Lodging Nods

Please note that I am not a luxury traveler. I tend to like a place that has a story, friendly service, is clean, and serves breakfast.

Click on an image for more information.

Hotel Torre Bennistra. Scopello, Sicily, Italy.

Stunning view of the Mediterranean, great food, terrace breakfast, clean, spacious room, run by a friendly family.

Château de Pray. Amboise, France.

Stay in a 13th Century castle along the Loire River in the countryside near charming Amboise.

Hôtel Saint-Jacques. Paris, France.

Near rue Mouffetard on the Rive Gauche. Close to the Panthéon and Notre-Dame de Paris. Small, but elegant, comfortable and friendly.

Hôtel de 2 Continents. Paris, France.

Also on the Rive Gauche and very close to Hôtel Saint-Jacques. Small, but elegant. The hotel memorializes the Treaty of Paris that was signed by the United States and Great Britain on the same street in 1783 and granted independence to the United States.

Hotel Rubenshof. Antwerpen, Belgium.

A hotel with history and art, the rooms themselves are simple and austere. Not for those who need luxury. Friendly staff.

Castel de Pont-à-Lesse Hotel. Dinant, Belgium.

A simple castle built right around 1800, Castel de Pont-à-Lesse has served as a hotel in the countryside outside of Dinant for the past sixty or so years. Terrific breakfast.

Weinhaus Weiler. Oberwesel, Germany.

Stunning service. Beautiful room, very comfortable. A full table of breakfast awaited me the next morning. Owned by the same family since the 1500s! On the Rhine River in a beautiful, medieval walled town.

Berghotel Kockelsberg. Trier, Germany.

Overlooking perhaps the oldest city in Germany with its Roman gates, baths and cathedrals. The views are spectacular, the food in the restaurant is wonderful, and the service was warm and friendly.

Icelandair Hotel Natura Reykjavík. Reykjavík, Iceland.

The domestic air tower, the hotel and Icelandair’s business offices are all together in yet another demonstration of Icelandic practical sense. There were a few small planes, but I didn’t notice any noise. Comfortable rooms, great restaurant, close to Hallgrímskirkja, Perlan, and not a far way to the main city.

Country House Anna. Hvolsvelli, Iceland.

Charming hotel with a restaurant off the southern Ring Road between the waterfalls Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss and in the cradle of Eyjafjallajökull, which erupted in 2010. The house in named in honor of female writer Sigriður Anna Jónsdóttir born nearby in 1901. Her first published writing was for the Reykjavík newspaper. She published five books about her travels. The one in English is called A Dairymaid Travels the World. There is a display about her life.

Casa Escondida. Chimayo, New Mexico.

Gorgeous bed and breakfast complex of rooms very close to El Sanctuario de Chimayo and not far from Santa Fe.

Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town. Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Beautiful hotel with great service in Old Town Albuquerque.

The Historic Anchorage Hotel. Anchorage, Alaska.

A hotel with history — including stories of ghosts — right in downtown Anchorage. Established in 1916, it has the feeling of another time.