50 Utterly Charming Hotels Around $100

FRANCE

Le Degoutaud
Veronique and Pierre Marin run a working farm--with fruit and olive orchards--in the Provencal town of Malaucene, where you can rent a room or a "boarding house," furnished cabins with kitchens and laundry facilities (weekly rentals only). The hospitality is as warm as the decor is rustic. Veronique cooks the communal dinner, served alfresco in summer. A pool juts into the countryside. 011-33/4-90-62-99-29, degoutaud.fr, from $76, includes breakfast; cabins from $621 per week.

(Rachel Olsson) [enlarge photo] We've gathered these hotels and more into an easy-to-search database • Search the database NOVEMBER 2006 ISSUE • Table of Contents • Laos: A Tour That Even Loners Can Love • Buenos Aires . . . Then What? • Road Trip: Joshua Tree • Trip Coach: Switzerland • 40 Best Vacations

Hostellerie le Castellas
This country inn in the Provencal village of Collias is composed of several 17th-century houses. Rooms are elegant without being stiff: Local fabrics, wood beams, and the occasional freestanding tub add character. (One bathroom is done completely in river stones.) The restaurant has a Michelin star. 011-33/4-66-22-88-88, lecastellas.fr, from $101.

Hotel de Nesle
Paris's Hotel de nell, as it's pronounced, prides itself on its bohemianism--which is another way of saying it's as quirky as can be. Twenty rooms, individually overdecorated, hide on a quiet street in Saint Germain. There's a garden, and the Antinea room has a hammam that other guests can use when the room isn't booked. Reservations are taken by telephone. 011-33/1-43-54-62-41, hoteldenesleparis.com, $95, includes tax.

Le Mas du Loriot
While the rooms tend toward the anonymous, all but one have terraces, and the views and the grounds are spectacular. The hotel is in the Luberon Regional Nature Park, in Provence, and surrounded by lavender, cypress, and pine trees. Owners Christine and Alain Thillard are happy to point you to antique fairs and markets. Note: Breakfast on the terrace is a must. 011-33/4-90-72-62-62, masduloriot.com, from $63 ($120 with terrace).

Les Roulottes de la Serve
A roulotte is like a French covered wagon, traditionally home to traveling-fair people. While many French inns have taken to putting one in the backyard and calling it a room, Les Roulottes, in the Beaujolais region, has only roulottes--two, to be precise (three as of April, to be even more precise). It's run by Pascal and Pascaline Patin, who bought the land 18 years ago for their horses (and opened it to guests in 1999), and accepts guests April through October. 011-33/4-74-04-76-40, lesroulottes.com, $60, includes breakfast.

FRENCH POLYNESIA

Pension Mauarii
On the island of Huahine--a 35-minute flight from Tahiti--the Pension Mauarii nimbly walks the fine line between Polynesian flair and kitsch. The chalets have hand-thatched roofs with flaps that let the breezes in. A staffer is on hand to organize wakeboard and scooter rentals, and the restaurant, which serves three meals a day, is on stilts at the water's edge. 011-689/688-649, mauarii.com, from $77.

GERMANY

Hotel Askanischer Hof
No one is going to confuse the old-fashioned Askanischer Hof--on the Ku'damm in Berlin--with a hipster hangout. Vintage photos line the walls, and knickknacks congregate in every nook. But lest you think the guests are all in bed by 10 p.m., note that something about the place must be decadent if it's appealed to the likes of David Bowie and Helmut Newton. 011-49/30-881-8033, askanischerhof.de, from $120.

25Hours Hotel
One look at the black-leather-ish front desk studded with pink plastic bubbles, and you know you're somewhere interesting. 25Hours, in Hamburg, has 95 rooms that blend contemporary style and retro touches. The hotel tries to foster a sense of community with big tables in the restaurant, and a Wohnzimmer, or living room, that has a fireplace and chessboard. The simple roof terrace is a breath of fresh air. (Discounts are often offered to folks under 25.) 011-49/40-855-070, 25hours-hotel.de, from $128.

GREECE