Hôtel La Maison du Lierre Bordeaux Centre

Two Hundred Years of Ivy on a Rue Huguerie Facade

The house went up in the eighteenth century, when this quarter of Bordeaux was filling with the stone mansions the wine trade paid for. At some point in the century that followed, ivy took hold of the terrace and never let go. It is still there, two hundred years old, and it is what the hotel is named after. From the street the building gives away very little, which is the local habit. Push the door and the plan reveals itself: rooms above, and below them a walled garden and a patio that the noise of the centre does not reach.

Why It Works

We kept this one because it is a house rather than a hotel operation. Eighteen rooms, decorated one by one instead of to a scheme, in a listed-quarter mansion with its own garden, inside the Triangle d’Or. That combination is rare in Bordeaux, where most of the centre is apartments and most of the hotels are on the boulevards. It is adults only, which keeps the garden quiet. And breakfast is taken seriously, a hot and cold buffet built on local, organic and artisanal produce rather than an industrial tray.

Why This Location

Rue Huguerie sits at the top of the Triangle d’Or, the wedge of eighteenth-century Bordeaux between the Grand Théâtre, the Place des Quinconces and the Allée de Tourny. The Allée de Tourny is a five-minute walk, the Grand Théâtre and the Opéra National about ten. The whole UNESCO-listed centre, the Place de la Bourse, the miroir d’eau and the quays of the Garonne unroll east from there, and the antique dealers and wine merchants of the Chartrons begin just to the north. The street itself is residential and quiet, which is the point of being here rather than on the Cours.

Fast Facts

• Price: Premium

• Vibe: Bordelais townhouse, planted, adults only, unhurried

• Rooms: Eighteen rooms, each decorated individually, air conditioned with en suite bathrooms

• Best For: Couples, wine travellers, walkers who want the Triangle d’Or at the door

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: The centenarian ivy over the terrace, which is both the reason for the name and the best seat in the house on a warm morning

• Dining: Hot and cold buffet breakfast built on local, organic and artisanal produce, served in the garden when the weather allows, plus a bar; the restaurants of the Triangle d’Or are a short walk

• Amenities: Walled garden, shaded sunbathing terrace, patio, bar, parking, adults-only policy

• Attractions: Allée de Tourny five minutes on foot, the Grand Théâtre and the Opéra National about ten, Place des Quinconces, the Place de la Bourse and the miroir d’eau, the Chartrons wine quarter

The Garden, the Terrace and the Patio

Outdoor space is the currency of a city-centre hotel in Bordeaux, and this one has three kinds. The interior garden is where breakfast moves as soon as the weather allows, and it is enclosed enough to feel private. The terrace above it is for the sun, shaded by the ivy at one end. The patio links the two. None of it is large, and that is the character of the place: a townhouse plan, worked properly, rather than a courtyard designed for a crowd. On a warm evening it is where guests end up before going out.

Eighteen Rooms, No Two Alike

The rooms are decorated individually, which in a building of this age means they differ in size, ceiling height and outlook as much as in colour. Some look over the garden, some over the street, and the older parts of the house keep their proportions. All are air conditioned with en suite bathrooms, which matters through a Bordeaux summer. It is worth naming a preference at booking rather than leaving it to chance. Check-in runs from half past three to half past six in the afternoon and check-out is flexible up to half past eleven, which suits a late train back.