Hotels * B&Bs * Homestays * Apartments

The following is a listing of some of the hotels, B&Bs, etc., in which ITN readers have stayed over the past year or so plus restaurants or sights nearby. Prices are those paid at the time of the visit and conversion rates are approximate.

When writing to ITN about accommodations, always include the PRICES and addresses/locations, along with the date (month/year) of your visit. Also, please state whether the price is per person or per room and, if it is per room, whether it’s for a double or single room.

Lastly, we welcome pictures with your write-up, whether they are interior or exterior shots of the hotel or just sights in the area. Color or B&W prints or slides are fine. Thank you.

A few ITN readers have admitted to some reluctance in revealing a particularly attractive establishment. We, too, have experienced these feelings, but we have found the two hotels referred to below to be so deserving of praise that we’ve been able to overcome our reluctance.

* First, in Bellagio on Italy’s Lake Como is the Hotel Excelsior Splendide (Lungolago Manzoni, 22021 Bellagio, Como, ITALY; phone [031] 950.225 or fax [031] 951 224).

Lake Como is truly one of the world’s great beauty spots, but one need not stay in the famous and very expensive Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni to enjoy its beauty. For something less than $100 a day, the Excelsior Splendide will provide room and bath with a “splendide” view of the lake and mountains, only a few steps from the ferry landing. It cost 170,000 lire ($79) in 1999. For very little more, demipension was available.

Their Continental breakfast is a bountiful buffet. In the evening, an equally generous buffet is always available before the dinner is served.

What makes all this even better is the warmth and skill of the management, all of whom speak English. We enjoy the Splendide so much, we have stayed there a few days in May almost every year since 1995.

* In Paris we were very pleased with the Hotel Residence Monge (55 rue Monge, 75005 Paris, FRANCE; phone 01 43 26 87 90 or fax 01 43 54 47 25) in May ‘00. A nice, large-by-Paris-standards, air-conditioned room costs less than $100.

The hotel on rue Monge is on the Left Bank about halfway between the Cardinal Lemoine and Place Monge Metro stops. A stroll down rue Monge will bring you to the riverbank opposite Notre Dame. With a somewhat shorter stroll, you will reach the bustling, restaurant-lined rue Mouffetard.