Hostellerie St Barnabe - Murbach, France 

This very attractive small hotel is set adjacant to a quiet road through the woods, a few minutes drive from the nearest town. You can walk straight out of the hotel onto signposted walks around the woods. Parts of the hotel have been superbly refurbished, so the key element to a successful stay is to request one of the refurbished bedrooms in the main part of the hotel. The receptionists are most helpful in this respect. Click on "discover our rooms" on the home page to see pictures. Our refurbished "Grand Confort" room was spacious, very attractively decorated to a high standard, and very clean, as was the ensuite bathroom. We peeked into a Suite, and it looked gorgeous. For those of you who are shower fanatics, you may be somewhat frustrated that the shower incorporated in the bath is handheld rather than wall mounted - a disappointing design fault. I decided it wasn't the end of the world, the rest of the bathroom was so well done. The corridor for the rooms was equally attractive refurbished, and the bedroom doors have exquisite painted decorations in the local style - see the photo on the homepage of thehotel's website. The Restaurant and Lounge areas have also been refurbished and again to a very good and attractive standard in keeping with the alpine hunting lodge style of the hotel. We ate in the Restaurant on two evenings , were impressed with the varied menu choice, and delighted with the very high standard of the food served - quite superb. The wines too were excellent. Breakfast was fine - there was a very good variety of cold foods offered. However, you may have a delay in the queue for the coffee machine which could only make one cup at a time, and was slow, though it did make very good coffee. The proprietors should consider making a fresh cafetiere for each table as the guests arrive, it would be a big and easy improvement. Throughout our stay the service could not have been bettered, all staff were most welcoming and helpful. When staying in the main hotel, there are two areas you will encounter which have not yet been refurbished, the stairway up to the first floor bedrooms, and the breakfast room. Yes, they are somewhat shabby, and yes, the windows do need cleaning - but you will be so pleased by the other areas, you probaby won't mind too much. Hopefully the proprietors will tackle these areas in the next stage of their investment in this attractive hotel, and we wish them the best of luck, they deserve it!