Les Chambres de l'Abbaye

Super interesting place to stay. New bathrooms. Very clean. Nice staff. Decent breakfast. Rooms have very basic amenities - not surprising given the place’s origin, but there isn’t even any soap in the bathrooms - no way to wash your hands except to use the mystery bottle of body wash (?) in the shower. The place isn’t expensive, so basic is fine, but maybe a few more amenities (like some soap, tissue, an extra towel or two) would be nice?

Advertised as a comfort room with bath/shower room, well yes it had a bedroom and a shower, unfortunately this is a prime example of “style over substance”, it’s not finished to a good standard, from untrained wooded sections on the shower room door, to a sink that has obviously been badly hung, large unhygienic gaps in the sealant, a loose floorboard at the foot of the bed, so you catch your foot in it in the night if you go to the toilet, the bed is anything but comfort, very high in the centre, makes you roll towards the edge, finally I wish we had not bother with breakfast @12€ per person, fruit bruised and battered, weakest coffee I have ever had, and staff constantly checking their mobile, as we had already had communication problems we decided to continue our trip rather than wait for someone to complain to. I almost forgot the most annoying bit, fire alarm sounded at 5.30 pm went on for 15 minutes, no sign of the “guardian”, when it stopped we eventually returned to our room, never did hear if it was safe, no communication at all.

This is a former abbey partially converted to a hotel . There is an awesome cathedral on the property and the most unique musical carousel that allows you to play instruments as it turns. We had rooms with showers although there are also less expensive rooms with showers down the hall. The main commercial street with restaurants etc is a 10 minute walk. Free parking; no TVs. Extremely restful and charming.

This is a property unlike any I have ever stayed in before. The abbey is almost 1000 years old and is filled with music. Musicians are hosted there and practice all day long amidst a calm and shady courtyard. An amazing restaurant sits just outside the abbey doors. This would be absolutely divine in the autumn or spring. It was not divine during a summer heatwave. The day we arrived, the temperature in Saintes passed 40 degrees C (104 F). The abbey does not have AC (understandable) and did not provide fans (less understandable). We had the one room with a private bath, but this was humid and the shower stall was very small--which made it difficult for tall people to use. It was also still above 30C when we tried to sleep for the night. We could not leave the window open very widely because of mosquitos. So we did not sleep well. The staff was lovely, though the nature of the property means that the reception is staffed for only a few hours a day. The breakfast was also good and filling. Overall, this is a wonderful property for Classical Music lovers during certain times of the year. I would avoid it during the summer, unless the staff is able to provide strong fans or some other cooling for rooms.

Très mauvaise expérience !! Le jour de mon arrivée, j'ai dû traverser la cour pleine de gravillon avec ma valise très lourde en plein milieu d'un enterrement ! L'horreur total !! Prévoir un accès bis pour récupérer sa clé de chambre !! La personne de la réception me dit gentiment "je vous accompagne", moi super, et là 2 mètres dehors, elle me dit la chambre c'est par là (20 mètres plus loin toujours avec des gravillons) et le petit-déjeuner de l'autre côté à 50 mètres. ok donc je me démerde ! Après avoir lutter pour monter les 2 étages à pied, j'arrive dans ma chambre. Un espace lugubre, qui sens le moisi et le renfermé. Et si on parle des "petits plus", entre les chaussons en papier et les peignoirs élimés, ce n'est pas les toilettes communes qui vont remonter le niveau des prestations. Bref, je ne reviendrais pas !!