Hotel Du Vin & Bistro

For me it was amazing. Great food and great atmosphere there. I have been lucky enough to have eaten all over the world and this had just as good a feel as many places I have been to. I am proud to be Bristolian and lucky to be able to take my various friends there from various backgrounds for a drink or two. have this up the road from where I live. Beautifully designed and a great place for a nice spirit based drink too!

If you are ever staying in Bristol I fully recommend you stay at least one night in this hotel and stay in a big Loft Chapel facing suite.
Each room inside the hotel do not have room numbers but are called champagne where this room being the best from all other rooms is called Veuve Clicquot. This is duplex suite with a Very large King size bed featuring a stunning Veuve Clicquot, back-​lit display headboard. Intimately designed in rich earthy tones with a separate lounge area and 42 inch plasma TV. Upstairs in the bathroom you’ll find twin roll top baths and a walk-​in monsoon shower.
I admit the rooms may be slightly pricey but the luxury of this suite is worth every penny! As the complimentary toiletries smell lovely, there are Egyptian Cotton sheets on the bed, the monsoon walk-​in shower is so refreshing, I’ve never felt so clean in my life!
Once a year we travel over here but not to visit Bristol town centre but to this hotel as this is one of my favourites! We always have issues with parking but there is off street parking available!

Du Vin is one of my favourite places to eat in Bristol. Who doesn’t love classic French food with a fantastic sommelier and bar staff. Service is always good and when busy you’re not waiting around for food for ages, not that you’d notice with the brilliant classic décor and cosy yet clean atmosphere.
Set in the old sugar house and popular with he cigar smoking philanthropist types of the 1920’s the style is a dirty yellow paint to resemble smoke stained walls, surprisingly attractive, unlike a smoked stained wall in weather spoons before the smoking ban came in.
The wine cellar is set in the old smoking room which is brilliant to have a peak at as you see bottles of ’62 Perignon and the finest wines from across the world.
¹⁰⁄₁₀ would recommended the beef Bourgogne with a match deep burgundy red, just ask the Sommelier — they’ll sort you out!
Give it a go it’s a great place and not too expensive and the hotel rooms, I’ve been told, are to die for!

Stayed for a few days before Christmas visiting family. We had two rooms and booked a breakfast package. The hotel is lovely, the beds are extremely comfortable and it’s a really pleasant place to stay. I highly recommend it.
However, «caveat emptor» when it comes to the Bistro restaurant. I write this because Hotel du Vin really «sells» the restaurant hard. The service was great but the food was mediocre to poor. They were not able to properly cook eggs for breakfast — of any style. We tried poached and they came out overcooked. We tried soft boiled and they came out ultra-​hard boiled. When we sent the boiled aggs back and asked for soft eggs we got eggs that were mostly raw.
This was disappointing.
And it wasn’t just breakfast. They said they could only cook their hamburger well-​done and the chicken liver was the most miserly portion of three tiny bits of liver you have ever seen with no care or pride in presentation.
In summary — stay there but don’t expect much from breakfast and don’t take any other meals at their Bistro.

We had a thoroughly enjoyable visit here yesterday, afternoon tea for my mums bday.
I love the décor, it’s chic Parisian feel makes a warm and welcoming atmosphere. In the bar area there’s some comfy sofas to lounge around on pre or post dinning. The bar has a huge spirit collection I counted 15 plus gins, wow!
The afternoon tea was lovely, we had three finger sandwiches each with fillings like smoked salmon and cream cheese, ham and mustard all were lovely and had just the right ratio of filling and dressing. I loved the desserts, we had scones with jam and clotted cream, macaroons and a champagne and strawberry jelly.
The scones were the best bit, they had a slightly savoury taste which seemed a little strange at first but they were soft and crumbly and the clotted cream and jam we a delicious combo!
The think at £25 per person for afternoon tea with fizz is a bit steep, considering you only get one glass of fizz. The service wasn’t great either, the waiter forgot our drinks, they didn’t check back with us to see if things were ok despite saying he would and generally just being left waiting was a bit frustrating, especially given the cost.
I would come back but keep an eye out for discount vouchers which they occasionally do and can be great value for money.

