A Hostelling International hostel, in one of the most snow-sure ski resorts in the Alps, you can get a bed in peak season for less than €20/night.
www.hihostels.com/dba/hostels-Les-Deux-Alpes-020115.en.htm
AJ - 'Les Brûleurs de Loups'
34, Avenue de la Muzelle
38860 Les Deux Alpes, (Isère), France
+33-476792280
Google map: bit.ly/awjsbU
Location, location! It overlooks English Bay, in the west end and has 120 rooms. Built in 1912 the staff make you feel at home and round the corner from Denman Street restaurants and a walk or jog on the beach. Rates from $129 Canadian and with a great bar and restaurant downstairs.
www.sylviahotel.com
1154 Gilford St, Vancouver BC V6G 2P6
+1 604.681.9321
Google map: bit.ly/cve9ol
If you like your skiing without queuing, try cross country (Langlaufen) in Ramsau, a southerly alp above Schladming, crowned by the Dachstein massif.
And the best place to stay is Bacherhof, an organic farm hotel. Sigrid and Herwig welcome you like family, everyone has half board and soon makes friends. It is not meant to be luxurious but it is comfortable, there is a sauna ready as the sun goes down, and the food is fantastic.
Now one person's "budget" is not another's, but with prices from 53 Euros per person for half board (children under 2 free, 5-10yrs half price), it is excellent value.
www.bacherhof.at
8972 Ramsau am Dachstein
Österreich
+43|0|3687 81377
Google map: bit.ly/ceOgHf
We had a one of our best holiday memories in Bellevue in Agia Pelagia beach. The hotel complex is in the centre of Crete and is in easy reach of many attractions and archaeological sites such as Knossos which is 20 km away. Bellevue is run by a English/Greek family that help you any time you need info. Their son George is a very helpful and polite person and has a shop down in Agia Pelagia. During the first days we didn't have a car and George after serving Bellevue's super breakfast offered us a lift every day down to the village of Agia Pelagia and a couple of times to the lovely beach of Ligaria. Bellevue is a simple but a very good hotel/apartment complex. Our room was very big, simple but tastefully decorated. The view was one of the best we have ever seen or experienced. During our stay we explored the six beaches in and around Bellevue. One day we walked till the next mountain village and visited the monastery of Sebbatiano that was a super experience.
Villa Bellevue Apartments, P.O. BOX 1474, 71110 Heraklion, Greece
+30 2810811102
www.agia-pelagia-bellevue.com
Google map: bit.ly/96BNBB
The Three Horseshoes Inn is a beautiful 400 year-old pub in deepest, rural Somerset. This pub has kept many original features such as the inglenook fireplace and the vaulted dining room ceiling. The staff are really friendly, serve a great pint of local ale and the food is simply incredible. I love this place and would thoroughly recommend you and the family make the trip. 10/10
www.thethreehorseshoesinn.com
Batcombe, Somerset, BA4 6HE
+44(0)1749850359
Google map: bit.ly/a6dQ3K
The closet train station is Bruton, Somerset.
Really lovely B&B nestled in the Wye Valley up a lane away from the traffic that constantly roars along the main road. Nice big room with spectacular view over the ancient woodland that covers the sides of the valley. Comfortable bed. The supper was delicious and made with vegetables from the garden. Breakfast was a lovely combo of fruits and nuts and welsh cakes. The extensive garden is amazing - acres and acres of flower beds, lawns, potagers, woodland, and orchards - all tended by the owners.
The Nurtons, Tintern, Chepstow, Monmouthshire
NP16 7NX
+44(0)1291 689253
www.thenurtons.co.uk
Google map: bit.ly/dtKcBh
The first thing that stands out about the Helix is that it's in D.C. which at first glance doesn't exactly strike you as a kitsch and funky city. But for suits who want to show their wild side, it's the place to go. It's all very Sixties style, lots of multicoloured lights, mirrors, swirly patterns and egg chairs as in Austin Powers. In my room there was carpet on the ceiling, and Andy Warhol-esque paintings. But the best bit was the leopard print bath robes which had me poncing about like a diva!
