Best Western Hotel Garden & Spa

I have decided to exchange my habitual trip to Cornwall this winter for something a little more French, and in honour of our elegant neighbours I have gone the whole hog and opted for a VeryChic residence in a luxury hotel. Not wishing to miss out on my usual walks along the wild Atlantic Ocean, I have come to the Guérande Peninsula, known for its dramatically varied landscapes and famous salt marshes. I am greatly looking forward to seeing their spectacular expanses of patchwork pools and piles of rough salt stretching out amidst the verdant hills. From the images I've seen they've always reminded me somehow of Bali, especially the men in their classic pointed straw hats. This is much closer, however, just across the channel and I have myown slice of exoticism, if somewhat fresher climate, at the Best Western Hotel Garden & Spa.

The hotel is far more modern than I had expected and yet in no way has it sacrificed that decadent air of plush indulgence. On the contrary, no sooner do I enter, than I am enveloped in a serene sense of safety and well­being, a feeling that, here, I am going to be very well looked after. It is something about the gentle lighting, the subtly 50s influenced, contemporary décor that creates a slightly nostalgic, yet very fresh and clean atmosphere and the very welcoming staff. There is an understated elegance about the place that I instantly like and I am eager to see what surprises my room has in store for me. The first thing I spot on entering is the lush green just beyond my wide windows, it's a breath of soothing fresh air and nature that sweeps around the gleaming four walls like the salty winds off the Atlantic. Only in this case I am toasty warm inside my bright white little nest. I have a huge, cosy bed all to myself with a gaily painted headboard that is just one of many little details of colour and personal touches that lend character and charm to the sophisticated space. It is comprised of clean lines, soft shades of pastels, bronzes and greys, high quality accessories such as an iPhone dock, flat screen television with satellite channels and even a kettle for my morning tea in bed.

The bathroom gleams with charcoal black tiles, white walls and that same airy elegance that pervades the rest of my quarters. I am somewhat tempted to step into the rather swish looking shower but suddenly another thought occurs to me. The Best Western Hotel Garden & Spa. The garden I can see from my window, with its Japanese influence of giant Bonsai trees, perfectly shaped boxwood and tall bamboo, and it reminds me again of that strangely exotic element I felt there was about the salt marshes. Maybe it's something in the air here, quintessentially French with just a curious stray breeze that travels all the way across the vast ocean to lend a certain je ne sais quois to this far flung edge of the land. If that is the case I wonder what the – as yet unexplored – spa might be like and I cannot wait to find out. In a jiffy I have slipped out of my room and found my way to the hotel's ultimate relaxation centre.

A hushed haven of peace beckons me in and doesn't let me go again until quite some time later. In this period I pass through the hands of an expert masseuse and take a trip to 'Ancient China'where I am rubbed down with rice seeds, given reflexology and a Taoist massage, which I had
never had before. It seems the worldly exoticism certainly has taken a hold of this delightful corner as well, as in the list of options I also lingered over an 'Indian Voyage' and a 'Trip to Siberia'!Feeling perfectly Zen I drift a while against the gentle currents of the pool and steam away in the hammam. I decide to save the jacuzzi and sauna for after a wind­swept walk along the vast expanse of shoreline just in front of the hotel, reputedly one of the most beautiful beaches in Europe. For now I am floating in a gorgeously scented cloud of well­being, just as my intuition promised on my first entering the hotel, and as its very name suggests – The Best Western Hotel Garden & Spa. Nature, relaxation, pampering and only the best for its guests!