We had a wonderful stay at Castel Clara. The hotel is located on the rocks with dramatic views of the estuary below. Our room with balcony had fantastic views. Although a big feature of the hotel is the spa with its large variety of treatments, we preferred to spend time exploring the beautiful island on the hotel's bicycles. The fine dining restaurant was superb - focusing mostly on fish. Extensive wine list with very knowledgeable sommelier - in fact all staff were well trained, professional but friendly. The hotel offers a sea food lunch daily with crayfish, oysters on a buffet table with the main course of finely cooked fish being served at the table. Did I mention oysters for breakfast! Spoilt rotten - but we were on holiday and incredibly well looked after. Thanks so much to the team at Castel Clara!

Starting with the positive:

Smart but quite understated hotel in a beautiful location overlooking an inlet and the Atlantic Ocean.
Standard sea view room for 280 Euros per night but 3 nights for the price of 2. Room was lovely with 2 mini-balconies, big comfortable bed and large bathroom with very good shower over the bath. Separate toilet. Bed covering was sheet + cream blanket. I don't like blankets but because they were pale and spotless I didn't mind.
Very nice terrace where we had drinks once and coffees once. Sure you pay 5 Euros for a Diet Coke but at that level it's no big deal. It's the bigger items which cause a problem (see below).
Location is great for walking along the coast in either direction and it's very quiet.

Now the negative:

First on is not such a big deal. We arrived just after another couple. The receptionist said she would be with us soon then took them for a tour of the hotel. Several minutes later they came back and she called someone in to help but didn't say anything to us then went off with the other couple again. After a few minutes a chap arrived to help us. So why didn't she call him in in the first place. Ok no big deal but at this level I would expect better.

The big problem though is the cost of food and drink here. First night we had a meal for about 190 Euros for two. No desserts, half a bottle of Champagne. The service was fine, not great, just fine. The food was fine, not great, just fine. For 85 pounds a head, that's just nowhere near good enough. A CD was playing in the background and it looped while we were eating. For this class of hotel and these prices the whole experience was decidedly underwhelming. Breakfast was 25 Euros................
So by all means go to Castel Clara but I suggest you do what we did:
1. Walk several minutes to the little shop and get croissants for breakfast and have coffee at the cafe attached. This works out at about 1/10th the price and you won't over-eat.
2. Don't eat in the restaurant at all, either go into Le Palais* or Sauzon or walk several minutes to the Hotel Grand Large. We had a meal for about 90 Euros for two (half a bottle of delicious Sancerre red). It wasn't a brilliant meal but I'd rather pay 90 Euros for 60 Euros worth of dinner than 190 for the same quality.

* Couldn't recommend this highly enough - Restaurant L'Annexe, Quai Yser, 56360 Le Palais, Tél [--]. Down to earth, very French, delicious food.

Also recommend lunch or afternoon tea in Sauzon, lovely quiet little harbour.

It took me more than a year to write a review about “Castel Clara”, because our impressions were so discrepant! Location of this place is absolutely stunning, but Castel Clara itself was under our expectations. The major problem (in summer) is that there's no AC in rooms, but it was impossible to sleep with open window because of many mosquitoes. Also, blankets at least in standard rooms are 100% polyester (inconceivable for this kind of property).The wooden deck around the pool is very old, it was even dangerous to step on it without slippers -easy to get splinter. And finally it was very surprising for us to find out; that those traveling with very little kids are encouraged to check in, so, one of their "C" (Calme) just didn't work there. The best place there is a restaurant – every evening it offers a very generous buffet de fruit de mer with all imaginable kind of seafood. Their outside terraces have an incredible view of the ocean and cliffs of Belle-Ile. Now, after a year, I miss Belle-Ile-en-mer very much! The beauty and savagery of this Island is absolutely unique. This is not a beach place, but place for walking, admiring the scenery, breathing the freshest air, having simple French provincial food and drinking great French vines, which are so cheap there.

My husband and I recently stayed three nights at Relaix & Chateaux's Castel Clara, located in Belle Ile de Mer, and the hotel and staff are wonderful. We were upgraded to a suite (Suite Kerel, #123) upon our arrival and the room was beautiful: three rooms (sitting area, foyer, and bedroom) had a wall of sliding glass doors that spanned all three rooms with a wrap around deck, the furnishings and amenities were top notch, lighting was excellent, the bathroom was super with excellent towels and toiletries, and water pressure, and the view from our deck was super. We had dinner two evenings at the hotel and both meals were delicious with gracious service and excellent food and wine. Breakfast was fine but overpriced so make sure you load up on the fresh oysters! Evening turn down service was nice and included a different chocolate on our pillows each night. Overall, the hotel and its staff were wonderful and we highly recommend this hotel. P.S. If you want a break from crepes and heavy meals, go for pizza at La Cameleon in Bangor - pleasant restaurant and staff - and nice little town too. Also, be sure to rent a car to check out the island - it is beautiful!