My husband’s company had a 3 night conference at the Abbaye des Vaulx de Cernay in January of 2010. My husband travels a good bit for work, but he’s not allowed to go to France with out me, so I accompanied him and was so glad I did!

Even in January, when the pond was frozen and the gardens were mostly dormant, the Abbaye is beautiful and fascinating! I can only imagine how wonderful it would be to visit in the spring or fall months! The grounds are gorgeous!

Our room, 001, was huge and much more luxurious than I was expecting! A fire place, a huge bathtub, a sitting area, the tallest windows I’ve seen in a hotel, a huge big fluffy bed (not 2 twins pushed together like you find throughout Europe)! It was a wonderful quiet room!

The staff were very helpful, even when we couldn’t get the wifi to work in our room, they tried very hard to get it to work for us (although it never did). The bar staff was also very good at keeping the drinks full!

The food at the Abbaye was also very good, especially the soup!

The highlight of the Abbaye is the abbaye itself, the building, ruins and grounds! The wood fireplaces in the lounge were huge and smelled wonderful. The groin vaulted ceiling, the carved wood paneling on the walls, the original church organ, the place oozes charm and it’s past!

If I had one complaint, it was the free little booklets about the abbaye were only available in French, I would have loved to read it, but alas my French is not that good.

Also, the abbaye is in the middle of no where, so if you want to eat somewhere else, be prepared to drive for a good 15 minutes. There is nothing within walking distance (unless you consider a 1 hour walk walking distance).

We had a bad start. On arriving at Reception we found them offhand and unhelpful - certainly no welcoming smile or offer of help with our luggage. Bedroom small with a brass bath behind a curtain (no separate bathroom!) and no shower. No drawers to put clothes in. No Television. Although breakfast was served from 7 till 10, croisants and orange juice had run out by 9. When requested staff shook heads and walked away looking grumpy.
As I asked a receptionist for my Bill, he answered the phone whilst producing it with the other hand, put my Card in the machine, handed me the receipt and continued on the phone without any eye contact. A smile would have been nice after spending about £500 on two nights.
The Abbey itself is interesting and worth strolling around and one feels its history. Just try not to stay there! A.L.P.

The site and "museum like" elements are amazing. cistercian crypt and ruins, the fountain where supposedly saint louis went, the tons of elements of the Rothshild family history with the abbaye.. I spent a week end cut from the world in the park and castel. No tv, piping dating from probably years ago, in an authentic and old-fashioned room with high ceiling. Like if I was in a family estate. I loved the fine dinner. The service outside the restaurant is a bit weak for drinks or check out but I felt like it was a fair tribute to this week end in the classy past.

Really spectacular location in the grounds of a semi-ruined Abbey.

Some rooms are fantastic and some are quite poor (small, little light...). The quality of the food and wine is excellent but the service is very slow indeed and it's expensive.

The accommodation is quite spread out. We arrived when it was dark and they weren't keen to help us take our bags to our room despite it being up 2 flights of stairs and far from reception in another building somewhere else in the grounds. They did give us a map though!

We stayed for a wedding and the room rates were very good (90 euro/night).