Review of Hôtel Château de La Chèvre d’Or in Eze, France
We occasionally splurge for a 5-star hotel but it had better be an outstanding experience to justify the cost.
Hôtel Château de La Chèvre d’Or, located on the cliffs of Eze overlooking the French Riviera, provided a truly memorable experience. From the staff to the rooms to the dining everything was remarkable.
Note - This blog post contains affiliate links. This means that if we are recommending a product, activity, or hotel, we might be receiving a small commission if you buy or book from these links. This is done at no additional cost to you. We only recommend products we have personally used or have thoroughly researched.
The reception area at Hôtel Château de La Chèvre d’Or in Eze, France.
American Express Platinum Fine Hotel Benefits
Each year at renewal time I struggle to justify the high cost of my American Express Platinum card.
One of the perks that keeps me renewing is their Fine Hotels and Resorts benefits. The benefits allow us to visit hotels that we’d never experience without the benefits.
Yearly $200 travel credit
$100 experience credit, usually for food
Daily breakfast for two
12 pm check-in
Guaranteed 4 pm check-out
Room upgrade when available
The price of our room was $600 so the credits really helped reduce the overall cost. The ability to check in early and stay until 4 pm also makes the cost a bit more justifiable.
The remains of our welcome drink and the wonderful view.
Checking in
As a guest of Hôtel Château de La Chèvre d’Or, we were allowed to drive up the otherwise restricted tiny main street. Judging by the throngs of tourists in the street we knew Eze would be very crowded during the daytime.
Once through the giant golden hotel gates, you instantly knew you were somewhere special. The valets took our car and our bags, our first taste of the first-class service.
Once we passed the half-dozen incredibly expensive sports cars we were treated to the incredible view of the French Riviera coast.
Since our room was not ready yet we were escorted to the outdoor bar for a complimentary drink and snacks. The patio area was something out of a movie. Normally we’d leave our bags and explore the city but the hotel really was our destination plus I couldn’t imagine any place topping this.
Our Room
Hôtel Château de La Chèvre d’Or is not designed like a regular hotel.
In 1953, Robert Wolf purchased Château de La Chèvre d'Or and turned it into a restaurant. He then acquired surrounding homes and turned them into hotel rooms.
Additional rooms were acquired over time and today the hotel has 45 rooms and suites.
The rooms are directly on the very narrow streets of Eze but they feel very private.
Our room was “inverted” with the bathroom on the ground floor and the bedroom upstairs.
Saying “bathroom” doesn’t really do it justice. The bath suite was larger than most hotel rooms.
The large jacuzzi tub is topped only by the wonderful view
The bedroom was luxurious but not overstated, keeping with the vibe of the French countryside.
The sunrise view from our room.
Dining
Hôtel Château de La Chèvre d’Or has three wonderful restaurants.
La Chèvre d’Or Gourmet Restaurant is a two-Michelin-star dining experience. Like the other restaurants, it offers sweeping views of the French coast.
We opted for the Les Remparts restaurant. The service was exactly what you would expect, professional and attentive but not overbearing. We both had fantastic sea bass but Debbie’s favorite part was dessert.
She loved the tea (served in the hotel’s own tea set) and an amazing cheesecake.
The hotel also offers Le Café du Jardin’s outside dining featuring wood oven pizza, grilled food, and salads overlooking the Mediterranean.
They also have a bar with unique medieval castle decor adjacent to the outside patio bar.
After our wonderful meal, we were treated to an unexpected fireworks display along the shores of nearby Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. A passing staff member joked that they waited to start the fireworks until we were done eating.
After dinner, we did a little more exploring around the town of Eze. This time the streets were totally empty and dark. This is one of the benefits of staying in these small French towns, you have the town to yourself.
We also stayed overnight in the medieval village of St-Paul-de-Vence with a similarly wonderful experience of being alone on the streets in the evening and early morning.
Photographing Eze At Night
During the day the narrow streets of the French Riveria cliffside town of Eze are crowded with visitors.
At night the Eze visitors have all left and the streets are mostly deserted.
See the photos here: Photo Gallery: Eze, France photographed at night
The Terraced Gardens
Hôtel Château de La Chèvre d’Or is really a vertical hotel on the edge of a cliff so the gardens are set on a series of terraces.
The terraces feature many sculptures and the hotel’s two pools. We visited in early May so it wasn’t swimming weather yet but we’d highly recommend relaxing on the lounge chairs. We spend an hour lounging with absolutely nobody around. It felt like we were staying at a billionaire’s private French Riveria villa.
Breakfast
The breakfast (free thanks to Amex) was served on the patio overlooking the Mediterranean. The food was excellent, again topped only by the view.
We lingered over the breakfast as long as possible to take in the ambiance.
The 4 pm checkout from Amex’s Platinum benefits allowed us to spend a few hours exploring Eze, especially the Le Jardin Exotique at the top of the hill.
Le Jardin Exotique in Eze, France
I may have gushed a bit too much in this review, usually, I’m a bit more critical, but it really was a wonderful experience.
It’s worth skipping a few meals out at home to save up for such a memorable experience.
This post was researched and written by John of the Empty Nest Explorers. You can learn more about the Empty Nest Explorers here.
Some well-reviewed France tours:
Note - This blog post contains affiliate links. This means that if we are recommending a product, activity, or hotel, we might be receiving a small commission if you buy or book from these links. This is done at no additional cost to you. We only recommend products we have personally used or have thoroughly researched.
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