The Fontevraud Abbey Hotel obtains a key to the Michelin guide, a new prestigious distinction

The Fontevraud hotel, located in Maine-et-Loire, has just obtained its first key in the Michelin guide. A distinction that places the 4-star establishment among the most exceptional hotels in the world.

The Fontevraud Abbey Hotel in Maine-et-Loire is the only establishment in Maine-et-Loire and one of three establishments in the Pays de la Loire region to have been honored with a key to the Michelin guide .

And for good reason: 4-star hotel, it is located in the heart of the famous Fontevraud Abbey, completely renovated and transformed into a modern art museum.

And it adjoins the Ermitage restaurant, already crowned with a Michelin star and a Michelin green star and a “Bocuse d’or” thanks to the cuisine of its chef. Thibaut Ruggeri.

Among the other establishments to have obtained the distinction are the Château de Maubreuil in Carquefou and Anne de Bretagne in La Plaine-sur-Mer.

A distinction which will certainly attract new customers, eager to discover exceptional places, as confirmed by Florent Charcellay, the accommodation manager at Fontevraud l’Ermitage: “We already have reservations coming in via the Michelin guide, and on site residents or regulars congratulate us. This reinforces the feeling of belonging among our customers, a feeling that is dear to us.”

It’s a great reward both for the teams who work there and for our residents.

Florent Charcellay

Accommodation manager at Fontevraud – l’Ermitage

Michelin has just presented its first and new ranking, the “Clef”, which highlights 189 hotels and accommodations.

But what is a “Key” of the Michelin guide?

The guide explains it this way: It is “a new benchmark for destination travelers who qualify the stay experience in its entirety and its singularity”.

Five criteria are put forward by the guide to refine its selection, as Gwendall Poullenec, the director of the Michelin guide, told us:

1. The place must be a real local discovery

2. The unique architecture of the establishment (design, modernity, heritage

3. Interior design (choice of furniture, careful decoration)

4. The quality of the welcome

5. Value for money

If you compare an address like the Fontevraud hotel to other addresses in the surrounding area, even the most ‘standard’ ones, you risk paying the same price, or sometimes more.

Gwendall Poullennec

Director of the Michelin guide

A distinction that places the 4-star establishment among the most exceptional hotels in the world.

“The Michelin guide is really looking for unique and authentic addresses like the Fontevraud Abbey which provide the opportunity for memorable stays, even if it means going down side roads”, explains Gwendall Poullennec, director of the Michelin guide.

“You sleep in monks’ cells transformed into rooms, so we have very simple comfort, it’s complete”continues the boss of the famous red guide.”

We are very far from hotel standards but you have the guarantee of an authentic stay experience anchored in its place, which allows you to experience its heritage while enjoying starred gastronomy

Gwendall Poullennec

Director of the Michelin guide

The hotel actually has 54 monks’ rooms. The idea is to provide an unusual experience, in a place steeped in history and full of charm. With for customers, the possibility of accessing the abbey cloister at night.

A new “key” that allows you to open new doors.

Even if it means seeing its prices increase in the event of growing success?

For Gwendall Poullenec, nothing impossible or shocking about this:“this can give establishments local and even international visibility and therefore the possibility of creating more values ​​commensurate with the excellence of the service they offer.

This new prize, if there ever is one, will reflect the quality of the extraordinary experience that Fontevraud Abbey will be able to provide.”