La Maison des Manalas is a two-room guest house in a village house at Herrlisheim-près-Colmar, about ten minutes south of Colmar and on the edge of the wine road. It is named after the manala, the little brioche man Alsace bakes for Saint Nicholas, and one is the logo over the door.
The two rooms are named after what is around them. The red one is the Route des Vins and has a 160 bed and a wooden floor; the green one is the Ballon des Vosges and has a 140. Both have their own shower room and WC.
A small kitchen on the landing is shared between them, with a fridge, a microwave and things for tea. Breakfast is homemade and included, and it is brought to the room whenever the guest wants it rather than served at a set hour. There is a garden with a terrace and furniture out in the warmer months, parking is free, and guests let themselves in.
The owners come out of twenty years in hotels and restaurants, and one of them is a qualified guide who works in four languages, which is worth knowing if the plan is the wine villages, Colmar or the Vosges ridge above.
