Our tour of the main wine-producing areas of the Loire Valley continued with Stage 7: Saumur to Clisson (Day 9 in France). We were now based in Clisson on our first day here. We parked in the carpark at this hotel well before checking-in, using the entrance code for the automatic gates; that was provided when we had made our reservation. Parking here in the lower-town is otherwise very difficult; the carparking facility here is a major plus-point for this hotel. We had stayed here before in 2016, 2019 and 2022; so we know the hotel well. This is the best hotel in Clisson because of it’s location, comfort, quality and service. There is a lift to all floors, a small bar adjacent to both the restaurant and large terrace, area and also a pool. The beautiful view here, of the confluence of Le Sèvre Nantaise and La Moine, under the ‘Pont de Vallée’ bridge, is unequalled in Clisson, especially with the backdrop provided by Le Château de Clisson. We did not use many of the hotel’s other facilities, apart from the rooms, of course, and two good breakfasts here in the very smart restaurant. On this occasion we did not take dinner here, we usually do. With reservations already made for another visit in 2025, we are sure to weigh-up all the pros and cons of dining options, and then decide to dine here or not. We did have a lunchtime tapas meal where two of the tapas plates had not been very good; being just flavoured mashed potato balls; where the texture was just wrong. The tapas were certainly not very exciting, and did little to satisfy the taste buds. The flavour of cheese variety were slightly better than the fish flavoured variety. The other tapas plate was the best, being tempura tenderstem broccoli. After lunch we had sat a while on the sunny terrace by the river, and enjoyed a couple or three glasses of an excellent Muscadet. This was an great way to relax whilst soaking-up the sun’s warmth. The rooms were very good, sleep quality was excellent. The shower water did flood a significant area of the bathroom floor and totally soaked the bath mat. In my opinion two bath mats should be automatically provided along with fresh towels each day.
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