Castelbrac Hôtel & Spa

Amazing location on the sea in Dinard. The staff are very good and always happy to help. The hotel grounds are very nice and the decoration of the hotel is very thoughtful. Rooms are spacious with comfortable beds, even though the hotel feels a bit cramped (common spaces are tiny with lots of stairs). They have a Michelin starred restaurant which is good but not great, with only one fixed menu. We found that the other, less formal, restaurant did not offer many options and the food there was not good. Breakfast options were limited with an à la carte menu that was giving four choices of breakfast; this was fine for a one-night stay but I am not sure I would have enjoyed it over several days. We did not like the first room they gave us. Even though this was a luxury room with terrace, the bathroom was very dark and small. You kind of felt being in a crypt as this was a vaulted ceiling room with no natural light (you actually had to take stairs down to get to the bathroom). They moved us to another room that was much better. The views from the terrace in that other room were amazing. But, overall, I would say that the hotel did not meet our expectations. Despite many positives, it is a bit tricky to give a good rating because one issue we had with the hotel was that we spent the dinner at the Michelin starred restaurant together with of a rat that was there on the terrace (we were actually sitting inside). The staff at the restaurant said they had had several problems with rats but did not do anything in this particular instance; the rat left on its own after about 30 minutes. The hotel manager, who had been informed that we had taken a picture of the rat (I will actually not post the picture; we sent it to the hotel manager; he knows this is true), came to see us at breakfast looking surprised, arguing this was the first time he was witnessing this, thereby contradicting the restaurant staff. I guess this problem could come from the fact that we found the city beaches to be quite dirty. The hotel is in fact close to a small beach with many dead crabs lying on the beach with a horrible smell; I am not sure why the city does not do anything about this. Barring the rat incident, we had a pleasant stay and I would have given it 4 stars. But we will not come back to this hotel.

We just spent 3 at this hotel. I have mobility problems so need a shower and cannot do a lot of stairs. The kindness and support of the staff was unbelievable. We had an extraordinary room with a large balcony and a fantastic bathroom, with hot tub and a rain showerBut every single detail was perfect, help with car parking, help with movement, help always with a smile! It is a very interesting historic building, lovingly restores by the current owners. We cannot recommend it enough. Restaurant is small but chef has a well deserved Michelin star, has to be tried! There is also a pleasant bar which serves simple food. Thanks, Castelbrac, for a marvellous short holiday.