Domaine de la Barde, Le Bugue

Ever fancied staying in a hunting lodge but never had the money or the connections? Me too. So this hotel seemed ideal, billed as it was as an "ancien repaire noble". The rather odd English translation called it a "noble haunt"; I prefer "lodge", and I bet they hunted from it. The website pictures looked fantastic above and it was in just the right location. We booked for 6 nights half board.

The right ...
...its confluence with the Dordogne, in the Périgord. Specifically we planned to do some caving. Not the adventurous variety, but the cultural variety - palaeolithic cave art, of which this part of France is a big centre. The palaeolithic capital, the small village of Les Eyzies, is only 6 miles away, and other big names such as Rouffignac, Teyjat and Lascaux are nearby. So well placed, and somewhere luxurious to relax after a hard day's gazing at mammoths ... more

Ever fancied staying in a hunting lodge but never had the money or the connections? Me too. So this hotel seemed ideal, billed as it was as an "ancien repaire noble". The rather odd English translation called it a "noble haunt"; I prefer "lodge", and I bet they hunted from it. The website pictures looked fantastic above and it was in just the right location. We booked for 6 nights half board.

The right location was Le Bugue on the Vézère not far from its confluence with the Dordogne, in the Périgord. Specifically we planned to do some caving. Not the adventurous variety, but the cultural variety - palaeolithic cave art, of which this part of France is a big centre. The palaeolithic capital, the small village of Les Eyzies, is only 6 miles away, and other big names such as Rouffignac, Teyjat and Lascaux are nearby. So well placed, and somewhere luxurious to relax after a hard day's gazing at mammoths and bison.

Booking was simple. Photos of some of the rooms are on the website, but they are the top-priced ones. Having got the flavour, as it were, we selected a medium-priced room, Les Bleuets. You can book on-line but I prefer to do it by phone then I know where I am right away rather than wait for an e-mail. I e-mailed to confirm; they replied the same day with a form to pay a deposit by credit card. I faxed it back. Voilà, we're in!

What else did we found out about this place before we went, given that anticipation is part of the experience? It is not a large hotel, with only 18 rooms. 9 are in the manor house itself, 8 slightly cheaper rooms are in the former walnut mill building and there is an independent suite in the former forge. The grounds are extensive to say the least: 10 acres including water courses and lakes. Swimming-pool, fitness room, tennis and table-tennis are free, and a sauna is available at 9€ per person. Independently run, it is a member of the Relais du Silence hotel association. Important one, this. The slightest noise at night and I'm awake. My husband says I can hear a rabbit fart a quarter of a mile away. A little unkind, a little crude, but you get the idea.

We arrive. It's easy to find, on the outskirts of Le Bugue on the road from Périgueux. Now before I launch into the nitty-gritty I should make it clear that we had a nice time here. I look back on it as a relaxing, enjoyable stay in an interesting location. I'm saying this now because there are going to be criticisms which I'll describe extensively, that being the nature of these reviews.

The reception area is very important as it's the first thing a customer sees. This one was a dingy back room, but the young lady manning it was very welcoming and showed us to Les Bleuets. My first impression was that it was very … er … bleu, and consequently a bit cold. The second more dismaying impression was that it was way too small. Mr Chouchinciao and I don't understand the concept of travelling light. There are the books for a start, reference books and books to read and emergency books to read in case the first selection is rubbish. Then you never know what the weather is going to be like. Admittedly during this holiday the temperature never fell below about 25ºC which rendered the galoshes and oilskins superfluous. Jerseys, jackets and boots for the caves were necessary, though. The idea of spending 6 days in a room too small for us and our stuff did not appeal, so after a quick conference we asked if there was anything a little larger. There were 3 possibilities.

So on our and your behalf I inspected 3 more rooms. Le Chevalier was very grand, complete with massive fireplace, wooden beams and a superb view over the grounds, and we were tempted. La Boudeuse was nice but a bit anonymous. Finally we opted for Bara Bahau - lovely and light, decorated in pale yellow, with a high ceiling curving away to a mansard forming an alcove in one corner.

[Palaeolithic experts out there will recognise the name Bara Bahau as a well known painted cave in Le Bugue itself. The words are Langue d'Oc and signify a great noise, such as must have been made by the rockfall which blocks off the end of the cave system. Thought you'd like to know that.]

Back in our own Bara Bahau the only further thing we had to ask our by now somewhat relieved young lady was for some trouser hangers, strangely missing in the wardrobe. They duly arrived, but not hangers with bars; these were the sort with two clips to hold either trousers or skirts. Fiddly, and not ideally suited for Mr C's best chinos. Gah, it's the little things ….. Still, the room had good quality furniture which suited the room and the building, plenty of lights, TV, good hanging space, a safe. There was no air conditioning but there was a big window to open and the room stayed cool, only getting the direct sun late in the evening. The bed was very comfortable and yes, it was quiet, no rabbits within miles.