This is a review of Hotel Du Vin’s lounge/​bar area and its Afternoon Cream Tea. We have never stayed at the hotel itself.
We’ve visited Hotel Du Vin quite a few times, always enjoying a great glass of wine in a lovely, atmospheric room with luggage chests for tables and large, leather sofas. The sofas may need replacing, as you sink into them low enough to be sat on the floor, but they look great and are comfortable for lounging.
We recently went for a special Gromit Unleashed Afternoon Cream Tea, which, at £7 each, was a bargain. (A pound goes to the Grand Appeal, too.) Unfortunately, we wanted to get the ‘Fizz for 2′ deal at £12, but were told the deals cannot be run in conjunction with one another, but our ultra-​accommodating waitress sorted us out with two nice glasses of Champagne as a gesture of friendliness. She really was great.
So, the cream tea itself was lovely: the scones are slightly short and crumbly, and soft in the middle. You get a generous scoop of clotted cream and a choice of three blends of tea. There’s not enough jam in the tiny jars (Bonne Maman), so you may want to ask for more. Overall, a lovely, relaxed experience where the staff make you feel very welcome.

Stayed their last year as a treat with the wife. Good location right in the middle of the town and welcome break from the kids. Try the bistro as they have a really good menu

When you first pull up I doesn’t look much quite small fronted in amongst the other large over looking buildings. When you come into the reception area it’s light and airy with a floor to ceiling front window. After being checked in we were shown to our room/​suite. The hotel is 3 floor but they span quite a long way with lots of rooms I think there are 90ish. Our room was very large with a loo just off the main bedroom and stairs to the left taking you up a balcony area with a walk in monsoon shower and a toll top bath loads of space up there too. Lovely soft towels and robes very very clean and powerful on the water pressure it’s not called a monsoon for nothing. Bed was soft and comfy with quite a firm mattress, and loads of pillows 6 on our bed.
We also ate at the hotel at night which was beautiful, slightly higher priced than a restaurant but hotels always are, we’ll worth the money. Steak melts in your mouth, bread is served to start so if you don’t eat a lot then this could be your starter. Drink we’re a fair price for a hotel, would definitely go back very good atmosphere. Check the website for latest prices. Just search hotel du vin.

I’m back at corporate headquarters in Bristol (England) and out for a celebratory meal with colleagues. This venue is one of the more swanky venues in Bristol and has a lot of history. The venue comprises of a hotel, a bar and a restaurant. We started off in the bar which was very nice, complete with sofas a comfy chairs — a bit like someones living room but with a bar attached. The first thing you notice is how good the service is. If you are dining the waiting staff take your order while you’re sitting in the bar and come and collect you when your starter is ready. How civilised.
I can’t remember exactly what I had to eat as it was a good few weeks ago but I couldn’t fault it and neither could my colleagues, one of whom is exceptionally picky.
The only thing that I felt was that it was just a little too formal and too stiff but that could be down to the fact I’m getting used to being in America rather than the UK.
If you’re looking for a top notch venue with posh people and food then this is it.

I wanted to dislike it but honestly cannot fault the place.
Big plush rooms, massive decadent bathroom with huge wet room shower and seperate beautiful bathtub. Lovely soap and shampoo even. New fangle coffee /​espresso machine thingy as well on top of that… yes i am that easy to please… but honestly what is more important that a good shower and a good coffee.
The staff are all lovely and smiley and helpful. … and to top it off … it’s not at all overpriced.
The bar is nice and chill… huge selection of wine of course. It”s quiet and all so very adult but there are tons of couches and comfy chairs to settle into and the ambiance overall is lovely.

The rooms I stayed in was amazing. Truly one of the best rooms in my experience. The shower was just decadent and glorious. I want to go back and experience it.
The restaurant downstairs is of course amazing. Parking involved a bit of drama, but everything else here was amazing.

