Small independent hotels in France

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Finding and choosing a hotel

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Trying to find and book the right hotel for your stay or an overnight stop in France can be a daunting task.
The total number of hotels in France in  2021 was 17,400 – and in addition to that, there are thousands of Bed and Breakfasts, gites or other forms of tourist accommodation.
 To visitors used to seeing the inevitable Ibis, Campanile and other chain hotels in almost any French town or city, it may come as a surprise to learn that in actual fact, the large majority of hotels in France, some 83% of them, are independent hotels ; and most of these are small hotels. The average size of an independent hotel in France is 26 rooms.
   The trouble is that the big hotel chains have a vastly superior presence when it comes to advertising, and they also tend to site their properties in strategic and visible locations. Conversely, most independent small hotels are in less eye-catching locations,  few have the budget to do massive advertising, so finding them and realising how many of them there actually are, can be a hard task.

  However there are many advantages to be had from going for independent hotels. As well as the choice (there are four times more independent hotels than chain hotels in France), there is the variety, the fact that independent hotels tend to be small hotels, run by local people, and a distinct price advantage.   According to tourism consultancy Coachomnium.com, room rates in independent hotels in France are on the whole 18% - 20% less expensive than in chain hotels – which may be seen as one of a number of very good reasons to choose an independent hotel.

The iHi criteria:

• Location: iHi has sought out wherever possible small hotels in attractive locations, away from noisy main roads. There are hotels in rural France,  in small French towns, and even  in or around French cities; for hotels in urban locations, iHi gives priority to hotels in quiet quarters, on side streets or on roads with little night-time traffic.
• Character: most of the small hotels listed in the iHi independent hotel directory are in period or traditional buildings, converted farms or chateaux, old coaching inns, or classic town houses in regional style. A few modern hotels are included, when these are the best options available for a given location or area.
• Welcome: iHi editors have read through thousands of verified hotel reviews, to include only hotels where many travellers have reported friendly, helpful and welcoming staff.
• Value: iHi has selected hotels offering good value for money. Good value hotels are not necessarily cheap hotels; they are hotels whose prices are competitive or low compared to other hotels of similar standing in the same area. Some - a few - of the hotels listed in this directory are cheap - but travellers wanting essentially to book cheap hotels should realise that cheapness usually comes at a price....  And that the price of cheapness is either poor quality, small rooms, characterless hotels, or other downsides that will ensure that a hotel is not listed with iHi.

 
To be listed on iHi France, a hotel must rank well on at least three of the four above criteria.
To book rooms, you will be directed either to a booking portal offering the best rates avaialble, or in some cases directly to the hotel's own website. While most hotels now use booking portals, some do not - but this is not a reason to be excluded from the iHi directory if criteria are met.

Independent-hotels.info

The iHi - Independent-hotels.info  selection is quite independent : unlike many other directories, hotels cannot just pay to be listed or featured with Independent-hotels.info. iHi France lists only small hotels that meet a range of quality and price criteria, good quality good value hotels for independent and discerning travellers..
iHi is a travel information website and not a travel agency. Information is provided by hotels and online booking sites in good faith, and iHi is not involved in  any transaction or reservation conducted between third parties. However as an affiliate iHi may receive a small commission on bookings made through an online booking site; this commission ha no effect on the price charged to the visitor.

French hotel classification - The official hotel star rating:

Hotels range from five-star to one-star; there are also unclassified hotels and upscale B&Bs. In the French hotel ranking system, stars used to be awarded essentially  in function of the amenities and services provided, not the state or nature of those amenities, so were not always the best reflection of a hotel's quality . The current system introduced in 2009 has gone some way towards correcting this, but even so the system still leaves a fair number of hotels over-classed, and others underrated, specially in the two-star to three-star categories. And since hotels pay certain taxes and charges in function of the number of stars they have, it is not unusual to find hotels , specially small independent hotels, whose star ranking clearly underestimates quality of service provided.
   In addition, it is estimated that up to 30% of all French hotels do not bother to obtain an official star ranking. With quality labels and rankings being offered by a range of online booking sites, travel guides and other media, and being generally provided free of charge as a user service, the official star ranking is no longer the perceived gld standard that it used to be..

Free hotel listings with iHi - strictly for independent hotels  Recommend a good and calm independent hotel in France, Spain, Italy or the UK. If you run or have stayed in a small independent hotel that you think ought to be in this directory, contact iHi with details.  iHi welcomes suggestions from travellers and hotel owners. Maximum size (discretionary) : 40 rooms. City hotels: acceptable up to 75 rooms. No chains. Only independent establishments or hotels belonging to very small independent chains. Membership of a voluntary chain or independent hotels, such as Logis de France or Inter Hotels,  is no problem.

Hôteliers: Inscrire un hôtel indépendant à iHi : Consultez nos conditions d'inscription d'hôtels indépendants. Ne soumettre que des établissements indépendants, bénéficiant d'un cadre calme et agréable. L'annuaire iHi - France accepte des établissements indépendants appartenant à des chaînes d'indépendants, comme Logis de France.

 
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