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Ideally situated in the heart of old Chinon, nestled in the quiet and historic neighborhood of the Saint Mexme collegiate church, Hotel Diderot welcomes you into a 15th century limestone mansion, restructured in the 17th and 19th centuries. Hotel Diderot is famous for its marvelous breakfasts, offering a dizzying selection of homemade jams, delicious French breads, brioche and croissants, locally produced fresh goat cheese, honey and fruit juice. Close to the fireplace in autumn, or on the shaded terrace as soon as the warm weather arrives, the first meal of the day must be as unforgettable as the night that preceded it. Gluten-free breakfast available on request. Here you will find peace and tranquility ; you will experience the warm hospitality of a " tourangelle " residence, in the land of Renaissance writer Francois Rabelais, amidst the splendid vineyards of the Val de Loire, the landscape dotted with magnificent castles and unique gardens.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Romantic
Green
Languages Spoken
English, French, Spanish, Italian
Location
4 rue de Buffon, 37500, Chinon France
Name/address in local language
Hotel Diderot
4.6 reviews
Getting there
Somewhat walkable
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We had a lovely two-night stay at Hotel Diderot. The building, garden and terrace are stunning. Inside is a little creaky as others have said but so full of character. Our room had beautiful old furniture and a view across the courtyard. Comfortable bed though, and we were glad of the fan - nicer than aircon and more than enough to keep us cool. We also had a spotless modern bathroom. We had bikes with us so were very happy about the secure parking - we parked the car in a nearby street and chained the bikes up in the courtyard. The location is excellent - on a quiet street just a short walk from the town centre. The staff are lovely - they speak great English and have good advice about the surrounding area. Overall, a lovely hotel we would highly recommend.
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Date of stay: July 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:If the 9 o'clock gate-lock bothers you, you can easily park a 5-minute walk away or in a nearby...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Hôtel DIDEROT, Propriétaire at Hotel Diderot
Responded 4 Jan 2025
Dear MoGlasgow, we are glad you enjoyed your stay at the Diderot and we thank you for the nice review !
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This was our 4th visit to the hotel Diderot. We came first 20 years ago when the hotel had a different owner. We were very impressed with the jam and tried to buy some then, but we were told that they only made enough for the hotel guests at breakfast. Today however, we were able to buy some! We do like this hotel and will come again next time we are travelling this way. The rooms are fairly basic but very clean and comfortable, could benefit from providing tissues in the room and a night light in the bathroom. It was lovely and quiet and we did not even hear the large group that was staying at the same time.
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Date of stay: May 2023Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Jean-Pierre DAGNEAUX, Directeur général at Hotel Diderot
Responded 6 June 2023
Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment, and a very nice one at that! Night light in the bathroom is a good idea and we will make that happen!
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This is a gem of a hotel in perfect location in Chinon. The staff are friendly and my room - the tulip room was fabulous- great mix of old and new. It was very very hot and the hotel does not have aircon but have the most brilliant and I am sure very expensive fans that totally cooled rooms and had a night mode - were totally up to the job. Breakfast a simple but tasty affair. The hotel has a small bar and serves drinks when you want. I had a table and chairs on the terrace outside my room which was great. I am disabled and was given a free parking space just by my ground floor room but most people just park in a car park 100 yards away. All in all a great place and fussy me would return.
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Date of stay: September 2023Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Strict arrival times and gates close at 9pm for secure parking but there is a night entrance...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Jean-Pierre DAGNEAUX, Directeur général at Hotel Diderot
Responded 13 Jan 2024
Thank you Hanna, sorry it took us a while to find our way back to Tripadvisor, since they changed the layout of their website and we had some trouble logging back in. We are so pleased to hear that you enjoyed your time with us. You are welcome to come back anytime!
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Don’t. Just don’t book here if you want a comfortable stay. Nice couple owns this …but it’s outdated and not a comfortable sleep. Pillow are crappy u comfortable,bed okay and the room smells. Was trying to decide if the smell was pot smoked in room - a pesticide sprayed or just moldy mildew smell in there.
I was on a Rick Steve’s tour there so did not pick it his hotel - but would not go there on my own, and will critique it in my your review. There had to be a nicer place in town. They need to up there game - people on vacation want a comfortable smell free room
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Date of stay: October 2024Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Hôtel DIDEROT, Propriétaire at Hotel Diderot
Responded 5 Jan 2025
Dear Guest, I am sorry you experienced some inconvenience with your room during your stay, but the best solution, at the time, would have been to bring your case to the reception so we could try to find a solution. What you describe is highly unusual and we probably would have find an explanation AND a solution.
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A charming, family-run hotel in a great location in Chinon. Many of the rooms have terraces or views of the gardens - definitely stay in one of those. Rooms in the annex are to be avoided as they are small, not charming and do not have views. The breakfast is exceptional. Served in a lovely room with a fireplace it was plentiful with excellent local goat cheeses & other cheeses, local rilletes, local walnuts. The bread basket is plentiful, with very good croissants & baguettes and toasted bread. All to be enjoyed with the owner's variety of jams. Some years she makes 90 different kinds. It was fun to taste many different ones. The coffee here comes in large pots served at your table - yum!
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Date of stay: October 2022
Rooms
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip:With garden view or garden terrace
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Jean-Pierre DAGNEAUX, Directeur général at Hotel Diderot
Responded 8 Feb 2023
Thank you for the nice review. You are right to point out the garden-level rooms opening on the terraces : readers should be aware that there are only 3 of them. But there are 4 rooms just above them on the first floor, in the same Tradition category, that have the same view on the garden. As for the Annexe, its first floor holds 3 economy rooms (2 doubles + 1 twin) that have been completely redone in 2017, so - though streetside - they are quite ageable, particularly for families traveling on a budget.