1430 Rhode Island Avenue NW, Washington DC 20005
+1 202-462-9001
www.hotelhelix.com
Google map: bit.ly/a4eE75
Although Crescent City itself is pretty much 'Anytown, USA' - the Curly Redwood lodge is a decent, clean and kitsch motel apparently made from one redwood tree! A comfortable stay for a night or two. We can also recommend The Chart Room diner down on the dock, a good place to go to get a genuine local American experience, in terms of food and good company.
www.curlyredwoodlodge.com/
701 US Highway 101 S
Crescent City, CA 95531-4488, United States
+1 (707) 464-2137
Google map: bit.ly/bS6IRN
This raid is really great, a fabulous place to stay and the perfect place to relax after a day in Marrakech which can be very full on. The staff were friendly and attentive. They welcomed us in with mint tea and then gave us a map and offered us advice on what best to do and how to find our way around. We highly reccommend the dinner - we had a Moroccan salad, chicken tagine, beautifully spiced vegetables and a fruit desert with wine. Our room was charming, very comfortable with a good shower. It is a 10 minute walk to the main square but we liked this, because we saw a different side to Marrakech.
www.dareliane.com
Derb El Maada, No 39 Azbezt, Medina, Marrakech - Morocco
Google map: bit.ly/cdZp7I
A secluded tranquil haven - almost taking a step back in time, except that the food and furnishings are modern and stylish. The hospitality directly from the owners is awesome, and the wine cellar is fantastic - a walk-in refridgerated room! Eat from the set menu every night and you will not see the same food twice and you will not leave an empty plate. Yum!
www.hotelmontmirail.com/
Château des eaux 84190 Gigondas
+33 (0) 4 90 65 84 01
Google map: bit.ly/bUvEV8
Hopelessly lost in San Luis Obispo, we call the Inn. "How do we find you?"
"You need to get on the 1 South and exit at the junction with the 227" comes the answer. The phone goes dead.
"And then what?"
Finding the 1 South is easy enough. The 227 exit road curls us slowly around 180 degrees and into a night sky lit garishly pink by a huge sign that instantly dwarfs us. "MADONNA INN" it screams.
And without a doubt, this is one of the kitschiest of US kitsch examples. Built in the mid 20th century, it's story goes something like this. At the time a deserty rocky outcrop in the middle of nowhere and bereft of any decent accommodation, a couple hit on the idea of building a motel incorporating those pesky rocks into its construction (no doubt cheaper than moving them away.) When it came to deciding on room decoration however, they couldn't agree on what to do. So in the pursuit of marital harmony, the couple hit on another idea. They would each be allocated rooms to decorate as they wished.
And from this was borne the 100 plus room tourist destination that this Inn has become. Each themed room is uniquely - indeed, often bizarrely - different. We stayed in the "Caveman". Described by the Inn as a "...rustic den of solid rock", we slept surrounded by tigers and showered in a cave under a rushing rock waterfall. Or something like that ...
The on-site restaurant is an assault on the senses and yet a strangely comforting nostalgic trip back in time to the 1950/60s. Huge pink leather booths, pink tablecloths, pink carpets and gilded gold chandeliers and lights wrestle for your attention with plants and a childlike doll with rosy pink cheeks that rocks eerily backwards and forwards above you on a swing hanging from the ceiling. Old time music plays on weekends, as aging couples - dressed in vintage as if for a Saturday night school dance - jive on a dance floor behind you, seemingly blissfully unaware that they are no longer teenage childhood sweethearts. Huge slices of multi-layer cream cakes (including Black Forrest available with or without the cherries?!) piled high with colourfully decorated frostings accompanied by an ice cream soda complete your step back in time.
Then there's the similarly decorated on-site bar, coffee shop, bakery, souvenir shop...
It's quirky and kitsch and odd and very probably not the best value for money, but it's fun nevertheless. A Californian institution that's worth a detour if you're in the area.
100 Madonna Road, San Luis Obispo, CA 93405. www.madonnainn.com
+1 (800) 543-9666
Google map: bit.ly/djXYUs
You can stay in an Airstream trailer.
They have a kitsch diner on sight - 'Dot's Diner'
You can stay in the 1947 Tiki Bus Polynesian Palace - in fact all their trailers and boats are kitsch classics!
Its brilliant and 100% retro!!!!
