Les Cretias

I have never been to the Ardennes in Belgium before, and I was quite sceptical what to find there, because somehow it is one of these regions in Europe that don't really have a high profile. Nevertheless my curiosity was piqued after anecdotal evidence of gentle rivers, beautiful valleys, superb food and great beers.

Thanks to the Office de Tourisme in Dinant I was booked into a little gem:

"Les Cretias" is a small hotel outside the village of Falmignoul just 8 km from Dinant and 50 km from Charleroi, which is a hub for Ryanair, so getting there is easy. It looks like it used to be part of an old farmhouse, has 14 comfy rooms and is surrounded by farmland.

It's main attraction though is it's excellent cuisine, where the two owners of the hotel prepare an ecclectic collection of local specialities of the highest quality.

Although the rooms are quite reasonable priced at ca 70 Euro for a double room, a dinner for two with drinks and wine will probably set you back 120 Euro, but I personnally think a worthwhile investment, as the quality of the food is impressive and the service impeccable and friendly.

In case that the price for Dinner is too high for you, the area around the Meuse is full of small, reasonable priced rural restaurants with great food from this amazing region.

Hôtel "LES CRETIAS"
Rue des Crétias, 99
5500 FALMIGNOUL (DINANT)
Tél. : 082/74 42 11 - Fax : 082/74 40 56
http://www.dinant-tourisme.be/hebergement/hotels/hmd/cretias/cretias.htm