Le Troubadour

My wife and I spent two nights at this hotel for our stay in the greater Rocamadour area. The hotel has plenty of parking space. The reception, bar and breakfast area are in the main building; the rooms are in an attached but separate 2-floor structure and are all entered from a covered outside walk. Make sure to get a room on the top floor. Check-in time ends at 8 PM (20:00) because that is when the manager closes up the main building and leaves for the night. The room was sufficiently spacious, clean and neat. The bathroom and shower were quite good. The beds were very comfortable. The area around this hotel was very quiet as it sits well off the main road and is about 1.5 km north of the main intersection in the upper town area known as L’Hospitalet. Breakfast was also very good. Much to our surprise, we were told that one could walk off-road from the hotel down to Rocamadour. When it was still light outside, we recorded our walk down to and through Rocamadour on Gaia GPS (a hiking app) so that we could find our way more easily in the evening when we went back down for dinner (with our flashlight and another one that the hotel manager loaned us). It is a 1 km, off-road walk (approx. 15 min) from the hotel to the main intersection in L’Hospitalet. Note that there are quite a few restaurants, including 3 of the hotel’s top recommendations, near this intersection. From there, it is another 75 meters down a concrete walk to the main road bisecting the medieval town area of Rocamadour. We walked down this road and through the lower gate, turned around and walked almost 200 meters back to the Grand Escalante staircase, climbed the steps up to the Sanctuary area, then walked up a path with many switchbacks to the chateau, and finally walked back down on a path running alongside the Route du Chateau to the main intersection in L’Hospitalet. This entire loop starting and ending at the hotel was about 5-6 km and took us 1.5 hours. But it was worth every meter and every minute. The only negative about our stay was that the manager told us on the first afternoon (when we arrived) that we did not need to make dinner reservations as this was a quiet time in Rocamadour (middle of October). This was incorrect, and we had a really hard time finding a place for dinner, having to settle on a less than stellar restaurant at a table right next to the squeaking door to the W/C. Very unfortunate. However, we made reservations for dinner on our second night and had a great experience. We would recommend this hotel, especially since we now know that it is easy walk from there down to medieval Rocamadour.

The farmhouse and buildings have been converted and renovated to an excellent standard, and the lovely pool is a godsend when the weather was sunny and the temperature in the mid-30s. Key to making our holiday wonderful were the excellent hosts - Mathieu and Franck. They could have not been more welcoming and warm to all their guests. If you are a fluent French speaker, rusty like us, or didn't know a word, it didn't matter; they were happy to talk - and joke! - in either language. Apart from their warmth, their kindness in showing us key sites in the area of the Lot, saved us from fruitless wandering and missing great experiences. This is a lovely part of France with so much to offer. Using beautiful Rocamadour as a base, Pech Merle, Saint-Cirq-Lapopie and Domme are unmissable. Our room and ensuite were clean and comfortable, if a tad small. The bed was very comfortable too and the only quibble was the absence of tea and coffee-making facilities in our room. Thanks guys; we had a fantastic time!

A perfect sanctuary of calm. Superb experience, with friendly customer service. Lovely pool, beautiful accommodation and great choices for breakfast, all freshly prepared. I will definitely will return.in the future, my only regret is that I didn't book more nights here.

A truly lovely place to stay and I only wish we had booked for more than one night. Mathieu (hope that's how he spells his name) was welcoming and friendly despite us turning up very early for our booking! We slept in a two-bedroom apar**ent that was very comfortable and clean and had a lovely terrace overlooking the fields. The peace and quiet were a balm to the soul! Breakfast was fabulous, with everything we could have wished for and delicious coffee. There are numerous restaurants available nearby. Hopefully, we will be back, but for longer next time!