It is easy enough to find a cheap flight; much harder to find the right place to stay. The airline websites that sell the flights also carry hotel offers. But these come from business partners, whose selections are inevitably commercial. For my new pocket guide - Best Hotels For Budget Fliers - I have matched the main low-cost airline destination airports with hotels featured in The Good Hotel Guide. These are hotels of character which have been tried and tested by inspectors and readers of the guide.
Here's a selection of places that are as tempting as the low-cost fares. The prices quoted are for a night in a double room, or B&B for two people in a double. Dinner, bed and breakfast (DB&B), however, is quoted per person. Hotels are open all year, unless otherwise specified.
Budget You've got a terrific deal for the flight; here are hotels that won't burn a hole in your pocket either.
Paris airport
Chtillon Hotel
Airlines: bmibaby, easyJet, FlyBE, Ryanair.
Luce and Bernard Lecoq's personal little hotel in an off-beat location, a quiet square near the Porte d'Orléans; good links to the centre (metro: Alésia). Quirky, without frills; spacious rooms, filling breakfast. Amazing value.
· 00 33 1 45 42 31 17, chatillon.hotel@wanadoo.fr. Room €57-70.
Lyon
Hotel des Artistes
Airlines: easyJet, Ryanair.
A friendly unpretentious B&B hotel, popular with actors at the nearby Théatre des Célestins. Small bedrooms are bright, modern and double-glazed. Close to Place Bellecour; spend what you save by staying here eating out in style in France's culinary capital.
· 00 33 4 78 42 04 88, hartiste@club-internet.fr. Room €75-103.
Karlsruhe/Baden
Hotel Am Markt
Airline: Ryanair.
The airport is close to the historic Black Forest spa town of Baden-Baden. The Bognor family's unassuming hostelry is in the old town near the cathedral and the baths. Bright white-painted rooms, excellent breakfasts.
· 00 49 7221 2 70 40, hotel-am-markt-baden.de. B&B €60-80.
Verona/Brescia
Hotel Torcolo
Airline: Ryanair.
Sisters Silvia and Diana Pomari run this charming B&B, just off the Piazza Bra and the Arena. Rooms vary in size, but are well furnished. Excellent value so close to the opera.
· 00 39 045 800 7512, hoteltorcolo.it. Room €70-108.
Bilbao
Iturriena Ostatua
Airline: easyJet.
Simple pension near the cathedral in the old town (a short ride on the metro to the Guggenheim). Small but cleverly put together bedrooms with old beams, antique furniture. Some at front might hear noise from revellers.
· 00 34 94 416 15 00. Room €57.
Holiday Budget breaks needn't be short. Here are five excellent hotels, ideal for a longer stay, within easy reach of airports.
La Rochelle
Hotel Restaurant L'Océan
Airline: FlyBE, Ryanair.
The airport is close to the Île de Ré, a holiday island favoured by the French. This two-star Logis de France, in a sleepy village, is close to a long white beach. Good restaurant - fish is the speciality. Book well ahead.
· 00 33 5 46 09 23 07, re-hotel-ocean.com. DB&B €62-91pp.
Ancona
Hotel Eden Gigli
Airline: Ryanair.
The Gigli family's cheerful holiday hotel, on white cliffs on the edge of a northern Adriatic village, is smart but informal. Good for children, with play area and pool. Jeep transfers to private beach.
· 00 39 071 933 0652, giglihotels.com. D,B&B €85-120pp. Open April-October.
Girona
Hotel Restaurant Llevant
Airline: Ryanair.
The Farrarons family's hotel stands on the beach in a small Costa Brava resort south-east of Girona. Light well-furnished bedrooms, immaculate dining room facing the sea with lots of fresh fish on menu. Quiet out of season.
· 00 34 972 30 03 66, hllevant@arrakis.es. D,B&B €106-203pp. Closed November.
Palma
Hotel Es Molí
Airlines: Air Berlin, bmibaby, easyJet, MyTravelLite, Thomsonfly.
Much-loved holiday hotel on the outskirts of famous Mallorcan hill village. Gorgeous gardens, sunbeds among orange and fig trees, superb swimming pool, friendly staff. Minibus to private beach.
· 00 34 971 63 90 00, esmoli.com. D,B&B €116-138pp. Open April 11 to end October.
Bordeaux
Hotel des Pins
Airline: bmibaby, FlyBE.
A spruce Logis de France set among pine trees 100m from a vast sandy beach on the tip of the Medoc peninsula. Deck chairs and parasols on wide lawns. Family run, excellent staff, popular restaurant, great value.
· 00 33 5 56 73 27 27, hotel-des-pins.com. DB&B €42-80pp. Closed January 15-March 12.