The bathroom was not large, although there was plenty of space to spread out our bottles and potions, and a well-stocked box of freebie stuff provided by the Relais du Silence. White towelling robes are provided for going to and from the pool and sauna. It was fine, but not particularly nicely or imaginatively decorated, and rather let down the room.

Downstairs were two lovely adjoining lounge areas. The original reception rooms of the lodge, they were spacious, well furnished and cool in the hot weather. Given the size of the massive fireplace they would be warm and welcoming in winter. Tiled floors are covered with bright, brand new looking rugs, beams criss-cross overhead and there is a large, rather incongruous flatscreen TV in one corner. Beyond the two lounges a smaller former reception room acts as the breakfast room. The building is long and thin, so that these 3 downstairs rooms face southwards across the grounds. Behind them is a long corridor with access to the stairs and lift, and behind that kitchen and offices. Stepping out of the lounge area you are on a spacious gravelled terrace from which steps lead down to the formal French-style garden and beyond that the acres of grounds. I really loved sitting on this terrace having breakfast and surveying my estate, knowing that the crunch of footsteps on the gravel behind me was a minion bring me more coffee.

The mention of breakfast and coffee drags me out of my reverie because it reminds me I have to tackle the restaurant. The restaurant is called "Le Vélo Rouge" and is not an integral part of the hotel. A good 50 yards from any of the accommodation buildings, you could get jolly wet en route, and, do you know, I've just realised why there were umbrella stands at all the lounge doors. Tucked away among trees and shrubs it is almost impossible to get a proper view of it and inside it is a bit dark and with no view across these lovely grounds it is sitting in. There is a small and not very attractive terrace. Inside it is small and intimate (i.e. the tables are too close together) and the ambience was a little subdued, although every table was occupied. Nevertheless the meal was very good: 4 courses and an amuse-bouche, including a historic (with apologies to Michael Winner) cream of fennel soup and delicious filet de sandre (pike). As half-boarders we were directed to the 36€ menu "Fresh from the day's market" which had two choices per course (except the soup). Wine and coffee was of course extra but the wine list was varied with a good selection of half-bottles.

The problem arose the next day. The daily market offering proved to be remarkably similar to the previous day. A little discussion with the waiter established that we could select from some of the other menus and parts of the carte. Unfortunately, we doubted we could find enough variety for 5 more nights - their big thing is foie gras (as everywhere in the Périgord) and I find it too rich. Mr C doesn't eat it at all, and frequently has the vegetarian option; vegetarians were not well catered for here. While we were deep in menu options, one of the other waiters asked if Monsieur and Madame were informed about Monday (this was Sunday). No, we were not apprised. On Mondays the restaurant is closed and hotel guests are offered one course in the evening. Not one menu, one course. Vous rigolez. I bet they still charge the full half-board whack, but we didn't enquire, just un-booked the half-board option for the rest of the stay.

You should be getting the impression by now that this hotel is a curate's egg, a hotel-of-two-halves. Consider the swimming-pool and fitness room. Beautifully kept, clean, lovely surrounds, plenty of comfortable sun-loungers and parasols. I don't fully understand pool circulation systems, but this water flowed out over one side of the pool and down a parallel channel and away (presumably filtered then back in again the other side). For some reason I found this a really attractive feature - I guess something to do with the sound of trickling water. But not everywhere was this well kept. There is a feeling of too much vegetation which needed taming and tidying up. In a few more years the restaurant will vanish without trace. A formal French-style garden has been laid out just below the terrace. It is symmetrically geometric but totally devoid of colour other than green. In the centre is a small fountain with a pathetic jet and a few goldfish amazingly surviving in its murky depths.

The hotel is very proud of its history and relates it on an A4 sized sheet included with the literature. The original building dates from the 14th century, and changed hands and was enlarged over the years until 1789 when everything went pear-shaped. You may be glad to know that the then owner escaped to England and one of his descendants is still living in Paris. The current owners acquired it in 1989 and have sympathetically restored it. Trouble is, it needs more money spending on it and I doubt if the revenue from 18 rooms generates enough, nor are there the facilities for the lucrative conference and seminar market. It is rated 3 star - for all the reasons above - and it needs to get itself to 4 star and charge more, but can't do that without more investment. Would I go again? Probably not. Was it value for money? No, it was over-priced. But I say again, I enjoyed my stay here and felt relaxed and refreshed despite the downsides.

Details:
Prices range from 105€ to 230€ in the high season, 90€ to 195€ in the low season (high season is mid June to end September). Bara Bahau was 170€. Breakfast 15€, half-board 49€ per person per night. 2 rooms in the Mill (presumably on the ground floor) are designated suitable for wheelchair access. Several rooms are designated non-smoking. Children have to be supervised because of the water courses. "Well behaved" pets accepted at 7€ per night.
 

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