Our stay here was to be the highlight of a rare weekend road trip with our classic car, far away from child and pets for my wife and I. The hotel was full whilst we were planning and we were excited to have secured a late cancellation.

The location is high above the village but whilst there is plenty of parking, the walk back up if you venture out on foot is not to be taken lightly. However with a reservation in the hotel restaurant this did not worry us.

The room was up a steep flight of twisting stairs, but this and the elegant decor rich in velvet and dark colours appealed to me. Ours was the Proust room, which was of a good size and esoterically decorated. The bathroom was plain and functional with a spa bath which took some effort to get working - there are instructions but they defeated our level of French. However the big deal was that being above the kitchens and close to the extractor fans - even with the windows closed the noise was obtrusive. On enquiring at reception we were told that the fans would turn off when the kitchen closed, but to be frank when you are paying 220€ a night you expect better than this. We stayed in February, but in the summer when you would want the small windows open it would be even worse.

I am not a fussy eater and we have dined in style all over the world, but the meal served here was the most pretentious nonsense I have ever experienced. There was no a la carte available, just a Gourmet menu with no choices - my wife does not eat fish so I had to negotiate with the waiter who 'allowed' us to swop out the fish starter. I won't go into the entire menu, but having a few twigs lit under a lone raw scallop at the table does not impart anything but bonfire soot into the shellfish, rocket sorbet is one of the most pointless accompaniments I have ever experienced, and a heavy dose of bergamot made the sweet taste like TCP. If the village had been easier to reach we'd have bailed out and gone down there to dine. Oh and for the coffees to be charged as an extra 5€ on an expensive menu like this was the final straw. I appreciate French cuisine done well. This was an extreme form of culinary art that was memorable for all the wrong reasons.

Nice location, the hotel is charming. Excellent sea food. Would like to go back.

quality hotel up a hill from the town, bit of a walk, better to drive. old castle type hotel but with some new modern touches inside. classy sitting areas and lounges. very very good breakfast included in the club room rate. dinner was a tasting menu and was totally overpriced, no other options offered. we would have done alacarte but they did not offer, so they lost out on money there. club room was small but fine and comfortable, very quite and great nights sleep. bath tub had a jacuzzi which was great. wonderful views. great pool which was outside, they said it was heated but it was still very cold, very comfortable sitting area around the pool. service was not great, sat after dinner one night in the lounge, leather armchair area and waited and waited, nobody came so we had to walk into the restaurant to ask if we could order a drink or see the menu. they said sure and would come back, they walked past twice and did not give us a menu or ask us what we wanted and even talked to some other guests in the conservatory area, so we gave up and did not order anything and walked off, not great service to be ignored certainly when its not a cheep place to stay, guess they are just not into providing a minimum level of service for their guests. service was the only bad point but should not really put me off recommending this hotel to stay but maybe avoid their restaurant prices and lack of bar service.

Judging from the pictures of famous people in the salon you can tell that the hotel once was THE place to be in Etretat from the mid-eighties up the millenium. Today it still is a very nice and pleasant hotel to stay. The individually decorated rooms merge the interior design to the fabric of the chateau and the villa making up the compound. Especially the view overlooking the city, the cliffs and the ocean compensate for some staff oscitancies. Still, the hotel staff is very friendly, but could pay more attention to guest sitting in the salon and waiting to be served. The hotel is very clean, but again could be cleaner in the sense that one would expect a hotel of such class to be flawlessly clean.
The petit dejeuner is really good (go get it yourself from the buffet, don't opt for breakfast in your room) and great to start the day. Talking food, I have to say, that the restaurant was not as exquisite as one would expect in such a hotel. Although, nicely furnished and eloquently serviced the menu did not justify the price we paid. Just go somewhere else, the prices for wine are hilariously exaggerated and the same amount of money spent on drinks there, could provide you with a nice plate de jour somewhere else.
Let's sum up. We stayed a week. We enjoyed it and it is not impossible to consider a second stay in this hotel. With some refurbishing and tighter line management of staff, they perhaps would be able to add some recent celebrities to their photo collection of famous guests.