La Flanerie

Description:

• Within a large garden that slopes down to the edge of the Garonne, about 8km (5 miles) south of Toulouse, stands this dignified-looking manor house, originally built in 1799 for a local landowner. Part of its allure derives from the early 1970s, when it was the site of a hotel favored by French celebrities and international rock stars, whose names fill the guest book that the Irish-born owners, the Moloney family, have presented since their acquisition of the place late in 2004. You might be happiest interpreting La Flanerie as an informal bed-and-breakfast, where the rooms just happen to be country-elegant and the welcome particularly warm. A free-standing garage for each of the 12 bedrooms is an unexpected quirk, deriving from one of the auto-obsessed former owners. Accommodations are stylish and midsize.

• © Frommer's 2012