cmcfong

Any opinions, Fodorites?

Maribel

cmcfong,
We adored our 3 day stay at le Manoir les Minimes in June. To us it was perfection, just heaven. Our 2 rooms (2 couples traveling) were exquisitely decorated with fine fabrics and antiques and impeccably maintained, and the hospitality provided by the two gentlemen owners was gracious, generous, relaxed and very attentive. We were so glad we had booked there rather than next door at the Le Choiseul because we felt it was a much better value, even though it doesn't have a pool. Les Minimes doesn't have a restaurant, but the owners give great dining suggestions. If you plan to dine at Le Choiseul, which has 1 Michelin star, plan on 100 euros per person.

Suki

We also enjoyed Manoir les Minimes. There are beatiful views of the castle, and of the Loire River. It was our favorite hotel in our 10-day trip. We even had cheap rooms(relatively)on the top floor, but the bathrooms were quite nice, and the beds comfortable. You really can't go wrong by staying there.

Travelnut

Is Minimes close enough to 'town' that you can just walk into the center (ie. to visit the chateau or le Clos Luce)?

vino

Wonderful Memories!!!! We stayed at Le Fleuray- arrived in Paris drove right to Le Fleuray 3 kids in the car. We met up with the two other families we were traveling with. They had our rooms already-we were the rooms looking right at the pool. We sat outside our room and had drinks delivered while the kids swam. We only stayed two nights before moving on to our gite but it was wonderful. We met a family that had been there more than a week and they loved it also. The food is wonderful and all the people (owners and staff) are very very helpful. They are from England and we had a great time with them. I got the name from this site last year and it was the highlite of our trip!!!

Maribel

Travelnut,
Les Minimes is under the shadow of the Chateau-right in town. From the hotel we walked everywhere, including to the Clos de Luce, which we really enjoyed touring.
We also had relatively inexpensive dormer rooms on the top floor, up 2 flights of steps, (but the gentlemen kindly carried our luggage), which have views of the river. The bath was amazing, with beams crossing the bathtub ceiling and aboslutely pristine. The first floor rooms are huge! Room 11 is a very nice double with small sofa and has some of the hotel's best river and castle views. Suite 10 has a sitting room with large windows overlooking both the river and castle. The bedroom has a queen-sized bed and the full bath has a separate shower.

We usually don't breakfast in our hotel, but the breakfast room was so inviting and so beautifully decorated, we opted for breakast there served on fine china and with silver galore, 2 of our 3 mornings.
Every evening before dinner, we sat out on the terrace facing the meticulously landscaped courtyard, and Eric would choose a perfect bottle of white wine from the area for us and brought us special nibbles. Karen Brown's guidebook description of Les Minimes is very accurate. It's also featured in Alistair Sawday's "Special Places to Stay, France" guide and a selection of the Johannsen's guide of fine European hotels. I looked at about 20 or more Loire properties before deciding-the choice is confusing and overwhelming-but I was convinced by the lovely description in the Loire volume of my "European Traveller" newsletter.
Eric, one of the 2 owners, is a former fashion designer, and his eye for detail shows in every corner of this exquisitely decorated hotel. It oozes class and elegance.

Although we received a very prompt and cordial response from le Fleuray to our initial inquiry, we really wanted to be in town, in charming Amboise, as later on in the Dordogne we had a 3 day country stay, so we passed on Le Fleuray, and we didn't see it while we were in the area.

palette

Three of us stayed at LeFleuray in August, 2001, in a room in the "renovated" barn (actually so renovated you would never have known it had been a barn). Room was large, clean, beautifully decorated with a great bathroom. Because we were disconnected from the main house, I didn't feel we got to know the owners at all, which was disappointing since one of the reasons I had chosen this hotel was the fact that they were English and communication would be easier after a week of making do with our nearly non-existent French in Paris. Although the kitchen obviously was trying, we weren't impressed with the dinner we had (but after our week in Paris maybe the comparison is not fair) and chose to go into Amboise the other two nights. The biggest drawback to LeFleuray for us (perhaps a plus for others) is its isolated location. There is nothing within walking distance; you must have a car to drive into Amboise or to any of the other sites in the Loire; it is a long dark drive. If I had it to do again, I would definitely choose a location in Amboise itself. It is a lovely place but wasn't the best fit for our purposes.

cmcfong

Merci beaucoup, Fodorites! Just the feedback I needed to make a decision.