A sad day

[rlw]

Just learned that the owners of the Grand Hotel in Chateau du Loir are going into liquidation - apparently new regulations this year demand 100,000.00 euro's worth of work and the poor owners' bank won't lend them the money. I imagine that that is their life savings now gone, tied up in a hotel which cannot operate as a hotel and, probably, cannot be sold for love or money.

Me and mrs rlw have stayed there for about twenty years now, seen the original owners go (which was a great shame), seen new owners fk it up bigtime and then the latest owners managed to get the standards up again, with great hospitality and great food, only to be shafted by the authorities and the bank.

We will miss the huge parties in the town square and the bar staff working their butts off to serve the whole bloody town (or so it seemed) on the Friday night before the race. It really is a shame to see this happen.

[bernhund]

Not familiar with the hotel. How far from the circuit is it?

[nawarne]

rlw said:

Just learned that the owners of the Grand Hotel in Chateau du Loir are going into liquidation - apparently new regulations this year demand 100,000.00 euro's worth of work and the poor owners' bank won't lend them the money. I imagine that that is their life savings now gone, tied up in a hotel which cannot operate as a hotel and, probably, cannot be sold for love or money.

Me and mrs rlw have stayed there for about twenty years now, seen the original owners go (which was a great shame), seen new owners fk it up bigtime and then the latest owners managed to get the standards up again, with great hospitality and great food, only to be shafted by the authorities and the bank.

We will miss the huge parties in the town square and the bar staff working their butts off to serve the whole bloody town (or so it seemed) on the Friday night before the race. It really is a shame to see this happen.

Had a pleasant overnight stop there 3-4 years ago en route to visit friends South of Millau.
Didn't realise then it had 'race history' with the 24 heures.

As you say - shame when these family run provincial hotels go down the tubes.
Nick

[rlw]

bernhund said:

Not familiar with the hotel. How far from the circuit is it?

about 25 miles south down the N138 - around 25 minutes on Saturday night.................

[rlw]

nawarne said:

Had a pleasant overnight stop there 3-4 years ago en route to visit friends South of Millau.
Didn't realise then it had 'race history' with the 24 heures.

As you say - shame when these family run provincial hotels go down the tubes.
Nick

It fills up with the same people more or less every year. The town organizes a big fair on the Friday night and some of the locals show their classic cars, some sell local wine and produce and so on. It has a great atmosphere. Also a favourite stopover for people going south after the race - the crowd changes a lot on Sunday night. Also a favourite with the Morgan people who book it for the Classic (in its entirety) and with a few drivers in the past, oddly enough mainly Japanese. Not so far as the Cheval Blanc further down the road but the same kind of place.