Member-only story
Hotel Restaurant des Augustins
An Oasis In The French Countryside
I don’t do travel reviews; from time to time, I tell stories that include places I’ve been, but I don’t do reviews on hotels. What could I say that hasn’t been said before?
On a recent European trip, I decided I wanted to visit Josephine Baker’s castle. It’s located several hours southeast of Paris, and I wanted to be there when the castle/museum opened at 9:30 am. The solution was to stay at a nearby hotel that was just a short drive from the castle. We could get up, have breakfast, and be on our way. A cot and a hot, I believe, is the expression. That’s all I wanted, but I got so much more.
So what makes a great hotel? I say it begins with service. The Hotel Restaurant des Augustins has only twelve rooms, and each guest is treated extra special. We arrived late, but a staff person stayed until nearly midnight to check us in without hinting at annoyance. An elegant breakfast awaited us with servers attending to our every need, including juices and French bread. Later in our trip, we would stay at a hotel whose name is the standard for service excellence, but they had nothing on this quaint yet elegant small hotel.
