Le Palmaretum is a small, family-run eco-hotel with various rooms, suites and self-contained ‘gites’ (rooms with kitchens) available. Palmaretum is classed as 2-star accommodation, which of course means it would be wrong to expect high-end luxury. However we were, nonetheless, disappointed overall.

Location

Le Palmaretum’s position on Basse Terre is, geographically speaking, excellent. Most of the major towns and destinations are roughly the same distance away by car (at least that’s how it felt).

However this does mean that the hotel itself is not actually close to any real facilities. There are no good shops or restaurants within walkable distance (that we found at least). We always ended up driving at least 20 minutes to get to a supermarket or place to eat.

Note – you will struggle to survive or explore much without hiring a car on Guadeloupe. It is essential.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, Le Palmaretum is up in the hills and a very leafy, almost rainforesty spot. This is great from a ‘wild living’ standpoint, but it also means – at the end of December in our case – that the weather is very wet. It rained, off and on, every single day we stayed; at a time when rainy season had supposedly finished (theoretically beginning of Dec).

Food

Le Palmaretum offers breakfast and dinner (both of which need booking with the patron Clark the day before).

Breakfast – consisting of big mugs of coffee, bottled fruit juice and a big plate of tiny pains au chocolat/croissants is overpriced at 8 Euro. Particularly when on the second day we stayed, the breads were quite obviously those leftover from the day before.

Dinner however, whilst still pricey (I think 40 euros a head for 3 courses, but could be wrong), is a different matter quality wise, as the chef Clark employs is very, very good indeed. We ate fantastic fish and pork dishes two nights running, before exploring more restaurants around the island instead as we learned a little more.

Rooms

As mentioned above, this hotel is 2 star and an eco-resort, so many rooms have no AC at all, merely a fan. Frankly however, considering the humidity and almost constant rain, this is simply not enough. After a few days all our clothes and towels were damp and smelled musty (even those that had stayed in our cases). Nothing (and I DO mean nothing!) dries unless you pay 5 Euro to have a load machine washed and dried.

Our first room (La jument callipyge) had merely a curtain between the bathroom (inc. the toilet) and the bedroom, which many will not like (we didn’t, putting the taps on to disguise the sounds of our ablutions), plus a funny let’s say ‘drainage-inspired’ smell, so we moved to the ‘Grenouy’ gite after 3 days. This however meant no more AC, merely a very noisy fan. Plus, amazingly loud frogs/birds in the very nearby trees, which kept us awake two nights running, despite wearing earplugs! (Also, a tiny thing really, but does anywhere in Guadeloupe believe in shower curtains? It seems not.)

So all in all room-wise, full marks for eco credentials, but if you like dry non-musty clothes and peace a quiet, you should consider this place with the points above in mind, especially the gites that are closest to the trees and those deafening car-alarm frogs!

Customer service

Clark, le patron, a French ex exec, is an attentive host who is obviously trying to build upon and keep improving what he has started, so full marks for that.

However in settling ours and our friends’ bills, we found it all a little disingenuous. Our friends had to re-do their bill due to some mistaken overcharging (“the wine was 15 euro? I meant 20”), which of course isn’t suspicious alone. However we had mentioned we would leave 2 nights early (us wanting to go stay somewhere else, to finish our holiday in dry clothes) and Clark had said, very generously, that we wouldn’t have to pay our contracted last 2 nights. However our bill included them.

We pointed that out, and he re-did it… with the bill still showing one of the nights he’d said he would remove. Tired of fighting what seemed like a wall of ignorance/denial, and rather shocked about him seemingly refusing to honor our agreement, we just paid and left, not feeling too good.

Note – although it may not seem like it here, my wife and I are not (we like to think) usually ‘guests from hell’. However a lot of little things, in Palmaretum’s case, simply added up… thus this lackluster review.

Guadeloupian Recommendations

Places to Visit
- Boat tour of the mangroves (including stunning white beach islands like Ilet Caret, we liked the tour by Italian Nico).
- The super-cute island of Les Saintes (take the boat from Trois Rivières).
- Trek up the volcano (3-4 hours total from the hot bath of Les Baines Jaunes).
- Waterfall at ‘La Cascade des ecrevisses’.
- Surfing lessons in St. Francois with gorgeous instructor (my wife's assessment): see www.surfantilles.com

Places to Eat
- Chez Alberi, 10 mins outside Gosier (all the details in the largely hit-and-miss La Guide du Routard): very popular local fare (lots of local eaters) and great value prices.
- Le Metis Café, Rue des salines de l’Est, St Francois: 5 mins from the beach, wonderful menu, 70 euro for 2 with half bottle of wine, lovely staff.
- Le mabouya dans la bouteille, St Francois (05 90 21 31 14) : a wonderful French restaurant with a classy/cosy interior, sensational food and a wine cave to die for. We paid 95 Euro for 2 mains, 2 desserts and just over half a bottle of wine (with many bottles you simply pay for what you drink).