If the boutique hotel rooms upstairs are anywhere near as good as the food in the French-​style restaurant downstairs, they must be divine. Being a Bristol resident, sadly I have little excuse to splash out on a hotel room here — but I can enjoy a meal, when my pay packet allows.
First off, the décor and atmosphere are both perfect: housed in one of Bristol’s loveliest old buildings, it’s beautiful decorated with low lights creating a relaxed ambience. When you get to the bar area, you find it’s stocked with every drink you can imagine, and then when you’re seated at your table the a la carte menu is full of tempting contemporary European cuisine. When our food arrived, it was presented very well and tasted great, justifying the high prices — but watch out if you enjoy a few drinks with your meal, because they’re very expensive and the bill quickly mounts up.
Perfect for anniversaries, or other romantic meals when you’re happy to splash out.

Decided to treat my niece for her birthday and have always wanted to try this venue. It’s a beautiful setting and the ambience is lovely. Such a shame that we were both disappointed with our meals. For starters I had beef flank which was very chewy and the accompanying horseradish cream tasteless. My niece opted for smoked salmon so even an idiot couldn’t get that wrong but it had no va va voom and could have been prepared by one of the waiters. For main, I opted for confit duck and my niece steak (cooked medium rare) and ‘chips’. Only one small corner of the steak had any signs of pinkness and my niece was thoroughly disappointed. Desserts of a mediocre lemon tart and a seemingly shop bought pot au chocolate left us feeling wilted. If I had been dining with friends the meal would have been sent back but my niece didn’t want her evening ruined.
I may venture in again to fathom out if this was just an off night as other diners appeared happy but am in no rush.
Better restaurants in Bristol!

Boutique hotel and restaurant to make our mouth water. I was lucky enough to see the rooms when my older brother was sent down to Bristol for work– Wow. I think it is safe to say that your going to get a pretty good nights sleep it was the bounciest bed i have ever jumped on. I suggested swapping with him but he wasn’t very forthcoming.
We had supper down stairs (in the restaurant), and the food was sublime, ethereal, other worldy. If your a foody this is a must– save up, beg, steal, sell your children, put the house up for mortgage. You wont regret it.

This hotel has been a part of Bristol for ages, and although it apparently ‘went downhill’ for a time, I ate there recently so definitely didn’t experience that. We took advantage of their evening meal deal (it sounds so tacky when you put it like that, which this place definitely is not). It was something like £15 each for two courses and a litre of wine (minimum 2 people). And if that deal is still on I would urge anybody to go and eat there.
Probably the nicest atmosphere of all the restaurants in town, the lighting and décor is perfect and makes you feel like you’re somewhere in Paris (obviously that being the idea as it’s a Bistro). But they have got everything spot on, even down to the French waiters.
The steak was delicious, as I’m told was the salmon (‘the spinach was cooked to perfection’). The best feature of this restaurant is the cigar room; however I have no idea if it is still open to the public. We can only hope it is.
I will certainly be down there soon to find out.

Surely the best restaurant I know in Bristol. I spend a week each month and I did not have experience as I had in this restaurant. Hopefuly, it was a business meal so price was not an issue otherwise you should pay attention on the menu and especially your choice on the wine card. About wine, we choose 3 different wine of course not from France, this is one of the stuff I love in UK that they are not focused only on french wine (represent less than 30% of sell).
Everything were great and superb, the service is excellent.

This is the finest of fine dining in Bristol and you’re going to have to pay through the nose to experience it, but believe me, it’s well worth it if you can afford to do so.
I have actually eaten here twice unbelievably and on both occasions the food and the service was excellent. The food is predominantly French as you might expect from a hotel «Du Vin» and arguably the best in the city. The wines are exquisite and if my memory serves me correctly, come from one of the largest and most revered wine collections around.
The atmosphere is very relaxed and not at all as stuffy as you might expect for such a high end restaurant. And despite not being a regular of such fine dining eateries as the hotel Dun Vin, I felt totally relaxed and not at all out of place amongst the great and the good of Bristol’s high society. The décor is warm and welcoming as are the staff who were faultless.

