Le Château de Sable

Very happy stay. Ideal location - in a wild part of Brittany, set behind extensive dunes with views of the sea. Excellent walking trails. The hotel was very clean. We took double rooms with balcony facing the sea. They were spacious, and nicely done out with basic clean furnishings - nothing complicated but all very functional and clean. Breakfast was excellent. Very positive experience.

The staff were very helpful. The room was clean. We had a ground floor room with a wonderful sea view. The food was good. The only problems were that some of the electric sockets in the rooms didn’t work and the egg boiler at breakfast was not filled high enough to boil the eggs sufficiently. But the restaurant staff adjusted this when we worked out the problem. We had dinner one night at a great restaurant nearby called Le Cheval in Melon.

There is definitely room for improvement! First the positives: the setting is peaceful and stunning. The hotel property is tastefully and carefully crafted. The staff is caring and charming. But, unfortunately, there are a lot of annoyances, which sadly will affect our memory of staying here. My Mother ran a small beachfront hotel for a number of summers, and having practiced law for nearly 40 years with a company that owned hotels , and lent to hotel companies, I have experience with what can go right and wrong in them. For that matter, staying in mostly 4 star hotels for 70+ nights a year for many decades, I have my own perspective. I also know that guests can sometimes be unreasonable! The four star designation comes from the government. But it also encompasses the perception of travelers. I am sitting in the hotel's lounge because internet doesn't work in the rooms. From what I gather, this has been a problem for at least a week. One can blame the telcom provider, or perhaps they need a stronger router. Whose ever fault, it means we can't readily access English language news, movies, and financial sites without heading to a public area. I don't expect many small properties to pay for a few foreign language channels, although they are readily available. Candidly, I can still reach them on my cell phone. But at about $300/night for our room, I was expecting to do so there with my laptop. Our room is very spacious, with a lovely view of the scrub in the direction of the sea about 1,000 feet away. The lighting is a bit lean, and the furniture a bit minimalist for my taste More disappointing is there are only four hangars in our room, two taken up by bathrobes, which we put in the closet. I know, we could have asked for more. For a very big room, there are two very low chairs in one corner, and a wooden chair in the opposite corner with one leg that was precarious. What passes for a desk, is a shelf. I have written a separate review of their Bistro restaurant. It is not a destination one. As to the gourmet restaurant, we couldn't try it as it was closed the two nights we were here. There is a good enclosed shower in the bathroom. The bath towels are a bit thin for a four star hotel. The main design flaw is that the mirror over the sink is surprisingly high. OK for me, but not my wife. The lighting over the sink is meager, which mean shaving or putting on makeup in twilight conditions. There is a comfortable bed and uncomfortable pillows. Perhaps I have said enough. This is like a pretty Christmas tree where there is a problem with he lights. Fix them so this place shines.