HOSTELLERIE LES GRIFFONS - CHATEAUX & HOTELS DE FRANCE

One to Avoid...

At the height of the 1980s consumer boom in the UK, the then well-known comedy team "Not the Nine O'Clock News" published a spoof color magazine, inside which was a spoof advert for Perrier mineral water, consisting of a moodily lit photograph of a bottle of the stuff and a one word caption - "Eauverpriced" - which neatly describes the experience of eating and/or staying at Les Griffons.

Despite the seductive location by the banks of the river Dronne, the hotel has not recently been a success, having been bought and sold at a premium by a succession of owners who have mainly been keen to cut their losses after a season or two and sell the building on when they realize that the seductive riverside location also means that the basement is liable to flooding. The rooms have all of the charm of a Novotel with a few sticks of period furniture thrown in, and at 110€ are twice as expensive as the Donjon and the Ambrosie at the other end of the village.

Unfortunately, the same can be said of the restaurant, which should boast a fine selection of local and regional cuisine. A meal for two costs a similar amount to a night's accommodation in one of the bedrooms, and would buy a traditionally prepared feast almost anywhere else. But the illusion that I was eating "haute cuisine" here was spoiled by evidence of boiling bags in both my fish and the vegetable side dish ordered to accompany it.

The last couple to try their hand at running the hotel did make some efforts to turn its fortunes around, but unfortunately they were not there for long enough to make too much of a difference. At the time of writing, Les Griffons is yet again under new management. It is to be hoped that they do something better with the place this season than some of the previous proprietors.

Unique Quality: Beautiful if impractical location, historic building, potential (sadly not realized).