Why go to Durbuy? We were travelling back from Luxembourg and had heard of the area's beauty, its good food and its war history. The village of Durbuy sits in a wooded valley with attractive grey stone houses surrounding a fairy tale chateau. The people we met were charming and we enjoyed strolling in the rolling countryside of the Ardennes area, which reminded us of the UK's South Downs. We also stopped at a beautifully tended war cemetery not far away near the caves at Hatton, which told its own story of the Battle of the Bulge. The hills are apparently the reason why so many people from North Belgium and the Netherlands are attracted to Durbuy. It's not flat.

Our room 3 in the hotel VIctoria was small and we could hear the wooden floorboards creak when other guests walked around or climbed the stairs. They have a good and popular restaurant downstairs (this is really a restaurant with rooms) and the puzzling thing is that they don't serve breakfast, not even a continental breakfast of croissants and coffee. For that you have to wander through the town (hoping it won't be raining) to their sister/parent hotel Le Sanglier des Ardennes where there's a buffet breakfast on weekdays and an extensive brunch on Sundays.

The hotel was a great base for seeing the Ardennes area, though driving through the narrow crowded streets of Durbuy on our return was a challenge. Not sure about value for money but with the £/€ exchange rate near 1:1 at present you have to make allowances. On Friday bed and breakfast was €100. They insisted that we took a Saturday night package at €118 per person, which included dinner in the Victoria hotel and brunch over in the Sanglier. While the meat course was really excellent (this is predominantly a meat restaurant - the cows in the area look happy and healthy) the fish was not good and the service far too slow until we asked them to speed up ("Oh you want fast service?" they said.) It's not great to see the staff rushing past your table avoiding your eye when you are hungry. I think we should have avoided the fish and stuck to the meat.

Brunch the next morning in the Sanglier was amazing. You name it, you eat it. All in all this was an enjoyable weekend for us, but one or two questions remain about the Victoria. We ate much better in the tiny "Le Fou du Roy" near the castle on the Friday night (essential to pre book).

One last point. If you are staying in Durbuy, there are lots of local activities, festivities, walks etc for visitors especially at weekends. However you have to book many of these at least a week in advance. So our recommendation is to find out what is happening when you plan to be there and book up beforehand.

We stayed in this hotel during the Belgium Grand Prix 2009, it was a perfect experience, beautiful room, friendly staff and lovely restaurant.

We took the cheapest room at 101 euro per night for 2. Very nice people, instantly felt at home,very patient with our not very good french. lovely rooms with excellent shower and facilities. Food at the hotel was very good if a little pricey but worth it. When you arrive ask for a pass for the car park. Could have done with a chest of drawers but,Other rooms with baths, couches etc. Lovely village, cobbled streets, houses covered in what looked liked hops/ivy. Local brasserie, Ardenaisse, good cheap food, good beer selection, bottled and draft.Very nice friendly people.