the hauterive saint james is a beautiful hotel, with very interesting architecture. if you're not into mixes of materials or modern takes on hotel architecture, then you may find the rooms a little cold, but I loved it.
we had a beautiful room looking over the vineyard and further down over bordeaux. there was a glass wall separating the bath and bed and the whole room was filled with light.
the hotel is very nicely designed inside and the service is discreet and competent. the pool is really relaxing, and the breakfast is beyond belief!
bouliac is a tiny village with just the hotel, a church and another little restaurant/café that is also owned by the hotel further down the street. this place (café de l'espérance) was lovely. very casual looking with an excellent meat menu (the fish side of things is covered by the cote de couer bistro attached to the hotel, which unfortunately is no longer open in the evenings) and a great wine list. the service in the café is extremely warm and friendly. on the whole, a great place to kick back ten minutes outside bordeaux.

We stayed at the Hauterive Saint James for two nights in August 2007 and loved every minute of our stay here.

The hotel is located in a pretty little village called Boulliac, on a hill overlooking River Garonne and Bordeaux. The architecture of the hotel is very unique. The cube-like buildings are designed to make the most of the views. We were given a corner room with glass windows all round. Each night we went to bed with Bordeaux shimmering like a beautiful jewel in the distance. The hotel is in the middle of a vineyard. it is absolutely incredible to find grapes growing everywhere even on the fences around the swimming pool.

Service is excellent. The food is world-class especially in Restaurant Saint James. You need to book ahead because it is very popular and it's not cheap but having had a most divine meal there, we would say that the experience is worth every penny. The restaurant is split into three different levels to allow every diner an uninterrupted view of the magnificent scene that lies before you.

The hotel is also a good base for exploring the surrounding wine region. St Emillion and Pommerol are just under an hour's drive away (easy drive). A 10 minute drive takes you into Bordeaux where good restaurants are aplenty.

We will definitely try to come here again.

Sometime contemporary architecture can be very interesting. This one ended up with rooms which are very cold, stone terrazzo floor, kitchen Table, and beton type walls. The bed is toi hard. The views are fantastic. The Restaurant has a contempoirary desing. We took the Gourmet Menu, excellent quality and some very innovative Ideas. Extensive and (for France) reasonably priced Wine List. The Service in the Restaurant is not very attentive (we had to fill our Glasses during the Dinner ourselves on a regular Basis) but friendly. There is much room for Improvement. The pool is nice but no poolbeds (only Chairs) available. No Gym or other Fitness equipment.

So overall it is a nice location, if you like the desing of the rooms you might be happy, otherwise there are much nicer Hotels in the Region at about the same rate

Fabulous modern hotel which overlooks Bordeaux and the Garonne river.The room was fantastic (bed was a little too hard though) with fantastic day and night views over Bordeaux.We had The Discovery Package which included accomodation,dinner with wine and breakfast.We had the best meal we have ever had in our lives ( and we have travelled extensively) on the terrace after spending an afternoon lounging around gorgeous pool set in amongst grape vines.Breakfast next day was a treat also with little pots of assorted fruits and yoghurt as well as usual breads,pastries etc.Also access to hotel great,it was only 10 mins to airport by motorway.