REVIEW

Le Mas de Castel

Leagues away from tourists and crowds, this hotel's grounds feature a pool, a garden, and rosebushes.

By By Margie Rynn, Thursday, May 1, 2008, 3:27 PM

Le Mas de Castel

• Le Sudalissant
  Sarlat, France 24200
  011-33/5-53-59-02-59
  
• Le Mas de Castel website

About this Hotel

Price From $89

Just a couple of miles south of Sarlat is a small hotel that feels like it's leagues away from tourists and crowds.

Everything about it is soft-spoken, including owner Francine Charpenet Mottet, who transformed the family farm into a relaxing vacation spot.

The grounds feature a pool, a garden, and rosebushes, and there are even plans to create a picnic area for guests. "Comfort" rooms are decorated in yellows, blues, and reds; the larger "superior" rooms (€10 more) have private entrances and terraces that open out onto the garden.

While the hotel has no restaurant, if you opt for a superior room, you can picnic at your outdoor table.

Le Mas de Castel is one of the rare hotels in the area with a handicapped-accessible room; in any event, most rooms are on the ground floor.

The cone-roofed structure next to the pool is a re-creation of a borie—mortarless, flat-stone huts that have existed for thousands of years in the south of France.