Maison Doucet

Maison Doucet

Maison Doucet sits in the center of Charolles, a short walk from the town's landmarks, its two dining rooms built to a contemporary design that carries through to the fifteen rooms next door, all on a single floor. Frédéric Doucet cooks the sweet-and-savory register he is known for: a forty-day aged charolaise ribeye, a rum baba flambéed with Marc de Briottet, an egg from his father's henhouse finished with a Pinot Noir reduction, and Breton lobster with a charolais-suc elixir. Guests who want it plainer can cross to the Bistrot du Quai, where the daily menu runs on regional, seasonal produce instead. Between meals there is a garden, a terrace, an outdoor pool, and, unusually for a house this size, a hammam, sauna, and jacuzzi, a spa combination the region's other gastronomic addresses in Beaujolais and the Loire don't match. Rooms carry air conditioning, minibar, safe, and bathrobe as standard, sizes climbing from a 215-square-foot Charming Room to a 538-square-foot Suite for those who want room to spread out. Children under eighteen can't stay without an adult, and a pet travels for a flat fee rather than a nightly one. The kitchen closes the second week of January and every Thursday lunch, so this isn't a place to arrive at hungry and unplanned. It suits a couple driving through Burgundy for the food as much as the cellar, less so anyone wanting a big-hotel buzz. Fifteen rooms, one chef, one address in the middle of Charolles: it doesn't try to be anything else. Fifteen rooms on one floor in the center of Charolles, built around Frédéric Doucet's kitchen and a spa few gastronomic hotels in Burgundy match. Good for a food-first couple with a car and no rush, less so anyone wanting a big property or a busy crowd.