Hotels and Lodging

by Fred DeVinney, photos by Jean DeVinney, Oakland, CA

My husband and I traveled throughout Botswana, then to Victoria Falls, in September and October 2006. We flew into Gaborone, Botswana, and stayed at the Gaborone Sun International Hotel (phone 09267-3951111 or visit www.sun-international.com). Bed and breakfast can be booked at $147 per night for two.

This was the best hotel in town.

Its rooms were Western and very comfortable. They had a lovely pool, a helpful staff and very good food. Every evening, hundreds of yellow birds were in the trees outside of our room building incredible hanging nests.

by Sarah Rosenbloom, Chicago, IL

From Wroclaw/Boleslawiec, POLAND, June 3, ’07. . .

by June Griffin, Lewiston, ME

Dear Reader, my December 2006 account of being lost in France and getting directions from a local jogged the memory of Patricia Arcaro of Glen Mills, Pennsylvania. She and a friend had lost their way in France when a motorcyclist stopped to help, going out of his way to take them to their hotel, driving through a series of backstreets, main streets, construction sites and, finally, an alley.

We stayed in Amritsar, INDIA, at Hotel CJ International (Opp. Langar Hall Building, Inside Golden Temple Car Parking, Amritsar-143001, India; phone 0091 183-2543478, 2535677 or 2535678, fax 2535677 or visit www.cjhotel.net), directly across from the glorious Golden Temple, Feb. 26-28, 2007.

Near the Black Sea, the Sadko Hotel (Astrakhan, 9, Anapa, RUSSIA; phone 86133 3-27-44 , fax 27-43, mobile phone 8-918-137 0004 or 8-918-410 00 09 or visit www.anapa-sadko.narod.ru [in Russian]) is well located in downtown Anapa two blocks from the beach. My stay was in December ’06-January ’07.

Very clean. And great value! 520 rubles ($20) a night for a room with two single beds and a shower and toilet en suite. New Year’s night for the same room, $35. A room with a single bed was 400 rubles ($16) per night. During the summer season, rooms run $60-$100 per night.

Hotel Italia (Via Venezia 18-00184, Rome, ITALY; phone 06-4828355, fax 4745550 or visit www.hotelitaliaroma.com) is in a safe location in Rome where one can return alone at night from the bus or subway easily. It’s 10 minutes from the train station (Stazione Termini) and a few steps off Via Nazionale, which has bus routes to the Vatican and all stops between. Across Via Nazionale is a grocery for lunch supplies.

During our 3-week stay in Italy in October ’06, the most unusual hotel we stayed in was Country House Montali (Via Montali 23, 06068 Tavernelle di Panicale, ITALY; phone +39 075 8350 680, fax 144 or visit www.montalionline.com). I think it might appeal to many ITN readers.

Its exquisite and varied cuisine is vegetarian. The Umbria region of Italy may be a meat eater’s paradise, but even meat eaters like me relish a change. For €80 ($106) per person per day, our half-board included breakfast and dinner — superb cuisine, lovingly served.