My husband, my sister and her husband, will be arriving in Bordeaux on 5/27. We will rent a car and plan to stay two nights in St. Emilion. My husband is very interested in wine and has always wanted to see the Bordeaux/St. Emilion region. From there we will spend four nights near Sarlat. Stu, St. Cirq and others have been so helpful with information for the Dordogne. However, I am at a loss for St. Emilion. Hostellerie de Plaisance quoted me 300E per night. I know that others have stayed there. It seems rather expensive to me. Is the hotel experience worth this kind of money? Any other suggestions? Also, how long a drive is it to Sarlat?

Thank you.....

I can't give you firsthand info as I have seen the place (looks lovely) but not stayed there. Friends of mine in the wine business stay there as a matter of course, as I believe it is the best in town. But there are several other hotels there that get good reports on www.tripadvisor.com so you can check those out. Unless you are visiting chateaux only in St. Emilion area, you might consider one night there and one night in Medoc.

We stayed at the Logis des Remparts and were quite happy with the accommodations. In the '05 Michelin Guide, their most expensive double was 150E. I always opt for saving on hotel, and spending it on dinner. Most of the time when we're at the hotel, our eyes are closed anyway.

I would second ekscrunchy's recommendation of 1 less night there, if you don't plan on extensive winery touring. St Emilion is pretty nice (not as interesting as Sarlat), but it's a little touristy and one dimentional (wine).

We daudled on the back roads on the way to the Dordogne on this past trip, so I can't help you with the time to the Dordogne. See www.viamichlein.com

Stu Dudley

Hi D,

>My husband, my sister and her husband, will be arriving in Bordeaux ...<

You are doing all the planning and they are leaving you behind? Shame on them.

We stayed at http://www.chateau-de-roques.com/accueil_a.htm and were very pleased with the accomodations, the restaurant and the wine cellar.

Thank you all for your responses. Ira, you shamed my family into letting me join them. I did write back to Hostellerie de Plaisance and asked them if they had cheaper accommodations and they came back with a standard room at 195E. Still working on this......

My husband and I also stayed at the Logis des Ramparts. The location was good - just down the street from the Hostellerie (though St. Emilion is so small, that everything is near everything). We had dinner at the Hostellierie, which was all that we expected. The rooms at the Logis were nice, though not luxurious. There was a very appealing courtyard/terrace area in back; if the weather had been better, we would have spent time out there, admiring the vineyards behind the building.

There are many wine stores/caves in town. We particularly liked Ets Martin, at 25 rue Guadet. The proprietor of the vineyard whose wine we were purchasing at the time stopped in while we were in the cave, so we got to meet him. Also, we visited Chateau la Gaffeliere and the person there was very welcoming.

I would also think that one night in St. Emilion is enough; we also dawdled on back roads on our way to the Dordogne! We had a pleasant lunch in Bourdeilles, at Hostellerie des Griffons. The dining room is beautiful, with walls of rough-hewn stone.

Use Mappy.com to find out who long the drive would be to Sarlat. If you want the quick and direct route, the autoroute now goes from Bordeaux past Périgueux. You get off at the exit near Le Lardin, take N89 (which is also D 704) to Le Lardin and then follow the signs to Montignac. At the entrance of Montignac you veer left over the bridge and take the next left which will be D704 to get to Sarlat.

I think your husband will be even more excited if you stay in the Medoc area on the left bank so he can appreciate the Paulliac, St Julien, Margaux areas. One wine chateau hotel to consider is Cordellian Bages www.france.com/hotels/hotel.cfm?hotel_id=4624 which costs a lot less than the Hostellerie. I must admit that the town of St Emilion has a lot more charm, but the individual wine chateaus are more impressive in the Medoc area.