Hotel Belle Vue

Tea/coffee room facilities could be better with bigger cups and milk.

This is an exceptionally friendly, clean and well run hotel with a lovely breakfast. Very welcoming and warm ,supplying all your needs for a comfortable stay. They do not do evening meal but there is a wonderful cafe across the road with whom they have a close relationship ).

The term Belle Vue is somewhat hackneyed in western Europe, especially in the UK. Over the years, thousands of low-rent seaside B&Bs have called themselves Belle Vue thinking it adds some je ne sais quoi to a place with no such thing. To illustrate my point: in Manchester, where I come from, there's a famous place called Belle Vue that was the venue for a zoo, a funfair, greyhound races, and Speedway tournaments. Trust me; there are no beautiful views within miles of the place. But I digress. Hôtel Belle Vue in Souillac is a large, brightly painted, two-star B&B that sits high above the town and has spectacular views of the Dordogne Valley. I'd booked in on spec as I was having trouble with my car and was awaiting assistance. Luckily there were plenty of single occupancy rooms available. At 64€ including breakfast, it was good value, especially as it has a panoramic terrace and a swimming pool if you fancy a refreshing dip. After spending the day in the sweltering sun having my car towed around, all I wanted was a shower, some grub, and to crash out. Hotel Belle Vue provided most of these requirements. My en-suite room was okay, nothing special, and decorated with bold red, white and black wallpaper popular in the 1980s. The wifi was a little finicky with an outdated log-in protocol but was strong enough once working. A small TV mounted in an obscure corner above the door could have been a little bigger to watch comfortably. After a trying day, all I wanted to do was fall exhausted into bed which I did after an excellent dinner in the Cafe de la Gare opposite. The following morning I took breakfast in the large restaurant. It was a predictable continental buffet of bread, jam, fruit, cold meats, cheese, and machine-made beverages. Again, there was little to surprise, but it was none the worse for that. As the sign outside proudly indicates, Hotel Belle Vue is a two-star establishment, and, to my mind, it went above and beyond that. For a well-priced no-frills family-run stopover as you explore Souillac, then you can't go wrong. As the saying goes: it does exactly what it says on the tin. Oh, and it really does have a belle vue!

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