Now this is a bit weird, but I’m not going to review the restaurant, which I’ve poked my nose through at and looks all a bit too formal for me — I’d be flinging cauliflower across the room in an attempt to break the stiffness. However what i have done and highly recommend is just coming in here for a drink. They have an astonishing drinks menu with whiskys (and whiskeys) that will make you cry for the want of them. I bought my boyfriend one that was old enough for him to sleep with whilst I had the most gorgeous champagne cocktail. Not at all cheap, I think it was £15 for a shot and £10 for the cocktail, but it was a special occassion.
I have also been here for a very posh work drinks evening (after we had had pie at Pieminister, now that’s class) when our marketing lady blew her entertaining budget in one foul swoop. Staff at the bar are, of course, very knowledgable but also very friendly and happy to talk you through their drink selection.

Probably too expensive for you, Hotel Du Vin is the cliché of a haughty, high end French restaurant. It describes itself as a ‘Boutique Hotel and Bistro’, I’m not sure what boutique hotel is so i’ll just review the Bistro.
It’s a little bit more relaxed than that description suggests though — they do have a doorman, but he may well give you a smile when you come in. It’s in a beautiful old building and they’ve got décor and service to match.
The wine menu is very good and probably a bit lethal if you’ve had a couple — it’s all too easy to spend two or three times as much on what you drink here as on your food. They do regular wine tasting which would make a lovely gift for anyone who takes their wind seriously.
The food itself is contemporary European fare, with things like Partridge artichoke soup as well as the usual menu fillers. It’s immaculately presented and clearly has had a lot of time put into it. This bistro lives up to its billing (and prices) as a posh French restaurant.

This quirky hotel is an excellent choice for the centre of Brisol. The entrance is rather hidden and belies what you are about to get.
The rooms are all very individual and although not all are spacious they are equipped to the highest standards. Beds made up with crisp linen, full-​sized toiletries, fluffy robes and free tea, coffee, chocolate and biscuits.
The showers deserve a mention of their own — monsoons!
Breakfast can be taken in the room or in the dining room. Service is slick and every need catered for.
Dining in the hotel is worthy of a review in itself but needless to say it is faultless. A drink in the bar first will set the scene before moving to the large, high ceilinged restaurant. There’s an almost school-​room buzz to the restaurant but yet it maintains a discrete feel to the place.
Food is superb and the wine list to die for. Although not cheap you won’t be diappointed.
After dinner you can retire back to the bar and perhaps partake of a cigar from the humidity controlled room (yes, there is a whole room dedicated to the cigar!).
A short walk, although not through the most attractive part of town will bring you into the centre of Bristol.
Recommended.

The restaurant is too hot. I mentioned so to the waitress who advised me that it’s always too hot. Shame. I felt physically and socially uncomfortable.
The food? I ate scallops w/​a pea-​purée to start. Average. Scallops were farmed, lacked the coral and were obviously (and disappointingly) sat on the splodge of purée. My parter enjoyed her chicken liver parfait. I tried it too and agree, it was sweet and tasty. Not enough toast to accompany though. One more half-​piece, or less pâté would have got the ratio correct. Seems a shame to dispose of the pâté because there is nothing to put it on. I’m sure we would have been provided with more had we asked.
Main — I ate pollack. Nice, a thick piece of fish and cooked well. Sides of Jersey Royals, green beans and some leaves. GF had a rib-​eye. As always, a core of jellied fat staring up at you which is off-​putting. Ordered rare but came medium. A pepper sauce — too salty. Fries were over-​cooked (or fried in filthy oil) and were limp and brown (not golden but next to burnt). They were possibly cooked for too long in oil that was not hot enough and filthy.
Dessert — the cheese board — missing Cornish Blue which was specified on the menu. Hard to ruin although the cheeses withered rapidly under the intense heat of what must have been a passing Sun dining in the adjacent room. And pecan tart — optimistically topped with a short-​lived ball of vanilla ice-​cream. From a tub.
A wine list that is an exercise in esotericism and to find a drinkable bottle below £40 is unlikely.
£150 including service, excluding coffee. My first car was £60.