The Hôtel Germania in Ajaccio is excellent, and leaves nothing to be desired.
There are, as I have said, two hotels in the town; both large and good.
The Hôtel de France is decidedly cheaper, and, we were told, was comfortable, and well-managed by an exceedingly attentive landlord; but I fancy a few luxuries to be had at Hôtel Germania are not attainable there.
But the great attraction for invalids in Hôtel Germania is that it is the usual nucleus of the resident English.
The chaplain (here for the winter season) usually stays at this hotel; the house is warm, and airy, and spacious; the bedrooms are dainty and well furnished, and there is a cosy salle de lecture, or drawing-room, containing a good piano.
Tidy little maids, in muslin caps and aprons, attend upon the ladies' wants; the mistress is kind and attentive, and the food is said to be rather superior to that at the other hotel.
From ten to twelve francs a day is the usual price at the Hôtel Germania for "pension" in the season. This includes a nice room with sofa and writing-table; attendance, and three meals, including six o'clock table d'hôte.
The hotel is out of the town, but within two minutes' walk of it; built against a green wooded hill, covered with prickly pear, and thickly populated by nightingales; and has a nice little garden of its own, rich in roses and scarlet geraniums.
Every winter a little English band of visitors, from twenty to forty in number, gathers here; and the society within the house is generally exceedingly pleasant and sociable.
Outside, there are lovely walks and drives; carriages can be hired at two francs the hour; and the pretty English church (in which, during the winter, service is held two or three times a week by the chaplain) is within a stone's throw.