Fodor's Expert Review Simmer

This Moselle institution, built in 1863 and maintained in a welcoming Victorian-rustic style, was once the preferred riverfront retreat of the royal family and political luminaries. Though it is showing its age, and the floorboards are literally creaking, its ambience remains comfortable and homey. Incorporating portions of a 1610 house and the founder's butcher shop, it was taken over by the current family in 1955 and built into an elegant hotel-restaurant. The details they added include a 17th-century fireplace in the dining room and carved oak grotesques paneling the salon. Rooms are solid, with dated glamour (brocade, gilt, crystal) and some antiques. Specialties in the restaurant ($$$) include braised brochet (pike) in cream and sandre (pike perch) in local Auxerrois wine; in summer, you can dine on the full-length, open-front porch. It's next door to the wine museum.