the order of their distance from the main town, and their names are shown in a grey box, eg: NEARBY LEVERNOIS

21200 (4km SE) Within each town entry hotels are listed first, followed by restaurants, and both are listed in ascending order of price. Stars indicated are the official ratings of the French hotel industry and not of this guide. After the address of the establishments, tips are given on how to get there wherever possible, plus phone number, fax number, details of opening hours and a summary of facilities. The discount symbol indicates that an establishment offers some sort of benefit to readers of this guide. In the case of hotels, it is usually a discount (generally in the region of 10%) on the price of the room. Sometimes you are obliged to stay for a minimum number of nights to qualify or the benefit is offered during certain periods of the year only. Where possible these conditions have been indicated in the text. In some instances, the concession consists of a free breakfast or free car parking space, or just a free coffee; many restaurants in this guide also offer a free coffee or some other drink, but usually only when you order a complete meal. In all cases, show your copy of this guide book when you check in at the hotel or before you order your meal in a restaurant. French hotels and restaurants are familiar with the Routard guide, but should you have any difficulties claiming the benefits with this translation, point to the front cover where the Routard name is clearly identified. The French way It pays to know what's what in French hotels and restaurants and your basic rights as a consumer. When you're reserving a room, by phone or in writing, it's not unusual for the hotel to ask for a deposit by way of guarantee. There's no law to say how much this deposit should be, but don't pay any more than around 25-30% of the total. The French have two words for deposit - arrhes and acompte. The first is refundable, the second is not. So in the event of cancellation your arrhes can be returned in full if you give the hotel reasonable notice. If it's the hotel that cancels the booking, then under Article 1590 of the Civil Code (which dates back to 1804) you're entitled to double the amount of the arrhes you paid. So if you do make a deposit, be very specific in your letter as to whether it's arrhes or acompte. Hotels and restaurants are required by law to display their prices. You won't get anywhere arguing about extortionate prices if they're clearly marked on a price list. The cheapest set meals are often served at lunchtimes or weekdays only. This should be clearly marked on the board outside. Hotels are not permitted to try to sell you something you haven't requested; for example they can't force you to book for several nights if you only want to stay for one. Similarly, they can't insist you have breakfast or any other meal at the hotel unless it's clearly stated that half-board or full board is compulsory. Make sure you find this out before you book into a hotel with a restaurant, and bear in mind that half-board prices often apply to a minimum stay of three nights. This is permitted by law. In restaurants the cheapest set meals are often served at lunchtimes or weekdays only. This should be clearly marked on the board outside. Wine lists aren't always very clear so be sure that you know precisely what you order. For example, you may order a bottle of Burgundy at 50F and be charged 100F; when you check the list again, you find (maybe in small print) that the price was for a half bottle. A bottle of wine must be opened in front of the customer - otherwise you've no way of knowing that you're getting what you ordered. A jug of tap water is free as long as you're ordering a meal. Occasionally restaurants refuse to serve customers if they feel they haven't ordered enough. No-one can force you into ordering something you don't want and refusing to serve you is technically against the law.