La Dimora

Amazing hôtel and restaurant near St Florent. The room is gorgeous with a very comfortable bed and a large shower, the heated swimming pool so relaxing and the food delicious ! Also the staff is very helpful and professional. Just Perfect ! Thank you so much, we'll be back very soon.

This should have been a five star review as this hotel is a gem. Beautiful architecture and furniture, tasteful art and decorative touches, immaculate landscaping and lovely open spaces. Our room was well appointed and comfortable, and very quiet – slept like a baby. However, their restaurant is a disaster. Overly long and complicated menu, many dishes, many ingredients. Was May, not high season, so only two other couples dined that evening. I wanted a simple garden salad to start, which they could not do (a first for a French restaurant) so I skipped the first course in anticipation of my 330 g côte de veau. My wife had the tuna tartare, while the fish was fresh the flavor was completely lost to other ingredients, tasted raspberry sauce more. For her main she had the seafood pasta, which came out as a dark unidentifiable sludge over noodles, vague unpleasant fishy flavor. It was like they mashed and boiled a week of leftovers. She could not finish it. And my veal came out not au pointe but overcooked gray, dry, and clearly much smaller than advertised – I know what 3/4 pound of steak looks like. My guess is this was the old stinky piece of veal that needed to either be thrown away or cooked thoroughly, and the chef guessed that the American would not notice the difference. Very wrong, I sent it back and given their three strikes, just had bread and wine. The problem is entirely self-inflicted – the menu is too complex to keep fresh ingredients and prepare properly for so few guests outside of peak season. Fire the chef – there is no way a competent professional did not know what he/she put on that plate for me was dreck. And simplify the menu, fewer and fresher ingredients, focus on flavor vs showing off – and I would happily pay same price for the ambience. But their lack of ability or interest to serve a decent meal ruined our evening. Nearby, Cigale serves delicious traditional Corsican fare - La Dimora would do well to emulate. But I cannot recommend this hotel.

The hotel is tucked away on the outskirts of Oletta, at the end of narrow and winding local roads. You arrive by a tree-lined driveway leading to an unassuming stone building with an extensive car park at the front. The reception area was quite small and to access our room we headed outside through another door. Our Charme (Basic) Room looked rather eclectic : the furniture was comprised of a large traditional wooden wardrobe accompanied by a modern armchair upholstered in red leather and a small red metal table. There was an opaque plastic chair by the desk. The room was bright and airy. Other than the wardrobe there weren’t any drawers or additional storage space. Side lights were rather fiddly so we ended up not using them. Bathrobes and slippers were provided. There was a safety box too. There were no tea or coffee-making facilities, at least not in our room. The bathroom was really lovely, very spacious, with a corner bath tub and interesting tile design. We dined at the Pera Bianca restaurant with tables laid out in beautiful surroundings by the pool. The food was great and wines on offer were primarily Corsican, a common theme on our journey around the island. Breakfast was a bit of a disappointment, especially considering the rather steep price (€24.50 per person): not much choice available and little fruit too. Staff were really friendly and helpful. Overall we really liked the hotel.