1 Douglas Road, Bisbee, AZ 85603
+1 [520] 432-3567
www.theshadydell.com/
Google map: bit.ly/d63Qtz
This is a very uniquely decorated 'hotel' which is more like a hostel, but is particularly cheap for New York accommodation and the artwork is like no other.
www.carltonarms.com/
160 East 25th Street, New York NY 10010
+1 212 679 0680 or +1212684 8337
Google map: bit.ly/aRmiic
A lovely kitsch and cute classic films themed hotel with an in-house cat and lovely staff. Each room is named after a filmstar (we were in the Kim Novak suite) filled with film posters that they had starred in and even larger pictures in the lobby, halls and breakfast room. Feels like a home from home in the middle of the Big Apple - you're right on the corner of Chelsea, the meatpacking district and the west village. They post you a newsletter under the door every morning with suggestions of things to do and sights to see and they will book you tickets to anywhere you want to go. We went on honeymoon and they sent flowers to our room. Very very charming, free internet and business centre with compuetrs and printing, lovely breakfast and staff who would do anything to ensure you are happy in this lovely hotel.
317 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10014
+1 (212) 929-1023
www.chelseapinesinn.com/
Google map: bit.ly/cHYLFn
Without a doubt a destination hotel, the Madonna Inn embodies the glorious wackiness of California like no other, but does so with immense style and heart. Even if you're just passing through, take the time to pull off route 101 to gaze in awe at the ornate (and very pink) dining room (be sure to marvel at the pink sugar) and be impressed by the waterfall in the gents' toilets upstairs (ladies - knock and peep!). If you do stay you just have to decide which of the 110 individually and imaginately themed rooms you want - Yosemite Rock, Captain's Bridge, Paris Violets, Caveman. One night will not be enough!
www.madonnainn.com
100 Madonna Road, San Luis Obispo, CA 93405
Reservations Phone: +1 (800) 543-9666
General Information Phone: +1 (805) 543-3000
Google map: bit.ly/cDlI0m
For a potent San Francisco experience, the Phoenix delivers on all levels. Its motorlodge 1950s motel style, complete with kitsch central pool and vintage furnishings, make you feel like you're in a really good Quentin Tarantino film. Team this with its grungy Tenderloin location and the fact that tour buses regularly pull up on the drive to deliver touring rockstars as guests, and you've got yourself one hell of an American Dream.
601 Eddy St, San Francisco, CA 94109
+1 415.776.1380
www.jdvhotels.com/hotels/sanfrancisco/phoenix
Google map: bit.ly/bn7dxm
www.jdvhotels.com/hotels/sanfrancisco/phoenix
Super-friendly bed and breakfast place and very reasonably-priced.
Coffee and some sort of cake seem to be permanently available. The breakfasts are as huge and filling as you want them to be.
The centre of Bend, with it's pubs and restaurants, is just 10 minutes walk away, so it's perfectly located for the town as well as the surrounding Cascade mountains.
You will have to share a bathroom though, so if you're not happy about that, look elsewhere, but everything's spotlessly clean.
642 NW Colorado Avenue, Bend OR 97701
www.millinn.com
+1 541.389.9198
Google map: bit.ly/coWhk3
When at Breakers Inn you can be in Japan, Sweden or Canada Or if you are feeling a little homesick – England, Scotland or Ireland. Or if you want to experience more of the USA than you have time for – Oregon, Pennsylvania or Virginia. These are just a sample of the 28 individually decorated rooms available.
We stayed in Holland. It was bright, fresh and clean with all that you would want in a motel room with just one or two extras: bright ornamental wooden tulips, pictures of windmills surrounded by tulip fields and mini china clogs hanging from the wardrobe handles!
With amazing uninterrupted views of the Pacific Ocean and the Gualala River, Breakers Inn is a brilliant motel to spend a night or two when exploring Northern California.
39300 S. Hwy 1, PO Box 389, Gualala, CA 95445 +1 707-884-3200
www.breakersinn.com
Google map: bit.ly/cqx9j7
Truly scary palace of kitsch - bright pink sparkly lobby, themed rooms and a waterfall in the men's toilets. Definitely worth a stop for a drink even if you can't face staying here!
100 Madonna Road
San Luis Obispo, CA 93405
+1 (805) 543-3000
www.madonnainn.com
Google map: bit.ly/bVuJ1S
It is a Hotel in New Delhi a great place to stay.
www.hotelnanak.com
2222 Hardhian Singh Road,
Karol Bagh, New Delhi - 110005
+(91)-(11)-49330000
Google map: bit.ly/csuWPs