We chose Chateau De Courtebotte when we went to France as we had a wedding to go to in Saint Emilion and wanted to stay in a Chateau in the vicinity.

We booked through Expedia and it all went through well. We found the place easily too, the directions were pretty simple. It took about an hour and a half from Bordeaux airport, and when we went to Saint Emilion it took about 20 minutes.

We were greeted at the Chateau by the owners, and because we were early, we were settled on the comfortable sofas on the outside terrace with a glass of wine and grape juice. We were shown to our room shortly afterwards (Songe room) and it was beautiful. It was really tastefully decorated and finished to a very high standard. The room itself was a good size with a very comfortable queen size bed. It had a separate toilet room and separate bathroom directly off the room. The large showerhead was particularly welcome to wash the signs of travel off! There were also some lovely complementary soaps, shower gels and shampoo. Both the room and the Chateau itself was really quiet, and even though all the bedrooms (I think four of them) are all on one floor, we didn’t hear much from the other guests. The garden is also pretty with a very inviting pool.

The owners were very helpful with any local information that we needed and were very friendly, approachable and chatty. They recommended a local restaurant for dinner (a five minute walk away and called ‘Auberge Saint Jean’) and they booked it for us. It was exceptional, with medium sized portions but of outstanding quality and mixtures of tastes and textures, and of course a good wine list! They are apparently going for a Michelin star and from the standard on our visit, I would say they have a good chance! It also had a really nice relaxed atmosphere which was a nice compared to the usual stuffiness of restaurants of that quality.

The breakfast was very pleasant, served on the outside terrace at a reasonable time to suit us. There was a choice of coffee or tea, fruit juice, yoghurt, cakes and toast with a selection of jams. All of it was fresh and well made.

We really enjoyed our stay there and will definitely go back to the Chateau if we visit the region again. We would also organise a wine tour ahead of our visit so that we could make the most of the Bordeaux region.

We had the pleasure of staying in Chateau de Courtebotte on two occasions in the summer of 2011. Their hospitality was exceptional where attention to detail was second nature to them. The service was impeccable on both occasions and the hospitality unparalleled - they upgraded us on the second visit and we truly enjoyed the Patio Suite - the alchemy of good taste and fine living. We recommend it highly and we will certainly be returning when next in France.

The house is currently undergoing a very tasteful restoration, and it will undoubtedly be a 5-star property when finished. We had one of the original rooms, which still was comfortable and full of character, but plumbing was a bit antiquated!

Isabelle and Pascal make this place memorable: they are excellent hosts and nothing is too much trouble for them to help their guests get the maximum out of their stay. It was perhaps slightly on the expensive side for what you get, but the overall atmosphere was well worth the money.

Stayed for 3 nights in the Patio suite (large comfortable bedroom, hugh bathroom, and then a large patio leading off the bedroom with great private view over the Dordogne river. This is a great find, lovely garden and grounds, with nice pool which allowed us to fully relax for the full 3 days. Isabelle and Pascal are really nice hosts and seem to be very genuine in chatting with and helping all their guests. You can eat in the Chateaux as well where Isabelle provided us a great meal, starting with a nice aperitif and then Pascal gave us a really cool introduction to some local wines.

There a nice restaurant just down the road (Auberge St Jean - I think) which was really good and St Emilliion is 10 to 15 mins away. Isabelle also arragned a tour of the locale vineyard – “BonHoste” where the owners gave a really good tour in English.

Overall,we can’t recommend this place highly enough, the location and chateaux are fab, but really the hosts, Isabelle and Pascal really make the place special. Need to find the time now to go back.....