Hostellerie de la Vieille Ferme

We were close to the beach and coastal walks, and the staff were lovely, helpful and attentive. My elderly parents and I booked one room for three, but were given two adjoining rooms and one bathroom for the same price. The building has a very typical Normandy exterior, while the restaurant is modern. The only drawback was the bath under a sloping ceiling, so there was no separate shower. We had a lovely stay and I’d recommend it.

Our room was among the most expensive we booked while travelling in France, and by a wide margin it was the worst. The staff were good, though they seemed stretched thin and service suffered, especially at dinner. The meals were okay. The room was reasonably clean and average in size, but smelled damp and musty. There were large gaps in the laminate floor, which made me wonder if it had flooded before and could explain the smell. The twin mattresses were worn out and uncomfortable. Mine sagged enough that I could feel the hard base beneath it. Pipes beside our room made a startling noise, seemingly whenever someone in a neighbouring room flushed. The hotel sits across a sloping site, with many rooms opening straight onto a well-kept garden, but reaching the rooms means tackling a lot of steps. Private parking is limited, though there is some street parking too. We booked at the last minute and didn’t have time to check reviews as we usually do. I wish we had.

Getting to the room meant climbing four separate sets of steps at the back of the hotel with all our belongings, which was hard with a baby. The rooms were okay, just a little small. As a Brit, one tea bag each and no milk was a killer. The bathroom window could use frosted glass, since people outside could see us showering and using the toilet. All in all, it wasn’t too bad.

The place itself is calm and cozy, and has a lot of potential, but it’s managed really badly. We could pick between two rooms, though one smelled awful. Both were dirty and dusty, with stains on the beds and curtains. Breakfast cost 18€ for low quality food, and service was very inefficient even when we kept asking for things. Outside tables had no chairs, dishes were dirty, refills took ages, nobody spoke English, and there was no toaster. The spa was nice, but expensive for what it offered. The hot tub was pleasant but needed cleaning, the sauna was small, and the hammam wasn’t working, with no steam. We also paid 45€ for a 30 minute massage. It didn’t feel like it was done by a professional, and was more like caressing than a massage.