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I have an inn recommendation in the Dordogne

I wanted to share this review of the five-room B&B we stayed at this summer in Saint Nathalene outside of Sarlat, as it was truly special! Here is our review:
My husband and I and our two boys (ages 7 and 9) (we live in the SF Bay area) stayed at La Roche d'Esteil in the beautiful Dordogne in August for 6 wonderful nights. We started in Barcelona and ended up in Paris on our trip, and are so glad we chose this place to stay for the longest part of our trip -- it was by far our favorite part of the trip, and we just loved staying here. Here are a ton of reasons why:
1. Karen and Martin. They are lovely people and we miss them and want to see them again:) Karen is so helpful w/ recommendations of what to do in the area. Martin spoiled us with amazing multi-course gastronomic dinners with special tuna from corsica and special ducks from down the road and he gave us great wine recommendations since he's a skilled sommelier. Plus we just enjoyed having conversations with them about life and the world. Great people.
2. Our room and the grounds -- it can be hard to find a room for a family of four and La Roche d'Esteil had a perfect room for our family with two twin beds upstairs and a queen bed downstairs. The room was well decorated w/ air conditioning and was very comfortable The grounds are beautiful and the pool was fun to swim in and the deck by the garden was beautiful for enjoying meals and wine. Our kids enjoyed the swings in the back and playing soccer w/ Karen and Martin's son and swimming in the pool w/ him. There is a kitchen to use too, so this was great on the days when we did a lot and just wanted to make a simple meal and not go anywhere.
3. The food is truly excellent. OK, well this overlaps w/ #1 but I loved the breakfast and the soft boiled eggs and fresh cheese from the farm down the road and delicious pastries. And we enjoyed two dinners cooked by Martin which were outstanding. They also had great food recommendations for the area and we were able to enjoy meals at places like Le Petit Leon which we would have never found on our own. And my children are still talking about how much they loved breakfast there.
4. It was great to find a place with another child so our kids could play w/ him but that also had great things for adults like excellent fine food and relaxing grounds.
5. The region -- this area is just lovely. So many beautiful gardens and farms and river beaches for swimming and canoeing opportunities and delicious food and beautiful stone villages and homes, as well as the prehistoric caves. It's just idyllic and a wonderful area to spend time in. The B&B is so well located that you are a half hour drive from so many wonderful places.
6. The dogs and cat. I also miss their dogs and sweet sweet cat.
I could say a lot more, but writing this review is making me really miss this place and we all hope to go back there again!

Posted by
985 posts

Wow - that's a beautiful place. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Posted by
9549 posts

I stayed there before and I agree it's a beautiful place and a great location. I must have been there before the current owners, hadn't realized it had changed hands. I liked it very much and would definitely stay there again.

Posted by
472 posts

Booked it! Thanks. There's equally enthusiastic reviews on trip advisor, too, if anyone's wondering.