Hotels and Lodging

Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2004, Relais & Châteaux includes 450 privately owned hotels and restaurants in 50 countries around the world, each establishment adhering to the association’s quality charter.

Gift certificates, in denominations of $50, $100 or $500 and valid for two years, can be used for gourmet dining, hotel accommodations, spa treatments and other amenities and may be purchased by calling 877/334-6464 or visiting www.relaischateaux.com/gift.

To order the international guide ($8 shipping and handling fee), call 800/735-2478.

Founded in 1981, Wolsey Lodges is a consortium of 188 privately owned houses providing lodging in England, Scotland and Wales. Arrivals are treated as family or friends, rather than guests, and often dine with their hosts. 

Entries include stylish houses in London and Edinburgh, but most are in the countryside. Even a Scottish castle is listed.

Bed and breakfast ranges from £25 (near $45) to £90 ($161) per person per night, with an average of £38-£40 ($68-$72). Optional dinners average £25.

On a quick trip to Portugal and Spain in November ’03, we discovered two beautiful palace hotels.

During our independent driving tour from Prague to Rome in May-June ’03, Europe was experiencing record high heat.

Four of us took a 5-week trip to Germany, Switzerland and Austria, June 3-July 10, ’03. We had first-class railpasses and by the end of the trip had taken 74 trains, 12 local buses, one tour bus, seven taxis, five trams, eight boats, four subways, four funiculars, two cable cars, five personal cars and four vans. The following establishments were the ones that were most outstanding.

My husband, Eugene, and I were scheduled to leave on April 12, ’04, on a month-long trip to Eastern Europe, beginning in Prague.

We participated in a week-long “working vacation” in northern England, March 27-April 3, ’04, with the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers, or BTCV (Conservation Centre, 163 Balby Rd., Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN4 0RH; phone 01302 572-244, fax 01302 310 167, e-mail information@btcv.org.uk).

The cost for the week was £95 (about $170) per person. This included all expenses except a dinner on our day off.