Advertisement

Top 10: the best family-friendly hotels in the Dordogne

Château Le Mas de Montet is straight out of a picture book.
Château Le Mas de Montet is straight out of a picture book.

An insider's guide into the top family-friendly hotels in the Dordogne, including the best for fairytale castle settings, luxurious rural retreats, incredible views, child-sized amenities and plenty of outdoor fun, including activities such as canoeing, bike riding, horse riding and fishing.

Château de la Treyne, Dordogne
Château de la Treyne, Dordogne

Château de la Treyne

Dordogne, France

9Telegraph expert rating

With an unbelievably magical setting, this turreted fairytale chateau is the belle of the ball. It has history, it has drama, it has magnificent views of the Dordogne River – and that is only the beginning. Handsome period rooms, a Michelin-starred restaurant and exquisite service ensure a happy ending every time. From its dramatic cliff setting to its fairytale towers, refined period interior and formal French gardens, the 14th-century castle is a brazen heart stealer. Children will love the location, not to mention the child-sized bathrobes and slippers, as well as personalised chocolate lollipops and colouring books. Read expert review From £140per night

The best hotels in the Dordogne

Chateau de Lalande

Annesse-et-Beaulieu, Dordogne, France

9Telegraph expert rating

Live the French dream at this creamy stone chateau with smoky-blue shutters, traditional, pitched roof, and pea-green vines. The place has plenty of personality. Consider it the love child of Catherine and Yves Staebell who restored the chateau from a ruin. Public areas mirror a private home – no formal reception and books in the Grand Salon to make it feel reassuringly lived in. Yet features like the pool, wisteria-festooned terrace and contemporary outdoor sculptures ensure guests feel spoilt. For the little ones, expect swings in the grounds, a family suite in the round chateau tower, and babysitters availabile on request. Read expert review From £111per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

The best family hotels in France

Le Mas and Le Mazet, Dordogne
Le Mas and Le Mazet, Dordogne

Le Mas & Le Mazet

Sainte-Croix, Dordogne, France

9Telegraph expert rating

Splendidly at home with nesting kestrels and wild deer in the Dordogne countryside, Le Mas & Le Mazet is a luxurious rural retreat for nature lovers, peace seekers and bon vivants. There are two properties: main farmhouse Le Mas, sleeping 10, and neighbouring Le Mazet, rented only with Le Mas in high season to ensure complete privacy. Both spaces mix traditional terracotta floors, stone walls and ancient wooden beams with contemporary Italian and Dutch furnishings. Egyptian cotton bed linens are sharp white and kitchen and bathroom surfaces are steel-grey polished concrete. Baby cots, highchairs and crocodile anti-slip bath mats can be supplied and the kitchen is well stocked with tot-friendly plastic cups and plates. Read expert review From £60per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

The best luxury hotels in the Dordogne

La Roseraie

Montignac, Dordogne, France

9Telegraph expert rating

La Roseraie, 'The Rose Garden', is flowery and feminine, a bourgeois mansion cosseting a voluptuous green paradise of century-old roses and the poetic flow of the Vézère River in its 19th-century backyard. It is one the most raved about hotels in the eastern Dordogne, yet La Roseraie retains warmth and intimacy. Its outstanding gardens and riverside exposure inspires outdoor living, and May, when the rose garden blooms, is an extraordinary month to visit. All 14 rooms gush soft country hues and floral fabrics, and contain a welcoming vase of freshly cut flowers. The river canoeing at the bottom of the garden is a hit among older children, as is the nearby horse riding and fishing. Read expert review From £69per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

The best chateau hotels in the Dordogne

Château Le Mas de Montet, Dordogne
Château Le Mas de Montet, Dordogne

Chateau Le Mas De Montet

Petit-Bersac, Dordogne, France

9Telegraph expert rating

My, what a rhapsody of Renaissance beauty and privilege this fairytale castle is! Appearing like a fictitious mirage amid a luxuriant cloak of velvet green lawn and century-old oaks, sequoias, chestnuts and linden trees, Château Le Mas de Montet is straight out of a picture book. There's 10 rooms, each different, with no restraints on luxury and its 130-acre grounds are a study in indigenous flora and fauna: rare 19th-century trees, springtime nightingales, migrating Siberian cranes in autumn, tree frogs, otters and deer. Muck about in the river, grab a bike to pedal around, trek on horseback, climb sequoia trees: hotel life here is buckets of outdoor fun. Read expert review From £232per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

