HTML and notepad is how I have made every website I have ever made. (and I have made quite a few) I used to know CSS pretty well, but i'm not sure if I remember much of it. I have tried using programs to lay pages out, but the code they generate is so horrible and sloppy that you can hardly read it, and its so haphazard that you can never be sure if the page will load right on a browser other then your own. Maybe they have improved , but as of a few years ago when I was really doing alot of web design, I didn't care for them.
Free web hosts and tools are okay for childish looking sites, but if you want a professional image, your going to have to shell out a few bucks a month and get a real host and learn to lay pages out with HTML atleast.