Rural idyll
There's more to low-cost flights than city breaks. Here are some country escapes; you may need to hire a car.
Biarritz
Hotel Arcé
Airline: Ryanair.
Beautiful country hotel in village beside a fast-flowing trout river in remote valley near the Spanish border (a key Basque folklore centre). Gourmet dinners, copious breakfasts, good walking in the hills.
· 00 33 5 59 37 40 14, hotel-arce.com. DB&B €71-104pp. Closed mid-November to mid-March.
Carcassonne
La Ferme de la Sauzette
Airline: Ryanair.
Chris and Diane Gibson have converted two granaries at their stone farmhouse just south of Carcassonne into a rustic chambres d'hôtes. Surrounded by Corbières vineyards. Excellent dinner served communally, alfresco in fine weather.
· 00 33 4 68 79 81 32, lasauzette.com. DB&B €57-90pp. Closed November and January.
Alghero
Camisadu
Airline: Ryanair.
The Fele family's simple agriturismo (farm stay) offering a taste of rural life in the centre-east of Sardinia. Overlooks broad valley. Basic (shared 'spotless' bathroom) but enjoyable. Wonderful farm food served in dining room with open fire.
· 00 39 0368 347 9502, sardinia.net/agritur. D,B&B €47-52pp.
Palermo
Hotel Al Poggetto
Airline: Ryanair.
The Pavini family welcome guests with some style to their family farm an hour's drive up spectacular mountain roads from Palermo. Pretty swimming pool and garden; bedrooms have local antiques.
· 00 39 091 875 0213, alpoggetto.it. B&B €90-100.
Almería
Alquería de Morayma
Airline: MyTravelLite.
Down to earth centro agri-touristico in a pueblo in the foothills of the Alpujarras, 50 miles north of Almería. Terrific views, charming staff. Guests are encouraged to join in the work of the organic farm, picking fruit, making sausages.
· 00 34 958 34 32 21, alqu-eriamorayma.com. Room €59.
Where?
Here are five interesting hotels within range of airports you may have never heard of may (these destinations often have the cheapest fares).
Rodez
Hotel Sainte-Foy
Where? In southern France, Rodez is a gateway to the attractive Aveyron hill villages.
Airline: Ryanair.
The Garcenot family's 17th-century timbered inn is opposite a Romanesque abbey in a magical village on a wooded hillside above a gorge. Old stones and rustic furniture add to the cosy feel; delicious dinners. Some 20 miles from the airport.
· 00 33 5 65 69 84 03, hotelsaintefoy.fr. D,B&B €205-280pp. Open Easter-October.
Ancona
Locanda della Valle Nuova
Where? Italy's Adriatic coast; Ancona is the capital of the Marche region.
Airline: Ryanair.
Head inland towards Urbino to find architect Augusto Savini's beguiling eco-friendly country house. His wife Adriana and daughter Giula cook five-course meals using produce from the family's organic farm. Swimming pool in gardens.
· 00 39 0722 330303, vallenuova.it. DB&B €70pp (minimum three-night stay). Open June 25-November 7.
Friedrichshafen
Gasthof zum Bären
Where? Southern Germany on the shores of Lake Constance, close to the Austrian and Swiss borders.
Airline: Ryanair.
The Gilowsky family's handsome old inn on the market square of Meersburg, the prettiest town on Lake Constance (15 miles from the airport). Antiques, creaking stairs, carvings and flowerpots. Romantic.
· 00 49 7532 4 32 20, meersburg.de/baeren. Room €78-104. Open March 15-November 15.
Groningen
Schimmelpenninck Huys
Where? Northern Netherlands; a university city close to the German border.
Airline: Ryanair.
The Greek-Dutch Karistinos-Smit family rescued this historic patrician's house from squatters and developers. They are much in evidence, creating a good ambience (the lounge is decorated in Jugendstil). A seafood and a French restaurant, but the family also own a Greek restaurant nearby.
· 00 31 50 318 95 02, schimmelpenninckhuys.nl. Room €120.
Valladolid
Posada de la Casa del Abad
Where? Northern Spain; 100 miles north-west of Madrid in the Castilla y Léon region.
Airline: Ryanair.
The Garcia Puertos family have converted their historic home, in a small village with a mighty medieval fortress, into a luxury hotel. Mixture of the ancient (beams, antiques) and the ultra-modern (bright colours, hi-tech bathrooms). Close to the airport.
· Plaza Francisco Martín Gromaz 12, Ampudia (00 34 979 76 80 08, casadelabad.com. Room €132-212.
· Best Hotels For Budget Fliers edited by Desmond Balmer is published by Ebury Press at £5.99
