We simply cannot recommend Chat. Flammerans highly enough...it is fantastic. Just fantastic -- the dream French small chateau.

If you find yourself anywhere within 200 miles of Dijon, Lyon, Beaune, Burgundy, consider staying there, it's great.

If your dream is the perfect "personal" family chateau of France, Chateau Flammerans is your dream!

Chat Flammerans is the epitome of the rural elegance of Burgundy...that incredible easy-going style of living in truly beautiful rooms with spectacular food and peace and harmony - perfect! Simple and stylish and absolutely comfortable.

There are about 6 rooms in the chateau. All are spacious and grand as you would expect..you are living in a French castle. The good thing is each room is completely different in decoration, they are all fabulous in their own way. We were completely charmed at our own room and then it was a revelation to have a tour from Gui of the other gorgeous rooms...some romantic, some historic and so on.

We stayed in the largest suite with our two small girls which was just fantastic for our family.

You have those magnificent wooden floors, those fabulous elegant windows you see in Burgundy .. everyting is tremendously simple and elegant. Nothing is over the top. All the furnishings and accessories have a simple elegance...just right. Naturally all the bathrooms and so on are brand new and just as you would have them in your own French chateau!

The public rooms are fantastic with the tremendous stone staircase, beautiful doors and light, huge comfortable chairs, etc .. true French "country house" living at it's best.

Your host is Gui Barrier and his wife Catherine. Gui speaks English perfectly and is just the most elegant, relaxed, perfect host in the Burgundian manner: here, you can forget the idiocy of snobbery you find in Paris, and instead you can enjoy the true French savoir faire, the real enjoyment of daily life! Of course, M. Barrier is a renowned chef.

If you are from overseas, regarding the region...the Burgundy region is for us the "real" France. Maybe it is the last part of France that is not ruined by tourism, changing culture and so on. Dijon is a fascinating ancient city and Lyon is the food capital of France. For example, Bresse (nearby) is the famous source of the finest poultry in France. Obviously there are an unlimited number of supreme vinyards at hand in Burgundy. Also you are merely a couple hours from the skiing, Gevena etc. to the East. If for some reason you wish to see the crime and lack of elegance that is the South of France these days, that is just a few hours drive south. Paris, Disneyland, etc is a few hours to your West.

Chateau Flammerans itself is tucked away in a small village on the Burgundy plains, near the quaint town of Auxonne (for those interested in miltary history, and important place re Napoleon). It is extremely easy to find the Chateau from Dijon, Lyon or any of the motorways. (They have a useful web site chateaudeflammerans dot-com with a map and so on.)

Lucky for us we stumbled on to the hotel simply while looking for a place to stay for the night while travelling on the scenic A39 motorway...but we cancelled all other plans and stayed for most of the week!

Again the Barriers are spectacular hosts...for example my 3 year old daughter Lauren wanted to ride a horse. Gui took supreme efforts to set us up at a charming horse facility nearby - just great.

On top of all this the price is perfectly reasonable, which is great.

I wish there were a dozen small family-run Chateau of absolute charm like this, with the supreme hosting qualities of the Barriers, in France - but the only one we've found is Chateau de Flammerans, enjoy!