Quaint. Clean. Convenient.
Three of the most important things we at Journey Moore Often, Ltd. take into account in booking a hotel. Of course we always check reviews as well to see what the comments are like.
Finding Accommodations can be an art. And while it may seem logical, your research should include a realistic understanding that older hotels in older cities. For starters, they may not always be as up to date as other newer accommodations. At the same time, older hotels bring a character that newer ones can’t offer. All said, it’s more about what you want to get from your hotel experience.
Anyone who follows us knows we love the outdoors. So when we saw a cute little terrace connected to a hotel room at the Hôtel Arène in a small town in France, that intrigued us. When we saw the hotel was in the middle of a walkable town/village, that sold us. Even though we were planning on several day trips, we also wanted the ability to walk around to go to restaurants and shops. In Orange, France there is even an old Roman Ampitheatre.
Since we were planning on being in one location for 5 days, we decided it would be the perfect place to try out washing our clothes.
The Hotel
Hôtel Arène is logically translated as Arena Hotel. The ampitheatre is within a 5 minute walk. Every year the theatre boasts opera concerts of some of the most famous ever. On the door of each hotel room, is a life size picture of an opera signer that has sung in the ampitheatre.
Located in the old city part of Orange, France, Hôtel Arène hit all the marks when we researched, except one. Parking was located a few blocks away. Parking in Europe can be tricky at times, but since we were staying for 5 nights, we decided it should work out fine. We could drive to the hotel and check-in, then park the car a couple blocks away for a nominal fee.
Orange, France town center showing parking circled and Hotel Arene in the center.
When we got there, because we were off season, they offered us private valet parking in a garage for $11 per night. The cost was almost equal to the metered parking available, so it didn’t take long for us to decide to take advantage of it. It got even better. We would drop our car off in the afternoon/evening depending on when we got back and they would park the car. In the morning, the car would be ready waiting for us just outside the hotel entrance.
Our car parked in front of the hotel.
The first morning we decided to walk around town in the morning with some coffee. We were pleasantly surprised to see there was the weekly “market” on Thursday morning (it was then we discovered the need for cash). The market was a lot of fun with a large variety of vendors selling fresh cheese, meats, and honey, as well as handcrafted items and clothing.
The staff was amazing from the moment we got there until we left. They really took care of us. Between our French and their English we were able to communicate very well.
Some staff in hotels are good, but everyone at Hôtel Arène was more than accommodating. Staff helped us with the parking, restaurants (like Le Forum), wine tasting, exchanging currency, and locating sites we wanted to see.
The hotel can also boast many ameneties. They have the typical work out room, a pool, hot tub, along with a restaurant/bar. The restaurant is fairly large, seating around 50 people total. They offer a very nice breakfast.
Like any older place, there are some steps to some of the rooms.
The Room
We saw pictures of the room on the website we booked the room from, so there weren’t many surprises. Sometimes accommodation desciptions are aren’t very accurate. Usually the hype leads you to believe the room is better than it actually is. Not the case with Hôtel Arène. The room was larger than we thought. There was a lot of space. Plus, it had the terrace we had booked!
We did get the chance to see other rooms too (there’s even one with a jacuzzi!). They were as nice, although slightly smaller, they were still pretty big.
Next time we’re in Orange, France, we are more than looking forward to staying at Hôtel Arène again!