Domaine de La Pierre Ronde

The Domaine de la Pierre Ronde is located in Saint-Martin-de-la-Mer, in the Côte-d’Or, near Lake Chamboux, in the Morvan. The website describes itself as a “fantasy village”: the offer consists of yurts, partly underground hobbit houses, a wizard’s cottage, an elves’ refuge, a trapper tent, tipis and an Inuit tent, and a menu on the website also mentions a campsite rated 3 stars.

The units are reached on foot from an inner car park reserved for guests. None of them has a toilet inside: an enclosed, heated washroom block with large hot showers, toilets, sinks and a baby-changing table is located near reception. Several units have a wood stove supplied, others electric heating, and some have no electricity at all.

The advertised rates range from about €80 per night for the trapper tent to €235 for the Élébor hobbit house, with sliding-scale rates. The deposit required is 40% of the stay, and the tourist tax is €0.50 per day per person.

Opening period: the website’s booking calendar gives no dates, and no closing period is published. The website mentions a stay “summer and winter” in the group yurt and sets out cancellation conditions for the end-of-year holidays, but this is not enough to establish regular winter opening. Opening dates should therefore be confirmed with the domaine.

The domaine offers deliberately rustic comfort. Reception is open from 10am to 12pm and from 5pm to 7pm. The units are available from 5pm and must be vacated before noon, but you can park your car from 10am on the day of arrival and until 7pm on the day of departure to enjoy the site and the lake.

Bed linen is provided in the Love is all, Cocoon and Famille yurts, in the hobbit houses, in the wizard’s cottage and in the elves’ refuge; you need to bring sheets, sleeping bags and pillowcases for the group yurt, the Touva yurt, the traditional yurt, the trapper tent and the tipis, and even a mattress for the Inuit tent. Bath towels are hired with the hobbit houses, the cottage, the elves’ refuge and the Love is all yurt. The hobbit houses have crockery, a barbecue and an outdoor table, but no kitchen.

For meals, the domaine has no restaurant: full meals (starter, main course, dessert) are delivered at 7pm by an outside provider to the reception yurt, to be booked at least 48 hours in advance and reheated in the microwave, except from 15 to 24 August. Breakfasts and aperitif baskets can also be ordered by email. The washroom block, the reception rooms and some units are accessible to people with reduced mobility.

The main offer is simply to settle down by Lake Chamboux and enjoy the nature of the Morvan. A partner association organises activities around the lake and the nature park: fitness coaching, horse riding and massage, to awaken the senses and the body in contact with the surrounding nature, according to the domaine’s presentation.

The Morvan Regional Nature Park provides suitable equipment free of charge, such as all-terrain modules, to make some activities possible for people with reduced mobility. For the evenings, the units are equipped with books, board games, chess and dominoes, with candles and incense in the hobbit houses, and a barbecue allows you to cook outdoors in good weather.

The group yurt is also rented for workshops and meetings (relaxation, seminars, debates). Festive parties, such as hen or stag parties, are not accepted there. No supervised entertainment or children’s activities are advertised: leisure is taken on site and by the water, on foot from the units.