Hotel Diderot

The setting is attractive and the room, relatively well equipped, is fine. The bathroom is unexpectedly luxe. They do have an odd and annoying policy. They have onsite parking but lock the gate at 9:00pm. If you walked to dinner, you must walk to the back of the hotel and let yourself in. If you drove, You are locked out…what then. It reminds me of a school dormatory.

A little jewel in the western Loire Valley along the Vienne River. Walking distance from everything from the Train station (change at Tours from Paris) to the Chateau (elevator) and restaurants, post office, strolls by and across the river. Dentists and doctors around the corner. Rooms are a bargain and beautifully appointed. Mine was on 2nd floor with a view of forest and flowers, and pleasant in warm mid-June days. A dozen, home-made jams to go with your abundant Continental Breakfast. Friendly and helpful owners and employees (I washed clothes in town, died them in the furnace room). Lovely terrace for a glass of local wine, reasonable parking, and free parking mere feet away.

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.

Great hotel.very convenient location,easy parking, quiet .authentic fresh produce breakfast with delicious home made jam. Big thanks to owners who made our stay pleasant and enjoyable .

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.

We stayed here for a night during a cycling holiday in the Loire valley. The Hotel is very charming and the rooms were great. All the people working here are friendly and helpful. The breakfast buffet had lots of local specialities - in abundance! Also the dinner was a local speciality - superb. Our room was on the ground floor - perfect, with our own semi-private space ouside.

This is a pretty and charming hotel with a delightful garden terrace where we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. It is very peaceful despite being within a very short distance of historic Chinon centre and close to the river Cher. The owner, who speaks English, and his friendly staff, was very welcoming and altogether we had a lovely few days here.

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'.

Hotel Diderot’s building apparently dates back to the 15th century in some form and has been many things along the way. Because it’s in a quiet residential neighborhood, there were rules about things like not rolling our suitcases across the pea gravel forecourt parking area. In a sense, that entrance is on the back of the building, but that’s where the automobile access is. The building is charming and confusing, and the room numbers are a little weird. The lower-numbered rooms (#4, #5) are on the third (French second) floor, while the higher numbered rooms are on the lower floors and in adjacent buildings. The main stairs from ground floor to first are wide and even, but the narrower stairs up to the French second floor were creakier and had uneven spots—a few steps that slanted down. We were careful, so it was no problem. No elevator. The rue Diderot entrance, the “front door,” has no parking and we were given a key to that door with our room key for when we walked back from “downtown” late at night. Our room felt like we were up under the eaves. The room window was high and the bathroom had a tiny little window that’s over the front door on the street side, but all we could see out of them was trees, so there was great privacy. There’s no air conditioning, but each room had a standing fan, and that kept us comfortable enough. The shower had a rain shower head and a handheld one, and I never figured out how to make the rain shower come on. One unexpected perk for those of us who like to wash out clothes by hand along the way was the availability of the boiler room clotheslines to dry things more quickly.   Breakfast is a little more organized than some places. Once you’re seated, they bring you a pot of tea or coffee. There’s a small table with rillettes and other meaty/cheesy things, but breakfast is basically bread, croissants, and jam. The hotel is famous for its homemade jams in lots of interesting flavors. Overall, the location was good--2 or 3 blocks up from the river and a short walk from the center of town, with plenty of interesting things to see along the way.