Brittany Ferries is not just a ferry operator, but also a holiday and hotel booking service.

Somehow, no matter how hard we try to plan things in advance we always do things at the last minute. Last July we decided, rather late in the day, that we’d like a ‘little holiday’ in France. This was to be our third short break in France, having previously travelled to Caen and Cherbourg, both from Portsmouth.

Brittany Ferries offers what appears to be a great online booking service, trouble is we were too late to use it and I had to use the phone to make the booking, referring to the website to find details of hotels. We wanted bed and breakfast somewhere we could use as a centre for a quiet sightseeing family holiday that we could easily afford, allowing us enough spare cash for two adults and two children (12 and 15) to ‘eat local’ during the day.

On the fifth time of phoning, I struck lucky, a hotel miles away to the west of St Malo, chosen from the “Golf Break” brochure, but with an excellent restaurant and close to the sea. We booked it, taking advantage of offers we were told about over the phone and off we went a few days later!

~~ Getting there and the hotel. ~~

My navigational skills are not what they should be and we needed a better, larger scale road map. French signposts are ‘at’ the junction rather than before it, so of course we got lost and eventually arrived at our hotel an hour or so later than agreed. They didn’t mind at all and were so kind.
Our room, in what appeared to be an annexe, had us worried for a couple of minutes until we were shown through the door. It wasn’t a ‘family room’ with four beds crammed in but was a small suite comprising two bedrooms (one twin and one double), a washroom with two washbasins, separate shower room and separate WC. Each bedroom had a television and although both were snug they were well fitted out and scrupulously clean. As with many French hotels, they didn’t offer tea-making facilities, providing instead dishes of sweets. The free toiletries and fluffy white towels were a delight to use.

“Hotel de la Voile d'Or” (ref HF2118) is a low, modern building on the roadside in a very quiet seaside town opposite a tidal lagoon. A place for winding down, certainly not the place for boisterous young children and quick evening snacks. Its restaurant has a well-deserved Michelin rating; the owner/chef is “Maître Cuisinier de France”. Eating there is an expensive, one-off six-course experience you’d talk about for years to come. Stroll up the road for cheaper evening food, in similarly quiet surroundings.

~~ The return journey. ~~

~ Minus points ~
… The advertised swimming pool was not open for the whole voyage and there was a charge for a short, timed, swim session, so we didn’t bother with it!
… The day cabin wasn’t ready until an hour after the ship had left St Malo!

As well as the travelling tips :-
… When you’re shopping on the ferry check on board prices carefully and remember the ‘at home’ exchange rate. Pay either Sterling or Euros, use whichever is cheaper and don’t try to mix the two in one transaction. Keep spare or left over Euros for your next trip.
… Next time we’d probably choose a shorter and cheaper crossing and be more confident that we could drive further. French roads really are very good and cheaper fuel means that there will be some small saving, which could of course be spent on food and wine to bring home!
… We would remember to buy a decent large scale and up to date road atlas.
… Our choice of hotels would begin with those further away from the ferry terminals, because they appear to be slightly less expensive.
… We’d travel during the day because hotel accommodation seems to work out cheaper than an overnight crossing with a cabin ~ and you wake up to a breakfast!
… For the homeward journey, take a trip to the local market or supermarket in France and fill up the cool bag for a picnic rather than paying on board prices for food and drinks.
… Try to speak French whenever possible, it is appreciated and helps get better service.
… Some public toilets in France are very basic!