It may be hard to find but it's more than worth the effort. Our Bon Vivant is surprised and delighted to be the only guest at beautiful Château de Bagnols

Let’s get one thing straight. Château de Bagnols, sitting atop the village of the same name in the heart of France’s Beaujolais country, is just perfect. Well nearly. But first you have to find it.

Now, I have arrived at hotels all over the world by a variety of means… elephant, covered in garlands, Rolls-Royce, Bentley and helicopter, to name a few. I have also, by the way, just to keep my feet on the ground (as my mother used to say), tumbled out of a coachwith an assortment of other guests.

Our arrival at Château de Bagnols, among the vineyards and rolling hills of the Lyonnais, was a first – and most unusual. There we were in darkest winter (it was November), in central France at about 7pm, anxious, not only for our first taste of the local vin rouge but also to find the château.

Now, it is a long story and life is too short to stuff mushrooms but suffice to say, somewhere along the way, we got lost. “Yes,” said the young man on reception, as I telephoned in a panic for directions, “we have lost a number of clients this way in the past.” So that was a relief.

And there we were, shivering in minus temperatures in a village square, waiting to be met by an escort vehicle from reception to guide us into the village of Bagnols (all telephone directions being completely confusing, however well intentioned). So it was that we arrived at the château somewhat unceremoniously in the hotel’s white van, and as white vans are de rigeur in the French countryside I suppose that was quite appropriate.

And things began to look up from then on. For a start, we discovered that we were the only guests staying that night and for the rest of our visit. The château was ours! And I counted more than 15 staff at our disposal. Some poor accountant somewhere was, we decided, having a very miserable time.

Château de Bagnols, about 28 kilometres from Lyon, was discovered, bought and refurbished by Lady Helen Hamlyn, wife of the late British publisher, Paul Hamlyn. She took the building under her wing and attended to every detail, personally and with great style. She has now sold the hotel and moved on, but her touch is still there.

The original château was built in 1221; it had taken four years to complete.

In 1987 Lady Hamlyn converted it into an hotel with 12 rooms and eight suites, many public rooms and a large private apartment for her and her husband. This can now be rented by the likes of you and me.

Beautiful antique furniture blends tastefully with carefully reproduced copies: pairs of sofas, chairs, cabinets and the like. Add to this original and touched-up trompe l’oeil in almost every room, along with fourposter beds, marble baths, a library full of books and a vast plasma TV screen, and you have a ravishing stage on which to laze away a few days in utter contentment – as we did.

The food is a disappointment, however. I am not, as you know, a great fan of Michelin-starred places. The château has one star. I long for good, honest food cooked by expert chefs. I am tired of the foofing and faffing and foaming of innocent dishes, and I swear I will scream if another waiter arrives with my plate, to tell me what I already know I have ordered.

As an aside, I see that no less an organ than Britain’s Financial Times has begun a discreet campaign, as only it can, questioning both the quality and pricing at many top restaurants in Europe and some indeed with Michelin stars. The food at the Château de Bagnols is expensive and I just wondered if it was worth the money.

A visit to the château is not cheap. Go there for a very special occasion and hope that you will be the only guests, which is unlikely, but if you are, consider yourself very lucky, as I did.

Jim Dunn paid €1,500 (£1,150) for a two-night stay, including all meals. www.chateaudebagnols.com

JIM DUNN’s second book, Very Private and Public Relations, is published in April, and his first book, Successful Public Relations, initially published in 1992, is still in print. Both are published by Thorogood, www.thorogoodpublishing.co.uk