We paid 110 Euros the night for the room (breakfast and dinner on top) for a weekend stay. I hadn't done much research beforehand of the area (it was a quickly organised weekend out of Paris - the idea of being in Champagne, next to a pretty lake, albeit an artificial one, sounded great - of course, we only found out when we got there that this was the year when they were draining the damn lake - which they do once every ten years...

Well, given that little surprise, the lake wasn't at its best, but we went walking anyway. Good thing, as the dinner menus in the hotel were a real surprise and worth the calorie onslaught which comes with the typically French gastronomic menu. The chef (who owns the hotel) is a superb professional and not what I expected to find in an out of the way location. After the first night, we were confident enough of his skills to choose the lobster menu the second night and we weren't disappointed.

The service from all the staff was... more