Room Service: Chateau de Floure, Carcassone, France

A strange collection of Air France posters and Chinese figurines is not what you'd expect to find gracing the stairs of what was once a very stately French home. But then Château de Floure delivers one surprise after another. Instead of positioning its grand suite on the top floor, with a view across the formal French gardens, the owners have tucked it away to one side. And rather than let a cosy, atmospheric bar snuggle beneath the vaulted ceiling of a separate 12th-century wing, it's been uprooted and plonked in a modern conservatory to make way for a new reception.

Having said all that, the chateau has a definite shabby charm and rural tranquility. The main reason for coming here is the food. Fantastic five-course feasts are laid on every night. In fine weather, you can eat outside on the terrace.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

Nine kilometres east of Carcassonne in a small and pretty French village. Château de Floure, 1 allée Gaston Bonheur, 11800 Floure (00 33 4 68 79 11 29, www.chateau-de-floure.com). Book direct, or through Châteaux & Hotels de France (00 33 1 55 34 16 16, www.chateauxhotels.com).

Transport: public transport seems to have bypassed Floure. A taxi from the airport is about €25 (£16).

ARE YOU LYING COMFORTABLY?

Opt for room number 23 if you have a choice; it's a smallish, standard double but it has the best view in the house, straight down the main garden path, with Mount Alaric rising up beyond the rose bushes.

Freebies: standard toiletries and, er, boiled sweets.

Keeping in touch: all rooms have phones and a small TV.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Standard doubles cost €100 (£63), breakfast extra. Half-board adds €42 (£27) each.

I'm not paying that: the Côté Cité guesthouse (81 rue Trivalle, 00 33 4 68 71 09 65) in the medieval centre of Carcassonne costs €65 (£41) for a double.