If one wants to indulge in serious luxury and pampering, then look no further than the 4-star Château de Barive. It has to be one of the nicest places to stay, tucked away in a remote corner of the vast Picardy countryside. The rooms are all beautiful with the highest quality furniture and soft furnishings and there is a wide screen TV, DVD player and minibar. The room we had (no. 15) was particularly large with views on 3 sides. The bathroom was also large and well supplied with toiletries.

There is a fair-sized, heated indoor pool, health spa and small gym with some good quality exercise machines and there are bikes for hire. There is plenty of scope for long walks in the surrounding, deserted farmland and woods and it is not too difficult to see wild boar from dusk onwards as there are a lot of them in the woods near the Château. One also sees deer in the fields even in daylight.

The dining experience in the very pleasant conservatory, overlooking the rear garden, is wonderful, the food being very interesting, delicious and elegantly presented. Everything is served with great finesse and the waiters are particularly attentive and helpful. Portions are on the small side (it's "nouvelle cuisine") but one gets a few canapés with the initial drinks, a "pre-starter" and even a "pre-dessert". Along with a nice selection of breads, the standard 3 course dinner should be ample for most appetites.

Breakfast is also excellent (but expensive @ €17 and a boiled egg would cost €5 extra!) and there is a good choice of items, again presented very elegantly. All the staff are highly professional and charming and take the time to converse and show interest.

All this luxury and elegance comes at a price of course! Apart from the sky-high room prices, everything consumed is terribly expensive, especially the drinks (e.g. 33cl Leffe draft beer @ €7.50, bottle of Evian water @ €7.50, non-alcoholic fruit cocktail @ €7 etc). Wines are also very expensive.

Except for the seriously rich, this is a place to book for only the most special of occasions. One surely won't be disappointed; whether one feels it's value for money is an entirely different matter!