I will be spending 2 nights in Saint Malo with my 18 year old daughter in July.
We love the beach. That said, I am unsure if we should get a hotel on the beach or in the City Center. The recommended hotels in Rick Steve's book are in the City Center, but there are also great reviews on trip advisor for beach hotels.
Does anyone have an opinion one way or the other?
This is our first experience in this part of France.
Posted by
Cleveland, Ohio US
39 posts
We stayed here: http://www.oceaniahotels.com/h/hotel-oceania-saint-malo/presentation and really liked it.
Some of the rooms had ocean views and it was a quick walk to the walled city, 5 min tops. We LOVED St. Malo. It is very charming. Staying in the walled city would be cool too. Having the oceans views and a really short walk to the city is win-win in my opinion.
Also - There is a crepe place recommended in the book, it was awesome - Le Corps de Garde Creperie.
Posted by
Orinda, California, United States
307 posts
We stayed here - it was such a treat to see the tide go so far out and then come to where the surf splashes on the sidewalk. The sunsets as well as seeing "walkers" brave the surf from the nearby spa. Loved the hotel as well. http://www.hotel-beaufort.com/en/
Posted by
Decorah, Iowa, USA
345 posts
My husband and I stayed in the St. Malo Mercure hotel. It was on the beach and close to the walled city. We often stay at Mercures because at one time, the cost was better for those of us over sixty years young. The hotel had great pictures of waves crashing on the beach. We had a room that overlooked the beach.
I wanted to go to St. Malo because I had visited in 1972 (pre husband days) and enjoyed seeing the wall and the center city. It was so cold during that trip, I bought a sweater in San Malo just to be able to keep warm!
Have you read the book "All the Light We Cannot See"? It is a very good fiction story of a young girl who is blind who is living in St. Malo during World War II.
Regardless of where you stay, enjoy!
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7887 posts
Depending on your programme, I would also take into consideration distance to your car or local busses, ferry or tourist noise, restaurant noise, absence or presence of air conditioning, and whether there's an elevator. St. Malo parking is a mob scene in yacht/tourist season. If I were staying at St. Malo, my priority would be to be "inside the walls." I mean that in the way that so many people insist on spending three nights in Bruges (which isn't that much like St. Malo ... ). But I imagine that would be very noisy, all day and through restaurant street hours. (We stayed, in fact, in Dinard at a tiny beachfront hotel just ahead of season, so it was quiet and dull. Good view of St. Malo! Not urging you to change at all. Luckily we had bought a 240V box fan during our immediately previous stay in a chateau.)