Hôtel Rive Sud

Our tour of the main wine-producing areas of the Loire Valley continued with Stage 5: Amboise to Chinon (Day 6 in France). We were now based in Chinon. We had arrived in Chinon just before mid-afternoon and we felt very fortunate to be able to park up in the street (with no parking restrictions) whilst we were out in the town. We had been sampling wine, whilst we walked extensively in the town, so moving our car into the hotel carpark was a definite no-no. We had stayed before in 2017 on our ‘Grand Tour of France’, and liked the hotel then. Now, under new ownership, we liked it a whole lot more. The restaurant area has been extended into a multi-purpose area where breakfast can be enjoyed looking our onto the cleverly designed garden that used picture-window sized mirrors. The building next to the property has been converted into additional rooms, including a top floor luxury honeymoon style suite. We couldn’t recall much of the bar and dining room area from our last visit, but it looks very smart and shouts quality. We stayed in a first floor room last time and recall how good it was then. This time we stayed in a ground floor room that looked out over the garden. Yes, there is still things to do, but what has been done is really good. After unpacking a freshening up we took drinks in the new multi-purpose garden-facing room. The wine (a Jean-Maurice Raffault 2022 Chinon Blanc) was excellent: very light and dry with melon and green apple on the nose, good minerality on the palate with a slightly short finish. Our room was excellent and sleep quality was perfect as it was far quieter here on the south side of the river. The good shower was most welcome in the morning. We took breakfast which was buffet style and very good. Mine host was very helpful, engaging and spoke good English. We would stay here again, sans doute.

Lovely beautifully furnished hotel conveniently located just across the river from Chinon. Rudy and Mathieu made us very welcome and were helpful with local information. It was a good base for visiting nearby chateaux. A pleasant walk into town. We stayed for a very pleasant six nights at the end of June.

Such a lovely hotel, the design and attention to detail is wonderful. The owners are very friendly and relaxed and spoke excellent english. We could park our car in a secure drive with easy access. We would recommend this hotel and will be booking again next time we are in Chinon