Le Paquebot

The beach is right there, and it’s very quiet. The staff were lovely too. The village is peaceful and ideal for recovering and recharging. A real gem. Vierviller and the surrounding area are beautiful and well worth staying for.

We had lunch on the terrace with a view. The salads were generous and really good, and the interior decor is lovely. Great value for money.

The best parts of our week were the peaceful setting, the ocean view, and the room. It’s a small, authentic Norman village without the crowds, with lovely sunsets and a cosy balcony room. Dogs are very welcome too, and can run off leash on the fairly wild beach at pretty much any time. We had an unforgettable stay and would most likely come back to this part of High Normandy, hopefully at more suitable rates. The location puts you right by the ocean. We liked seeing Le Havre’s industrial harbor in the distance. Our room was clean and well soundproofed, with nice decor, a good sized balcony, separate WC, bathrobes, slippers, hairdryer, and a coffee machine with two pods per person refilled daily. There’s an elevator, and the staff responded well to our questions and requests. Private parking cost an extra 15€/day, and our Golden Retriever was welcome for an extra 25€/day. The hotel also offers 45 minutes floating in 35° salt water, which we regret not trying. Even though we enjoyed the holiday, I can’t give the experience five stars. The hotel’s rating seems overrated to me. I’d call it a 3-star hotel rather than 4-star, so the value didn’t feel entirely fair. Rates probably vary by season, but we paid 245€/night, plus 16/18€ for breakfast depending on whether it was served in the restaurant or our room, and the extras. A few details fell short. Paint was peeling in spots on the balcony walls, and the debris hadn’t been cleaned up before we arrived or during the stay. The bottom part of the balcony rail was made of low quality flexible PVC. The floors were wood-look vinyl, which I don’t like in a luxury 4-star hotel, though the quality was okay, and the joints between materials in the WC weren’t well finished. The room focuses on decoration, which is lovely, but some practical things were overlooked. The bedside tables were too tiny to use because the oversized lamps took up all the space. There wasn’t enough closet space or enough hangers for two people staying a week, and nowhere to put empty suitcases. Breakfast was the main thing I’d change, and probably the easiest to fix. The choices were basic: croissant, yoghurt, bread, butter, jam, honey, Nutella spread, cereal or muesli, mixed cheese and charcuterie, and fruit salad that didn’t seem freshly made. That felt far from the advertised gourmet breakfast. You also have to fill out a form the evening before with your choices and breakfast time, by 1 o’clock in the morning at the latest, and we were reminded about that repeatedly. This applied whether eating in the hotel dining room or in our room. It was the first time I’d seen that outside the Covid period, and it struck me as a very cheap approach. The mattresses weren’t as good as I expected in a 4-star hotel, though we slept reasonably well from the second night. Wi-fi was weak and awkward to connect to, and didn’t reach the balcony. The TV was too small for the room and a basic model without on-demand services like Netflix or Prime, which are standard options nowadays. I was also bothered by the blunt note in the guest booklet saying everything in the room was inventory and guests would be charged if they took anything. I agree with the principle, but a 4-star hotel could phrase it more subtly. Those issues relate to the hotel’s stated rating and prices, but had only a limited effect on our holiday.

You need to arrive from 16h, and the welcome was a surprise, but in the end we weren’t disappointed. The rooms have been fully renovated and are comfortable. Best of all, the balcony takes you right in front of the sea, on the beach, with the sound of the waves all around. Excellent location. We highly recommend it.