Fontevraud L'ermitage

“Great location, lovely hotel but …”

It is wonderfully located and it is a great hotel but … they seem to just miss the mark. We arrived late. Finding the hotel was not easy. They seem to have dropped the “L’Ermitage”branding and generally the way-signing is not great. The car park when found is in an unrenovated part of the o... more

It is wonderfully located and it is a great hotel but … they seem to just miss the mark. We arrived late. Finding the hotel was not easy. They seem to have dropped the “L’Ermitage”branding and generally the way-signing is not great. The car park when found is in an unrenovated part of the old abbey and a long way from the hotel. I had completed the online registration but that does not mean you can avoid the long explanations about the water bottles, the sparkling wasn’t working. Finally we got our keys together with a weird leather “bottle”crate. We had arrive late and asked about food. “No the restaurant was full and no there were no sandwichs, we might be able to sell you weirdly expensive picnic hampers”. We were hungry so they sent us into the village - via the gate into the Museum Courtyard. We did not know where the Musuem Courtyard was and when we found it we were faced with gates leftover from when the Abbey was a prison. There was no help as to how to get through the gates. When we did the village was well and truly closed. We made our way back to the hotel reception. We could go “to the bar”. We wandered around to find the bar … we final worked out the “bar” is a greenhouse and table in the garden. Only one other couple was in the garden, and no server. Finally, the server arrived , and yes we could have some food - hunks of bread various potted meats and fish. It would appear this was the only food on offer. This slightly weir reaction to service continued in the rooms. No room service and no tea / coffee making facilities in the rooms (just those bottles of water and a chance to make a drink in the lounge in a paper cup). The rooms are lovely and they have a safe. But why put the safe on a high shelf so you cannot see the instructions or key pad? Why put the light controls behind the curtains? For the price the hotel needs their own kitchen and restaurant, not just a Michelin restaurant, that seems to be booked to capacity every night. The hotel needs room service, they need to be able to at least prepare a snack for late arrivals. And the rooms needs attention to details. More thought to what the guests need and slightly less quirky details like the leather bottle crates. Great location, lovely hotel but …

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“Exited to stay, disappointed after the event”

Staff were quite haughty in manner. As dining is not an option on Mondays prior warning to the customer about possible dining options within or close to the town, not when you arrive and only available restaurant is booked up. Room was lovely but found the sheets prickly - restless night’s sleep.... more

Staff were quite haughty in manner. As dining is not an option on Mondays prior warning to the customer about possible dining options within or close to the town, not when you arrive and only available restaurant is booked up. Room was lovely but found the sheets prickly - restless night’s sleep. I prefer coffee/tea making facilities within the room as the delegated area has limited seating . Not a fan of the hotel.

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