Logis hôtel de la Barque

We stopped here on our way to Deauville and it turned out to be a lovely surprise. There was parking right outside, and we enjoyed a good home-cooked French dinner. The restaurant was packed, including a coach tour, even though it seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. We enjoyed the stay and would recommend it.

The room was clean, simple, and practical. But the restaurant meal was on another level. In nearly three weeks in France, it was the best meal I’d had, beating even the two highly rated restaurants I tried on Ile de Re by quite a margin.

The restaurant is the real standout. The food was beautifully presented and delicious, easily deserving 3 or 4 stars in my view, and it wasn’t expensive. We’ve been coming back for more than five years, and I strongly recommend it. The "patron" is at the heart of the place, and his warm welcome made our Hotel de la Barque stay on 19-20 May 2022 unforgettable. The charming staff are friendly, polite, and efficient, and the cook deserves congratulations for producing such quality in Beaumont-sur-Sarthe. The two-star hotel itself is modest and clean, with all sorts of commodities. It suited our stay with my wife and sister-in-law, and seems especially handy for business travelers or people driving to or from the South of France. One thing to know: reception opens at 17:30 and the restaurant at 19:30. We enjoyed a cool, fresh draft LEFFE beer as an aperitif in between.

We’d had a spectacular dinner here on an overnight stop some years back, so on our trip south to north we came for a long lunch. It was just as elaborate and extraordinary as before, with a surprise amuse-bouche and petit fours with the coffees. Every course was a treat for the eyes and the taste buds. Lovely to know places like this still exist in humble little bistros in rural France, even in these peculiar times. Long may they carry on. J'adore!