Chateau les Merles

Golf au château, fine food, a seductively chilled hotel and 2 self-catering villas for 2-6 in a quiet corner of the Périgord

Cutting north from the Dordogne river, the approach to Les Merles is, at first glance, quintessentially Vieille France: a long avenue of pollarded plane trees leading up to the neo-classical façade of a beguiling 17th-century château, cloaked by vineyards and forest. Then you notice that the huge sweep of lawn fronting the building is a driving range, that a swimming pool takes the place of ornamental ponds and, stepping inside, that the decorative attitude is resolutely contemporary.

Les Merles is very much a family affair and the Van Grinsven slot easily into their role of keepers-of-the-castle. Golf and gourmet food are the château's twin pillars; guests come to pit themselves against a fiendish 9-hole course or book one of the 15 rooms safe in the knowledge that they are guaranteed a gourmet extravaganza. There are also 2 3-bedroom villas away from the main hotel for families, groups and those who want that little bit more privacy. The 'keep it local' culinary philosophy, the friendliness of the welcome, and the sheer beauty of the setting all go towards making Les Merles, figuratively at least, right on par.

Highs

• Top gourmet cuisine which is well worthy of the Périgord’s excellent matières de base
• Big, airy rooms with views over the pool and out across the golf course and vineyards
• Judith and Karlijn, the Dutch Van Grinsven sisters, take genuine pleasure in looking after you
• Creative, clean-cut, contemporary design in the 15 bedrooms, the dining areas and the 2 villas
• A devilishly challenging 9-hole golf course
• Only 10 minutes' drive from Bergerac airport

Lows

• Unless you're a golfing whizz, count on losing a few balls to the water features and forest
• Both the golf course and restaurant are open to non-residents so expect to see quite a few other folk around
• A good deal of the furniture and fittings smacks of the big Swedish store; it looks good but feels a tad unoriginal
• The grounds encompass several privately-owned holiday homes, although they're a fair distance from the main building