Chateaux et Hotels Collection - Le Mascaret — Restaurant in Coutances

Like most guests, the starred restaurant was the main attraction. The guest house has good bones and a lot of charming touches from the chef's spouse who was/is involved in its decoration. We even had some small paintings in our room with her signature on them.||Four weeks into a six week trip, and with some "rearranging of our bags in order, we were very grateful for a ground floor room. The room also had a microwave, mini-refrigerator and dishwasher, which we did not use. The outside of the appliances were painted with Mrs. Hardy's floral designs. The bedroom area was spacious and comfortable.||The bathroom had some pluses and minuses. The Rainwater shower worked surprisingly well considering that it was surrounded by two shower curtains. It was a bit precarious, as the main valve for the vertical flow was loose.||An attractive sink was placed on a rather small stand. Regrettably, it doesn't drain very well' even after the french equivalent of drain-o was applied. The main problem with the bathroom was the lighting. That near the sink was "one-sided" and too dim. You can imagine how shaving and makeup application could be compromised. ||We didn't use the spa facilities, and we were out and about during the day. But the location is peaceful, the staff are caring, and everything is spotlessly clean. ||So, it is a bit like staying in someone's house; distinctive and quirky. Fine for anight or two, but not really designed as a hotel. That is both the positive and negative aspect.||As one would expect from a fine chef, the breakfast was better than average and had some...

Like most guests, the starred restaurant was the main attraction. The guest house has good bones and a lot of charming touches from the chef's spouse who was/is involved in its decoration. We even had some small paintings in our room with her signature on them.||Four weeks into a six week trip, and with some "rearranging of our bags in order, we were very grateful for a ground floor room. The room also had a microwave, mini-refrigerator and dishwasher, which we did not use. The outside of the appliances were painted with Mrs. Hardy's floral designs. The bedroom area was spacious and comfortable.||The bathroom had some pluses and minuses. The Rainwater shower worked surprisingly well considering that it was surrounded by two shower curtains. It was a bit precarious, as the main valve for the vertical flow was loose.||An attractive sink was placed on a rather small stand. Regrettably, it doesn't drain very well' even after the french equivalent of drain-o was applied. The main problem with the bathroom was the lighting. That near the sink was "one-sided" and too dim. You can imagine how shaving and makeup application could be compromised. ||We didn't use the spa facilities, and we were out and about during the day. But the location is peaceful, the staff are caring, and everything is spotlessly clean. ||So, it is a bit like staying in someone's house; distinctive and quirky. Fine for anight or two, but not really designed as a hotel. That is both the positive and negative aspect.||As one would expect from a fine chef, the breakfast was better than average and had some...

By choosing this hotel - straight from the guide Relais&Chateaux, otherwise quite convenient - we made several mistakes: we booked for a Monday night, in the liddle of October. We had not realized that the Restaurant was closed on Monday, and that the access to the hotel was subject to the availability of someone living in the neighbourhood. We eventually (after almost an hour waiting on the empty carpark) managed to get hold of her, owing to the mobile phone of a passer-by, because our service provider (Orange) does not cover the area. ||We had the room "Tsarina" (or something like that). No place to place our luggage, shaky little round table, shaky minuscule bedside tables, etc... The bathtub in the room itself, isolated by a curtain which would not close completely. All of that gave a nice feel of XIXth century exotism. We had however a tea in our room, and a good French breakfast. An experience, after all, but one day of that is more than enough - and so much more that the (yes, agreed, standard) Mercure Hotel nearby ( Cherbourg) charges exactely half of what we had...