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Stayed for 3 nights as part of a cycling tour (2 nights at the start and 1 at the end) in a 'De Maitre' room (the highest standard available, I believe). The couple who run the hotel are wonderfully welcoming and kind and provide a very personalised level of service. It has lots of character, and a very pleasant terrace for breakfast and post-cycling drinks. Provided you like fresh brioche/croissant and jams the breakfast is excellent. Our room was a very good size, albeit rather hot (even with the fan that was provided), and the drawers were all hard to open/close. Reasonably sized bathroom. There is no lift (in keeping with the old character of the house) so best not to have a 2nd floor room unless you are OK to lug your cases up the two flights of stairs. Would very happily stay at this hotel again if visiting Chinon, as it is very 'homely'.
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Date of stay: June 2023
Location
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Jean-Pierre DAGNEAUX, Directeur général at Hotel Diderot
Responded 11 July 2023
Dear Nick and Mary, we are so pleased to have contributed, with that "homely" feeling and "very personalised level of service", to the pleasure of your bike tour in Touraine. We will be very happy to welcome you again : there is so much to see and do in our ditrict! It is also a very convenient place to make a stop on the road from the UK to the South of France.
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We were shown to our room up the creaky stairs with the padded walls. The bedroom floor was equally creaky and the furniture looked like something from the Antiques Roadshow. The bed was like a concrete slab. No fire doors. There was no kettle or tea/coffee making facilities and no room service so I had to go down from the second floor to get it from reception myself. Bizarrely, the bathroom appears to be modern and bright. Equally bizarre was the USP of 50 jams and marmalades available for breakfast which was just about ok. Front gates are locked at 9pm, entry gained through back door up a side alley, and there is an outside telephone number to call if you need anything.
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Date of stay: May 2024Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Try not to walk around at night as the creaking floors will wake everyone!!!
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Hôtel DIDEROT, Propriétaire at Hotel Diderot
Responded 4 Jan 2025
Dear Phil, How you ended up at the Diderot willl remain a mistery. "Granny's House" is exactly how we advertise our hotel, but unfortunately, this type of establishment is not what you were looking for. There are a couple of more recent/standard hotels in our area that you would probably have enjoyed a lot more. Just for the record, France is famous for its ubiquitous and nosy administration : we are inspected on a very regular basis by a punctilious safety board and everything (stairs, wall hangings, fire doors, fire extinguishes, alarms, smoke detectors, etc.) has to be reviewed and approved if we want to stay open. As part of the stack, there has to be someone on the grounds 24/7, so the number that you call at night is not an "outside" phone number.
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Lovely hotel in a 15th century building, so there are a lot of creaks, but that adds to the experience. It was easy to get to and we chanced upon a high school band competition at the church across the street which was so much fun. The staff was friendly, the majority of them spoke English. The breakfast was ample, with plenty of bread, pastries, yogurt, cheese, meats and their specialty of homemade jams.
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Date of stay: May 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Make a reservation for dinner!
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Hôtel DIDEROT, Propriétaire at Hotel Diderot
Responded 4 Jan 2025
Dear Annie, thank you for taking the time to drop a review. We are glad you enjoyed our place on your Loire à Vélo tour.
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We have stayed here on and off for nearly twenty years and it is one of my favourite hotels ever. The rooms and bathrooms have all been upgraded along the way but the essentials have remained the same. Peace and quiet, beautiful trees and plants along the terrace in front of the beautiful building. You can park in the courtyard if there is a space, for a fee that is well worth it. Breakfast is simply lovely and, even though they had to reduce their offer due to current regulations, great value. We had a ground floor room with a shower (I requested both) which had French doors opening up to the courtyard. Bed really comfortable, lovely bathroom. Everything well maintained and cared for. No restaurant, but the town is on the doorstep, with lots of options and if you fancy a pre-dinner drink there is no place better than on the terrace of the hotel. Wishing Jamie and Jean-Pierre all the best during these difficult times.
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Date of stay: July 2020Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Hôtel DIDEROT, Propriétaire at Hotel Diderot
Responded 4 Jan 2025
Dear Alexandra, thank you for your loyalty to the hotel and for the nice review !
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This building dates back to the 1400s but was just as comfortable as any of the more modern European hotels we have visited. The hosts were kind and gracious, the rooms spacious and outfitted with delightfully modern and comfortable bathrooms, and breakfast was a treat. A lovely way to enjoy our final night of our Loire Valley cycling adventure.
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Date of stay: August 2022Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Jean-Pierre DAGNEAUX, Directeur général at Hotel Diderot
Responded 28 Aug 2022
Thank you for taking the time to comment on your stay. We are so pleased you liked our place and that we could contribute to the success of your French cycling trip !
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Hello, there is a parking in the courtyard for 10 cars (no possibility of reservation), at the daily rate of 8.00 €. The parking gate is locked at 9 p.m. When the parking is full, there are 2 free public parking lots close to the hotel.
Yes, you can do this by calling the hotel direct (+33 (0)2 47 93 18 87) from 7 am to 9 pm. We speak english. Or you can send us an email (but TripAdvisor does not let me include the link in my answer :-()
Not sure. We were on a biking trip with Discover France and they made all the reservations. However, we were advised that it is best to contact the property directly- this seems to be the case in France and in Europe, in general. If you have not done so already, I would suggest contacting them directly for the best rates and also to secure a room with a shower.
Good evening TESSA,
yes, we have a secure parking lot on the premises, locked from 9 pm to 7 am. There are bicycle racks where you can tie your bike for the night.
There are more places to choose from in the Chinon area.
PRICE RANGE
AU$109 - AU$141 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
diderot hotel chinon
LOCATION
FranceCentre-Val de LoireIndre-et-LoireChinon
NUMBER OF ROOMS
26
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