Descubra sua estadia em Le Pouliguen

We booked this hotel last minute. It was most definitely a mistake for us. It is an ultra-modern designed hotel but a conference hotel not really in our opinion for tourists. It is situated outside the town by about a 15-20 minute walk. The room was large and clean with a good bathroom BUT my one big horror were 1 use plastic cups in the bathroom and paper cups for tea/coffee. His is a four-star hotel, think of all those plastic cups being used by those at a conference. It is quite unacceptable. We looked at dining that evening but the prices were outrageous. Breakfast to us was a disaster, there was no logic to the layout of anything and you had to set your own table or a tray with everything on it which I personally would be unable to carry. The one member of staff on that morning was of no help or guidance at all. I had a problem with settling the bill, my fault completely in mis-understanding their system but it was quickly rectified by a lovely lady who came from a village near me here in Ireland so all was sorted. Would I go back, not unless I was going to a conference.

This 2-night stay was fairly expensive but no hotel of this calibre in La Baule will be cheap. That said, we DID choose what must be one of their best rooms, a Junior Suite [#703] on a corner of the top floor, with windows on two sides. It had a fabulous view over the wide sweep of beach, and fantastic sunrises. The Mercure Majestic is located right on the promenade at one end of La Baule's very long, clean, sandy beach. Ideal for bucket & spade aficionados. The hotel is well-appointed and comfortable, and has private parking (I don't think I'd want to park my Tesla on the street). The breakfast spread was terrific, complete with crepes and a dispenser of salted caramel goo to put on them. Great breads, jams, honeys and really good butter. Scrambled eggs and terrific sausages (but no bacon, sadly). The usual crappy bean-to-cup, infinite permutations coffee machine when what you really want is a cafetiere of strong coffee...but that ship has sailed. We had dinner in Le Ruban Bleu restaurant both nights, taking their Menu Plaisir (3 plats, 39 euros). Night 1 was a little disappointing: starters of Ganache of foie gras, where it was difficult to discern any foie gras (which we eat a lot) and Chromesquis de Crevettes (like an Arancini) where it was equally difficult to discern any crevettes. But my main of octopus was good as was the Mijoté de Cochon. Nice cheeses, good Paris-Brest dessert (here christened Paris-La Baule; well obviously). Wines were a Muscadet at 30 euros and a St Nicholas de Bourgeuil at 40 (which I thought was a tiny bit expensive). Night 2 was better, with a bottle of Chinon at 26 euros, a glass of Luberon rosé at 5.50 and one of Coteaux du Layon at 6.50 with dessert. One wrinkle to our stay was that the same lad, for all appearances a trainee, kept popping up at every meal. I know my French is rusty but it is clearly better than his command of English, since he failed to understand a single thing we said (in either language), knows nothing about wine, or serving it properly. He popped up again at breakfast but luckily you serve yourself to most of it. He even popped up when we came back at lunchtime gagging a for a glass of Breton cider, our request for which completely flummoxed him and he had to seek help from the experienced and knowledgeable waiter who speaks excellent English and who also served us most of the time. Bottom line? La Baule is somewhere we will return and the Mercure Majestic is now tried-and-tested.

Dès notre arrivée dans le jardin et les premiers pas dans le restaurant nous avons été séduit par le cadre, et l’accueil dont nous avons bénéficié. Dans une salle épurée, soignée et vue sur le jardin et la mer, nous avons partagé un repas en famille autour d’un repas excellent et aux saveurs étonnantes et inhabituelles. Chaque assiette est un écrin, accompagné par un vin choisi et proposé par le sommelier. En salle, toutes les personnes ont été accueillantes, attentionnées et cela fait une équipe professionnelle et dévouée aux clients. En coulisse, la brigade œuvre à transformer les produits locaux en mets succulents, pour donner du plaisir visuel et gustatif, et ce fut un régal. En vacances pour découvrir cette région, cette étape nocturne restera un souvenir savoureux et joyeux, un moment unique partagé en famille.

We ended up with nice bedroom accommodation and sleep quality was very good. Front office staff and the concierge/bell team were friendly and helpful. But the breakfast arrangements were mediocre Major issues arose in connection with the spa. Misinformation resulted in one of us missing aqua classes . And, despite drawing attention to the Hammam that would barely have warmed an Eskimo, nothing was going to be done about this as it was too hard to locate the engineer, or maybe to lift a finger to turn up the temperature.