As we travelled north on our Summer 2023 roadtrip we stopped in Perpignan to see some friends.
Our hotel was La Villa Duflot, a 4-star hotel, and part of the network ‘les Collectionneurs’.
Booking gave this hotel an 8.6/10 (Superb) from 1025 reviews, and TripAdvisor gave it 4.5/5 (783 reviews).
Finding the hotel
We had no problems finding the hotel with the car GPS (and TomTom). Above we can see that there was a small parking area in front on the main entrance (seen below), and there was a larger parking behind the hotel.
There are now five charging points (2 TESLA) for electric vehicles, and two handicap parking places. There was also a warning that when parking under the trees bird droppings could damage the paint. We were lucky to find a place in the front parking, but not under a tree.
The reception and public spaces
The welcome was very friendly and efficient. The reception and public spaces could do with a more modern redecoration, and my impression was that they were a bit disordered and over accessorised. However, the entry area was a comfortable space, and I liked the library and the daily newspapers.
We had reserved a room with a walk-in shower, and initially it was to be in a newly redecorated wing. However, for a shorter interior walk (it was raining) we preferred one of the older ground-floor rooms next to the reception, also with a walk-in shower.
Our room
The room shown above was more or less identical to ours, however the furnishing was a little different (no bench and footstool) and the wall decoration was different. Below we have the bathroom with a separate shower area, and a separate WC and bidet.
A relatively conventional room but the decor was a little bit ‘old fashioned’, however it still corresponded to local 4-star criteria. We had double beds (very comfortable), a bathroom with both bath and shower, a separate WC and bidet, a decent sized TV, coffee and tea, wall safe, minibar, etc. In addition the room opened on to a nice terrace near the outdoor pool, even if with the rain we weren’t able to exploit it to the full. In addition there were bathrobes, plenty of towels, and NUXE vanity products, etc.
The room opened onto a back patio garden, which did not look as well manicured as the main garden and pool area.
Room service
The room service menu was rather limited, and was only offered when the kitchen was open, so from 12:00-14:30 and 19:30-21:00.
The room service menu was:-
- Assiette de Charcuterie (cold meats)
- Assiette de Charcuterie et Fromage (cold meats and cheese)
- Assiette de Saumon Gravlax
- Le Caviar-Sturia
- Saveur du Népal (dessert)
- La Fraise en transparence (dessert).
Prices were reasonable (€17 – €24), except for the caviar (€69 for 30 gm).
The different room service options were very well presented and ample, but a little disappointing. The salmon was fine, but for me the dried hams were cut too thick, and the cheeses were all too similar. The bread and butter was excellent, although my wife would have liked the bread toasted.
Breakfast
Good breakfast, and nice to sit at the side of the pool.
The restaurant
We had stopped in Perpignan to see friends, and had booked lunch the next day at the restaurant. We had a nice table in one corner near the pool. The pool looked really nice, but during the meal someone went for swim, and surprisingly swamped the feet of people sitting right next to the pool.
There is a 2023 Gault & Millau ‘Table de Chef’ sign at the hotel entrance, with 
toques meaning that it scored between 13 and 14.5 out of 20.
The entrées were Le Carotte des Sables, Le Morille, Le Petit Pois à la Française, L’Asperge Blanche, and Caviar.
The plats were La Volatile du Conflent de “Can Jordi”, Le cochon Tirabaxio, L’agneau El Xai, Le Rouget de nos Côtes, La Gambas Sauvage, Le Saint-Pierre.
The desserts included Fleur d’Agrume, Saveur de Népal, Racine, and La Fraise en transparence.
There was also a menu découverte (€55) and a menu dégustation (€82).
Three of us took La Gambas Sauvage, which was OK, and my wife took Le Saint-Pierre, but was underwhelmed.
Lunch was saved by dessert.
La Fraise en transparence consisted of mousse basilica, gelée fruits rouges, coulis pickles de fraise (basilica mousse, red fruit jelly, strawberry pickle coulis).
Racine consisted of sablé sefouf, mouse amanda, glace anis vert (Sefouf shortbread, amanda mouse, green anise ice cream). I think sefouf must refer to a Lebanese almond-semolina cake, and I wonder if amanda mouse is not just an almond mousse.
Saveur de Népal consisted of sablé cacao, caramel moelleux, glace et mousse chocolat au poivre de Timut (cocoa shortbread, soft caramel, ice cream and chocolate mousse with Timut pepper). Timut Pepper, also known as Timur Berry, is native to Nepal. Its name is misleading because it’s not a real pepper, but belongs to the citrus family.
Conclusion
We stayed in this hotel in Perpignan so as to be near to our friends, but we would normally have looked for a 5-star hotel in the region, possible outside any built-up urban areas.
The hotel atmosphere was pleasant, but the room was a little disappointing, as was the food. The hotel is a decent 4-star, but did not create any memorable moments. Hopefully the redecorated rooms will make a difference.
