Loved the design of the building and the rooms. Seriously loved the rooms: the surfaces, the layout, the fittings (those chairs!). Some reviewers have found the beds hard. It was firm but good, and I'd learnt when booking that to get a terrace means having a futon so we opted to not have a terrace. The windows opened very widely so it was like sitting in a semi-open space anyway at the times we would otherwise have sat on a terrace, had we had one.
We knew the restaurant would be closed the two nights we were there (it has to happen at times in holidays!) but booked anyway as the other options in the area that I was looking at weren't working out. I didn't compare but I strongly suspect we paid much less than we would have on the other nights of the week. We ate one night at the cafe (L'Esperance) associated with the hotel in the village, which had a great atmosphere and very good food, in a casual environment.
Both evenings we sat outside watching the sunset over Bordeaux and into the distance, enjoying a few drinks from the bar. The garden is lovely.
The main downside was that I booked it thinking it would be quiet, being a out of the city in a small village but close to the motorway east for the early start we needed on our last day when we had some distance to go. But the main motorway to Paris is too close, below the village across fields and the noise was, for us, very disturbing. Trucks and cars rumbling away loudly all night. (That's the only reason I rate sleep quality and location lower than other aspects.)
- Hauterive Saint James Hotel
