Domaine Saint-Roch

The pictures and description of this place online do not do it justice. We had no idea to expect that we'd drive a rough cobblestone road up the mountain to stay the night in a fairy tale castle, complete with a tower and a truly BREATHTAKING view of the countryside from our tall French windows which opened up to admit a fragrant breeze. Truthfully, we chose the hotel only because it was close to Chavaniac-Lafayette, and we didn't expect much. But even if our expectations had been higher, I think this place would have exceeded them. A beautiful chandelier hung from a tall ceiling over our bed. And everything was old world charm but the rooms had modern amenities. TV, coffee maker, a beautiful bathroom with a heated floor. And a picturesque (and very reasonably priced) restaurant on the premises. There's also a truly delicious rustic breakfast. One can't expect multi-lingual staff at a place like this in remote Auvergne but the language barrier presented some comical problems for us driving in from Lyon to a place that has no street address, while trying to use GPS. We quite nearly got lost a few times. Thank goodness for the signs on the country roads pointing the way. We wanted to know more about the history of the place, but there was virtually nothing to be learned online and unfortunately even the staff members who knew English couldn't tell us much. Would go again in a heartbeat.

A lovely, historic country house hotel, with a peaceful terrace and garden, on a hillside overlooking a beautiful Auvergne landscape. Just an overnight stay but we would all have been happy to stay longer. We were greeted in the beautiful reception area by Fréderic, who couldn’t have made us feel more welcome. Although the building is old, there is a lift, so having rooms on the first or second floor is not a problem for people with limited mobility. The rooms were clean and adequate but perhaps not of the standard suggested by the rest of the hotel. Breakfast was generous and of excellent quality and was served in the hotel dining room We had dinner at the restaurant in the adjacent spa building - which the hotel emphasised is a separate entity - and weren’t particularly impressed.