HOTEL DE L ABBAYE

A Disappointing Fine Dining Experience at Le Jardin de l'Abbaye We chose Le Jardin de l'Abbaye for my husband's birthday dinner, trusting its listing in the Michelin Guide. The setting in Le Tronchet is beautiful, and the restaurant's décor is inviting. We eagerly ordered the tasting menu, anticipating a memorable evening. Chef Marie-Léa Coulon’s food indeed showed promise, but unfortunately, the service was nothing short of disastrous. Fine dining is not just about the food; it's about the entire experience, where both the kitchen and service teams play crucial roles. In this case, the service team utterly failed. It was shocking to see such a stark contrast between the quality of the cuisine and the abysmal service. Imagine enjoying dishes of a fine dining caliber, only to have them served with the quality of service you'd expect at a fast-food chain. The staff provided no details about the dishes, practically dropped the plates on the table with a forced smile, and then disappeared. Having dined in some of the best restaurants across Brittany—Le Saint Placide, Le Bistro de Cancale, L’Ermitage, Fleur de Sel, and Otonali—we have never encountered such low-quality service. If Chef Marie-Léa Coulon intends to sabotage her brilliant culinary efforts, she couldn’t have found a better team to do it. This experience has shattered our trust in Michelin Guide recommendations. Fine dining is an art that encompasses both food and service, and sadly, this restaurant failed miserably on the latter. I would not recommend Le Jardin de l'Abbaye to anyone.

Hotel was selected by Trafalgar as part of a Northern France tour - very large room with ability to open window doors out onto the garden where there is a table and chairs. Comfortable sleep - toilet is separate from the bathroom. Staff are polite and courteous. Hotel has a lake and lovely gardens. There are no convenient stores close by as the hotel is located in the country and is a refurbished old Abbey. Both dinner and breakfast were good and delicious.

Fourth stay here. New ownership. It now totally lacks any atmosphere. Poor reception/concierge who did not lift a finger to help with our luggage. Room very cold and nobody answered the reception phone when I called to ask for some help with the heating. I had to go and find someone and then I had to wait quite a while before I went to find someone to ask. They eventually found an industrial heater for our room. Was not made aware of the fact that the restaurant was only offering an expensive ‘blind’ 5 or 7 course menu. The waiter didn’t know what we would be offered apart from seafood. Thankfully we don’t mind eating seafood. Asked to move our restaurant booking forward by half a hour to give us a bit of time to freshen up after a 5 hour drive but we’re told that this was not possible. The restaurant only had 12 guests and was over half empty! This hotel is quite remote otherwise we would have gone elsewhere to eat had we known there was no menu choices. There was no drinking water in the room. The staff did not really appear happy or that helpful or gave an impression of being happy. We have previously recommended this hotel but would no longer recommend. We will not be staying here again. Couldn’t wait to leave and didn’t bother with breakfast as we didn’t want further disappointment.

WE WERE TRULY LOOKING FORWARD TO OUR MENU GASTRONOMIQUE WHICH ON THE RATINGS HEREIN, SUGGESTED THE PLACE WAS FABULOUS!! AFTER BEING IGNORED FOR THE OBLIGATORY HOUR MY WIFE AND I WERE OFFERED A DRINK AND SINCE IT WAS A BLIND-TASTING MENU THERE WERE NO CHOICES OTHER THAN HOW MANY COURSES? WE CHOSE 5 AND WERE SEATED HALF AN HOUR LATER. THE FIRST COURSE CONSISTED OF A SLIPPERY CONCOCTION OF RAZOR FISH CLAMS, RAW SCALLOPS & MOULE. IN FACT, THE ONLY ADDITIONAL TEXTURE TO BE HAD WAS THE 2" PIECE OF PLASTIC THAT WAS HIDDEN IN THE MEAL. I INFORMED THE MAISTER DE, WHO WAS SUITABLY CONCERNED/CONCERNED/CONCIALITORY BUT I WAS HAPPY TO SIMPLY MOVE ON SUGGESTING THAT SOMEONE COULD HAVE CHOKED ON IT AND BEST INFORM THE KITCHEN BLAH BLAH.. THE SECOND PLATE ARRIVED WITH A SIMILARLY TEXTURELESS GUNK CONSISTING OF MASHED AUBERGIGNE INNARDS TOPPED WITH SOU VIDE GREY MULLET ADORNED WITH SOME SLIPPERY SKIN FOR GOOD MEASURE. NOT EXACTLY FEELING IT BUT LOOKING FORWARD TO BETTER. WE TUCKED INTO A SORBET TO CLEANSE THE PALLET AND LO AND BEHOLD OUR FRIEND THE PLASTIC APPEARED AGAIN. THIS TIME IN THE FORM OF A CLEAR HARD PLASTIC THAT LODGED IN MY THROAT AND HAD ME COUGHING & CHOKING, I KID YOU NOT.... RELIEVED TO HAVE COUGHED IT UP AND SPAT IT ONTO MY PLATE I CONTINUED TO PICK OTHER BITS OF SPIRELLED PLASTIC THAT HAD STUCK IN MY TEETH. ONCE AGAIN THE MAISTRE DE WAS ON HAND TO SHAKE HIS HEAD AND OFFER HIS PERSONAL APOLOGY BUT NOTHING MORE. WE BOTH FELT THAT AT THIS STAGE WE HAD GIVEN IT A CHANCE AND DECIDED TO BACK TO THE GOLF CLUB FOR SOMETHING LESS DANGEROUS TO EAT SUCH AS A BURGER OR SOMETHING AND WERE UTTERLY FLABERGASTED TO BE PRESENTED WITH A BILL FOR THE ENTIRE 5 COURSES INCLUDING ONES WE HADN'T HAD ALONG WITH THE WINE ACCOMPANIMENT WE ALSO HADN'T HAD. DESPITE OUR PROTESTATIONS TO THE MANAGER WE WERE FORCED TO PAY THE BILL EVEN AFTER THE MANAGER WAS MADE TO CALL THE OWNER..

Very nice rooms recently renovated in an old abbey that had been sympathetically brought into the 21C. Excellently restaurant with good service and beautifully cooked food. Whilst the restaurant isn’t cheap it is worth the money and has a lovely terrace ans outlook over the lake. Great wine pairing available with the menus and worth doing.

Effet 'wahou' en arrivant dans un cadre enchanteur... MAIS pas encore à la hauteur d'un 4 étoiles... certains points méritent amélioration : - accueil qui manque de professionnalisme - déco austère et vieillissante - défaut d'entretien des extérieurs - petit dej copieux mais sans originalité - wifi très aléatoire - chambre certes spacieuse mais peu chaleureuse et un peu démodée (moquette à susbtituer impérativement par un revêtement plus hygiénique et moins allergisant). Les plus : - grand parking - endroit très calme et pour autant à proximité des sites touristiques (St Malo/Mont St Michel). - golf à proximité pour les passionnés Bref, il manque ce petit plus qui fait qu'on a envie d'y rester et d'y revenir.