I first heard of Le Manoir when at Catering College in France. I remember looking at the pictures of this beautiful hotel and restaurant from the Relais & Chateaux guide. As students we are all in awe with such places, their excellence and their passion inspired us and made us dream. They were only for the best professionals and working there even for a short placement meant that you were one of a kind.
And so I was particularly excited and happy to go there on the 27 January with my family to celebrate my 40th birthday.
The trip from London was not the best. The traffic was so bad that it took us three hours to get there. I called the reception on the way to let them know we were running late. The girl on the phone could not have been sweeter, more polite and more professional.
She knew of the delays already and what if felt like to be stuck in a traffic jam like this. She was so genuinely sympathetic but what did it for me most of all was her down to earth attitude and her capacity to connect there and then on my level and share a moment with me.
We arrived at 7pm and our reservation was for 7.15pm.
As a fellow professional I felt bad. But not for long, they did not let me....
We were greeted warmly and swiftly escorted to our room. Our host was charming, kind and precise and a good talker too!
By then all I wanted was to relax and unwind for a little time with my family before dinner. Then with a few kind, generous and well-chosen attention to details the magic of Le Manoir started to kick in! To be fair I knew Le Manoir was going to be amazing. But to know it and experience it for yourself is 2 different things altogether.
Time stopped as soon as we entered our room.
Our host offered us post cards to send to family and friends which Le Manoir would post (with their compliments) "anywhere in the world". Wow! What a nice touch and a great marketing tool too.
The children had each a little Raymond "teddy bear" as a present on their beds along with a little card with their name on it. There was also a traditional toy box in the room and they lost no time in playing with them. Although I am not sure whether they did not prefer watching the cartoons in the huge bath...
I opted for the shower. What a POWER shower that was! Never had one like this before. In fact I would go back just for the shower!
Finally, we made our way to the dining room. There was no rush to take us to our table and we were offered aperitif in the lounge.
Time stopped one more time.
The children were given at once some crayons and cards to draw as well as some little toys. The children menu was without exaggerating THE BEST I HAVE EVER SEEN IN THE WORLD.
A small statement of intent said it all "Children of all ages are not only accepted but WELCOMED at Le Manoir".
There were 5 or 6 choices for starters, mains and desserts! The attention to details was such that there were even drawings of Asterix, Obelix and Idefix on it!
We ordered and sat at a well-chosen table in a corner and with a good view. The service (ie the technical part) and food were spectacular and I did not expect anything less.
However, what stood out were the hospitality and the way Le Manoir team made us feel. We were so special and nothing was too much.
The staff were kind and generous with my children and read us SO well. No questions were asked: they just knew.
The plates were cleared fast and the service was well paced which was good.
Lucien is 2 years and a half and it was getting late. At one point Mourad realised Lucien was tired. Before Alex and I even had a chance to discuss a plan of action he already offered to bring two armchairs side by side so he could relax with his milk bottle and sleep in the restaurant.
Mourad and his team are true professionals who stand out because of their kindness, generosity, simplicity and down to earth attitude. Exactly the way it should be.
In the end however it was just too much for the children who were tired and so we asked if we could have our dessert and a fresh mint tea (and a nice whisky) in our room. "Of course! With pleasure" replied immediately Mourad.
Hospitality is in their blood!
And so we made our way back to the room where a fire had been lit for us. The timing could not have been more perfect!
And time stopped again...
By then all I wanted was to relax and unwind for a little time with my family before dinner. Then with a few kind, generous and well-chosen attention to details the magic of Le Manoir started to kick in! To be fair I knew Le Manoir was going to be amazing. But to know it and experience it for yourself is 2 different things altogether.
Time stopped as soon as we entered our room.
Our host offered us post cards to send to family and friends which Le Manoir would post (with their compliments) "anywhere in the world". Wow! What a nice touch and a great marketing tool too.
The children had each a little Raymond "teddy bear" as a present on their beds along with a little card with their name on it. There was also a traditional toy box in the room and they lost no time in playing with them. Although I am not sure whether they did not prefer watching the cartoons in the huge bath...
I opted for the shower. What a POWER shower that was! Never had one like this before. In fact I would go back just for the shower!
Finally, we made our way to the dining room. There was no rush to take us to our table and we were offered aperitif in the lounge.
Time stopped one more time.
The children were given at once some crayons and cards to draw as well as some little toys. The children menu was without exaggerating THE BEST I HAVE EVER SEEN IN THE WORLD.
A small statement of intent said it all "Children of all ages are not only accepted but WELCOMED at Le Manoir".
There were 5 or 6 choices for starters, mains and desserts! The attention to details was such that there were even drawings of Asterix, Obelix and Idefix on it!
We ordered and sat at a well-chosen table in a corner and with a good view. The service (ie the technical part) and food were spectacular and I did not expect anything less.
However, what stood out were the hospitality and the way Le Manoir team made us feel. We were so special and nothing was too much.
The staff were kind and generous with my children and read us SO well. No questions were asked: they just knew.
The plates were cleared fast and the service was well paced which was good.
Lucien is 2 years and a half and it was getting late. At one point Mourad realised Lucien was tired. Before Alex and I even had a chance to discuss a plan of action he already offered to bring two armchairs side by side so he could relax with his milk bottle and sleep in the restaurant.
Mourad and his team are true professionals who stand out because of their kindness, generosity, simplicity and down to earth attitude. Exactly the way it should be.
In the end however it was just too much for the children who were tired and so we asked if we could have our dessert and a fresh mint tea (and a nice whisky) in our room. "Of course! With pleasure" replied immediately Mourad.
Hospitality is in their blood!
And so we made our way back to the room where a fire had been lit for us. The timing could not have been more perfect!
And time stopped again...
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