Le Cellier de l'Henriette

The summer kitchen was a real bonus during our week there, so handy to have. We also made good use of the swimming pool and had a very pleasant stay. The welcome was warm, and the bed and breakfast is well placed, with shops and restaurants close by.

We really enjoyed breakfast on the terrace with the other guests, and the owner was friendly and happy to point us toward walks and places to visit around the area. The house is large, with roomy bedrooms and smaller beds up on the mezzanine. There’s a garden with a fenced pool, though the water felt cold for August. The busy road nearby is the downside. On warm nights, opening the windows lets in some noise, and the mezzanine rooms under the eaves get hot. Air conditioning would be a plus.

The village of Tautavel is charming, and we’d definitely recommend the L'Étape bar-pizza restaurant. Back at the house, we loved the breakfast setting and its superb view. The hosts were welcoming and very friendly, and the big house is beautifully decorated. It gets hot in August, but the fans in the rooms made it bearable. There’s also a pool for cooling off.

The hostess gave our family a very warm welcome, and she and the owners were especially attentive to our children. We stayed two nights, August 16th and 17th, 2017, with two evening meals included in our Wonderbox voucher. Both our room and the children's rooms were clean, and breakfast and dinner were satisfactory. The owners joined us for dinner, which we were fine with. It helped us get to know them, and at a bed and breakfast you need to be open to that. We have no complaints about our stay. I did want to respond briefly to criticism we’ve seen about this guesthouse. From the steady stream of comments, I get the impression many of those people were born with a silver spoon in their mouth. I don’t know where in France they’re from, and honestly, I don’t want to know. We met several families from different regions during our stay, and they weren’t very welcoming either. It was hard to start a conversation or get a smile. With that sort of behavior, it wouldn’t surprise us if criticism comes easily. We’re a family from the South, with a zest for life and everything that comes with it. Long live the South! Mr. and Mrs. Ritter