Might I suggest you google the Arras Tourist Office, the St Quentin Tourist Office and the Office de Tourisme de Picardie. You may find accommodation listed as HEBERGEMENT, and perhaps Trip Advisor can sort out the wheat from the chaff. You will also be able to find reliable chain hotels, such as Etap Hotels, Ibis, Campanile, Mercure all of which have their own websites. Hope you have a lovely visit, and the weather is supposed to be good next week - except in our corner of the North East!!

We stayed in the Express by Holiday Inn which is just opposite the train station in Arras. We went during the October half-term last year. Got one of the special offers that you see advertised in the Sunday papers and paid an incredible £50 per room per night for a family of four sharing. OK the sofa bed for the kids wasn't brilliant but it did what it said on the tin. This price also included a very substantial continental breakfast so I really couldn't fault it. As Arras is equidistant from all 3 ports ie Calais, Dunkerque and Boulogne we just went for the cheapest offer which at that time was the now defunct Speed Ferries. The one and only time we sailed with them. Hope you have a good stay wherever you end up.

Although it's probably too late for bellavista's trip (she is probably already in France) I do second Alsa's recommendation for Etap Hotels. We drive through France 4-6 times each year on our way to the UK and mostly stop overnight in one of these hotels. The rooms sleep up to three people, are clean, sound proofed, warm or air conditioned as the season requires.They are not luxury but are very good value . We usually stay near Reims were the room costs €44 per night but have stayed in other towns and have always been satisfied, breakfast is around €5 per person. The hotel in Saint Quentin costs €35 per night. The hotels are nearly always situated near restaurants or a large supermarket where you can obtain a good cheap meal. So anyone looking for a very reasonably priced stop off or a couple of days break won't go far wrong choosing an Etap hotel.

Thanks all for the help. I will be posting a trip report of our whistlestop tour shortly.