The best Dordogne hotels with pools

Chateaux Dans Les Arbred, Durdogne, France
Chateaux Dans Les Arbred, Durdogne, France

Châteaux dans les Arbres

Dordogne, France

8Telegraph expert rating

Chambres d’hôte in France have just become even more sensational with these fanciful tree houses modelled on Dordogne chateaux. Tree houses sleep two or six. Cabane Monbazillac has fairytale turrets, antiques and decorative trims from India; twin-towered Cabane Milandes is 100 per cent wood, inside and out; while Cabane Hautefort with three double rooms and fitted kitchen is big enough to be considered a ‘cottage’. Both smaller treehouses have a whirlpool tub on the terrace. Luxurious interiors, staggering countryside views and a soul-piercing tranquillity is what Castles in the Trees translates as. The kids will love it. Read expert review From £166per night

The best hotels in France for summer

Hotel La Troubador, Dordogne
Hotel La Troubador, Dordogne

Hôtel Le Troubadour

Rocamadour, Lot, France

8Telegraph expert rating

Family-run and restored inns are hardly unusual in France, but Franck Menot has taken it a step further, making his 17th-century farmhouse into a retreat of real elegance. The property itself is fascinating; 400-year-old yews and medieval stone carvings built into the walls come from a chapel that once stood here. Madame Menot and her mother are responsible for the simple charm of the room design – the lovely rustic oak floors, the doors and much of the furniture are the work of a local cabinetmaker. There’s a lot of room on the four-acre grounds for children to roam. That, and the relaxed atmosphere of the place, make this a good spot for families. They’re always glad to find a babysitter or lay on an extra bed. Read expert review From £52per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

The best places and cities to visit in France and where to stay when there

La Maison des Peyrat, Sarlat-la-Canéda, Dordogne, France
La Maison des Peyrat, Sarlat-la-Canéda, Dordogne, France

La Maison des Peyrat

Sarlat-la-Canéda, Dordogne, France

8Telegraph expert rating

An old stone ivy-laced house on a hill where plague victims were sent in the 14th century is the curious home of this characterful budget hotel in Sarlat-la-Canéda. This old farmhouse with creaky wooden shutters, foliage-draped façade – crimson in autumn – and violet-flowering passion vines wrapped around its front door is French bohemia at its most elegant and best. Breakfast is served at worn wooden tables beneath a centurion chestnut tree, and quirky garden sculptures and curiosities entice guests to explore the gloriously wild garden. Families are warmly welcomed with triple rooms and additional beds, or Room Eight is split-level and sleeps four. Read expert review From £48per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

The best beach hotels in France

Le Mas De Castel, Sarlat-la-Canéda, Dordogne, France
Le Mas De Castel, Sarlat-la-Canéda, Dordogne, France

Le Mas De Castel

Sarlat-la-Canéda, Dordogne, France

7Telegraph expert rating

For families exploring the rural Dordogne by car, Le Mas de Castel is a perfect address. Hotel parking is easy and abundant, kids have bags of green space to tear around in, and the buzzy terrace bar overlooking the pool was made for fatigued parents to chill out over sundowners. In 1987 Francine Mottet decided to turn her parent’s farmhouse into a hotel, and the rest is history. She has since added to it, and remains as dedicated and passionate as ever about her childhood home. It has fresh, country-styled interiors specked with some lovely, reassuringly homely decorative touches - unpretentious wall mirrors, flowery bed throws, shelf ornaments and the like. Guests leave as best friends after a stay here. Read expert review From £56per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

The best beach hotels in Normandy

Le Moulin de Mayence, France
Le Moulin de Mayence, France

Le Moulin de Mayence

Plazac, Dordogne, France

9Telegraph expert rating

Gourmets seeking peace, tranquility and superb farm-to-table dining around a shared table will fall hook, line and sinker for this small countryside b&b, at home in a 17th-century water mill. Service is relaxed and personal. Guests are warmly welcomed in the lounge where resident cats Twix and Filou curl up on the sofa. Country-style rooms combine design with functionality. Every room has a fridge to chill drinks and private terrace with table and chairs. Pink Fleur d’Orchidée sleeps three and is strung with snaps of orchid blooms and birds flutter across the walls of Aux Oiseaux. For families, the two-room Coeur de Vanille (Vanilla Heart) family suite sleeps five comfortably. Read expert review From £73per night Register Log in commenting policy