Living in Clips

We have been very lucky to live in the suburbs West of Paris, an area rich in agricultural and architectural diversity. A place I find the perfect escape from Paris, though well within easy commuting distance. It is an area I find culturally rich in things to do as a family with small children and we love nothing more than immersing ourselves in discovering the area during the weekends and school holidays.

One of our all time favourite retreats for a Sunday is visiting the Chateau Villiers le Mahieu. The beautiful French castle only an hour from Paris, is nestled within 12 hectare grounds with something to do for all the family. The hotel offers day retreats with an open buffet brunch on Sunday. Brunch is served from 12 noon but you can spend the day there from 10am till 6pm. We love taking advantage of the brunch and the beautiful surroundings and activities to enjoy with the kids. In Winter we come here to enjoy the incredible indoor activities in the beautiful surrounds of the castle. You can enjoy a film in the cinema room, explore the huge attic playroom, relax in the indoor swimming pool and enjoy a treatment in the spa area. In Summer we also come here for the brunch day and if it is glorious weather the food is served outdoors as a delicious barbecue. Then on to enjoy the outdoor activities in the beautiful grounds: boating on the castle moat, cycling, swimming in the magnificent outdoor pool area to name a few.

What we really love about this hotel is you can really enjoy all the activities at great leisure. The buffet food is also a relaxed approach where you can enjoy all there is to eat and drink. It is an incredibly relaxed and easy going place for families with young children in particular and you really feel that you have great value for what is on offer as a day trip. I really love the concept and the wonderful memories we take away from here as a whole family.

We have previously stayed at the hotel, however as an honest review of the experience, I am not able to recommend sleeping at the hotel where we did. The room we booked was in La Ferme – next to the restaurant area, though the location of the room suited us well we were incredibly underwhelmed at the interiors of our room condition and set up. The room was very expensive and was incredibly bare, basic and dated – we didn’t even have a heater in our room which we had to request from reception and even then the heater was not what you would have expected from such a standard of hotel. I have heard better things about the rooms in the other buildings in the grounds of the hotel but it is something that I feel needs to be addressed and improved at this standard and price of the place. Otherwise, as a day away – the hotel gets a 5 star review from our family!

The sister hotel: Maison du Val, located in Saint-Germain-en-Laye just outside Paris, which happens to be close to where we live is also an incredibly wonderful place for a day visit or to stay the night. We have visited this hotel many times as a family and also as a couple just for a meal. I celebrated my birthday meal here in December and it was such a wonderful spot to enjoy a relaxed dinner with my best girlfriends in the area, the social rooms are just sumptuous and the buffet meal we enjoyed was just incredible. Maison du Val also have a whole host of indoor and outdoor activites for all the family with the all you can eat/drink concept on offer here as well.