Behind an unassuming door sits not just one building but a clutch of old Beaune houses, bought up one at a time by the same family and gently knocked into each other. The result is a warren of courtyards: one timbered in the 1570s around a Renaissance stair tower, another older still with an artesian well the kitchen draws on for summer breakfasts – and both listed. Below ground, the cellars hold more than a thousand bottles going back to the 1920s, Hospices auction lots among them. We can't think of a better address in town.
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Cobbles, carved stone, and trompe-l'oeil run through the linked buildings, antiques crowd every corridor, and a glass lift climbs to a tower overlooking the rooftops. The spa is the real surprise, far bigger than the town would lead you to expect: vinotherapy using pinot and chardonnay extracts, hammam, outdoor sauna, cryotherapy chamber and an Ayurvedic practitioner on the books. Four tasting cellars sit below while the cigar lounge has taken the oldest of the courtyards for itself, which seems about right.
Individually named vineyard plots give the bedrooms their names, so you can sleep in Montrachet or Clos Vougeot without the per-bottle price tag. Bourgogne and Village grades are the smallest and some face the street. Premier Cru rooms open out properly, and the Grand Cru and Nectar suites top the list. Two self-contained houses, one set against the ramparts, come with hotel service attached. What you get depends entirely on which mansion you're in, so it really is worth asking.
Start at the Hotel-Dieu, where the glazed tile roof hides in the inner courtyard and van der Weyden's Last Judgement waits in a side room. The ramparts make a circular walk, négociant cellars run beneath the streets, and Saturday fills the Place de la Halle with stalls. Further out, the Route des Grands Crus links one great sight to the next all the way to Dijon, and Fallot still mills mustard the old way on the edge of town, the last independent maker left in Burgundy.
Coffee in a 14th-century courtyard with a working well in the middle of it, then breakfast under stone vaults when the weather turns.
Cellar tastings are the reason to be here rather than anywhere else in Beaune. Masterclasses run through bottles that the shops can't sell you. Book when you book the room.
Expect parking in the old town to be difficult if you have hired a car.
Hotel Le Cep can be booked with Timbuktu as part of a tailor-made France trip, rather than as a standalone room reservation. Start online, customising one of our recommended France trips featuring Hotel Le Cep or get advice and suggestions from one of our France specialists who will design the trip around your dates, check availability and handle every booking for you.
Stays at Hotel Le Cep start from around $220, or US$220, per person per night as part of a tailor-made trip. The exact price depends on your travel dates, room type and the shape of the rest of your itinerary. A Timbuktu travel specialist can give you an accurate quote for your dates.
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Bucolic and shyly beautiful, tasting your way around Burgundy is a surefire way to go from wine-drinker to oenophile rather quickly.
