Monday, January 26, 2009

Self-Catering Holiday Rentals?

After many hours of pouring over hotel, B&B, etc listings for France I ran across a term I haven’t heard of before: “self-catering holiday rentals”. Based on the name, it appears its just a room/house, etc, with no food or amenities available. Some are luxury-like castle rentals that hold 50 people and others are just rooms, with of course pricing varying wildly.

I’m a bit torn. I don’t know what French B&Bs are like – am I expected to report to breakfast at a certain time and do some conversing with the owners, should they want to and speak English? Am I expected to have dinner if they offer it as an optional service even though I’d rather go to a restaurant? Is this something that would be nice sometimes, like if I need tips for the area but be more of a pain at others, such as after a long day of traveling? Would it be nice to just show up to a place and not have to worry about anything? Will I miss the amenities or are they just an illusion anyway, unless I plan on taking full advantage? Or am I way off-are they like hotels (just with 4-8 rooms) where they don’t want to talk to you any more than you want to talk to them?

Right now we’re pondering a night or two in one, but could use any insider tips, even secondhand ones.

Anyone?

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