Domaine Utah Beach - Hotel le Grand Hard

Stayed at Le Grand Hard - Domaine Utah Beach in late June 2025 for 1 night whilst touring Normandy with the focus on D-Day and World War 2 history. ||The Hotel is situated in a very beautiful location in the Normandy countryside, excellent grounds, very clean and well decorated rooms with all the facilities required for a comfortable stay made available. The restaurant was very good, and the staff were very pleasant and friendly. For the price we paid, this hotel is excellent value for money and a true gem of Normandy. ||Areas that would have improved our stay would have been: ||1.) Air conditioning / fans needed for the rooms - due to staying in late June and the daytime temperatures nearing 30 degrees C, the rooms were very hot during the night which made sleeping very difficult, even with the windows open, this did not offer any relief from the heat. Providing Air conditioning or fans would solve this. ||2.) Flies on the food at breakfast - Due to the summer months and being in the countryside it is a given that flies will always be present and understandably this is difficult to control. During breakfast there was a lot of flies in and around the food due to being left in the open (not covered), therefore we resorted to only eating the options that were sealed (Yoghurts etc). This can be mitigated / solved by covering up the food with lids. ||Tips for anyone travelling to the hotel, if you are relying on the internet for your navigation system, make sure that before you travel you have your route / navigation system pre-set up to the correct address. Speaking from experience we travelled during a time where the internet was down & we had to resort to other means for finding the hotel making it very challenging, make sure your route is pre-planned/ set up into your navigation system before you set off, in-case you experience any internet / connection issues. ||Overall, an excellent experience, would thoroughly recommend! ||Thank you Le Grand Hard!

We had a lovely stay at Domaine Utah Beach. The place is really charming, the restaurant serves delicious regional dishes with beef from the farm. But mostly we were really well looked after by the staff members. Highly recommended.

Globally good, but the three beds room was very close to the parking . As the temperature was very high , we had to sleep with windows open and so early wake ups in the morning due to the parking. Furthermore, the third bed was in a mezzanine, close to the roof , and then very hot.|Air conditioning would solve all these problems.|Nice breakfast , nice people .

Lovely place; quiet and comfortable with a great restaurant. wish we could have stayed longer than two nights.

The brunch on Sunday was the best ever. At first we thought the €36 per person seemed a lot but it was well worth it for the choice and quality of food. You help yourself to the choice of savoury dishes including meat, fish and vegetarian and you can go back as many times as you want. The desserts were delicious with 10 to choose from. There was endless coffee or tea and, of course, bread and croissants. A lot of the French had an alcoholic aperitif with brunch which was extra but the coffee and tea was enough for us. We would highly recommend it.

Domaine Utah Beach was amazing! We showed up without a reservation and received excellent service. A family room was all they had available and we took it. It was clean, comfortable and had everything we wanted. We got a reservation to their restaurant that night. Again, it was exceptional! Between the service, room, restaurant and superior location I will be back if I can. I highly recommend!

Fabulous place. Good location for seeing the area and for Cherbourg ferry port. Large spacious room. Was given a large pot of homemade pate to take home. Restaurant fantastic. Had a delicious evening meal here. Lovely upstairs bar with log burner which was lit for us. Lovely, welcoming staff. Breakfast was great too. Cannot fault this place except to say that the shower was a little tired. Will definitely return if we can.

We just love this hotel. I stayed there last year on my way home from the rugby world cup and liked it so much I came back with my wife this year. It is really handy for all the DDay stuff including the Band of Brothers sites close by. The area is hugely calm and relaxing.||After breakfast each day we sat in the courtyard with a coffee, relaxing in the Normandy sunshine. One evening after dinner I tried a 12 year old Calvados from a huge glass bottle and liked it so much I visited the distillery the next day.

Stayed here and enjoyed 2 dinners. This is a hidden gem and the highlight of our vacation. The accommodations are lovely, as are all the people that work here. Most speak excellent English and are very service-minded. The daily menu is a good deal and quite delicious. We had sea bass one evening and steak the other. We felt welcome like family here. It's small, so they come to know you. This is very kid friendly and comfortable. It's a great place to stay if you want something quiet, homey and charming. I now feel like I have experienced a French manor after staying here.

We were a group of 15 D Day tourists that came here for lunch. A beautiful place with very nice staff. Food was wonderful. I had an appitizer of salmon tartare that was spot on. The slow cooked pork was outstanding. Bottom line we were all smiles on our way out. Thus, the 5 stars!

08/06/2020 The change of ownership for this previously successful restaurant & hotel, and a new chef for 2020 has resulted in a terrible combination. We were a party of three for a small celebratory post-lockdown dinner. The amuse-bouche mousse was tasteless and soapy, my guest's hamburger was raw and had to be sent back to be re-cooked but even after a lengthy discussion, this hamburger was returned to the table in an unpalatable slimy condition. My guest was ill with a severe stomach upset several hours after eating this burger, prompting this review. The French frites accompanying our well-cooked but overly fatty entrecote steaks, were flabby, oily and almost cold. This previously popular restaurant was almost deserted and although all the social distancing and hygiene was correctly conducted, the food was memorably unpleasant and we will NEVER eat there again or recommend it to any of our house guests. It is truly unforgiveable to serve food which makes diners sick and even a day after our disastrous meal at Le Grand Hard, we are all feeling angry and disappointed at the uncaring attitude displayed by the staff we spoke to at this establishment. The new owner should hire an experienced manager, professional smart service staff and a more experienced reputable chef. Le changement de propriétaire de ce restaurant et hôtel qui avait connu du succès, et un nouveau chef pour 2020 ont donné lieu à une terrible combinaison. Nous étions un groupe de trois pour un petit dîner de fête après le verrouillage. La mousse amuse-bouche était insipide et savonneuse, le hamburger de mon invité était cru et devait être renvoyé pour être recuit, mais même après une longue discussion, ce hamburger était retourné à la table dans un état visqueux et désagréable. Mon invité était malade avec de graves maux d'estomac plusieurs heures après avoir mangé ce hamburger, ce qui a provoqué cette critique. Les frites françaises accompagnant nos steaks d'entrecôte bien cuits mais trop gras, étaient molles, huileuses et presque froides. Ce restaurant auparavant populaire était presque désert et bien que toutes les distanciations sociales et l'hygiène aient été correctement menées, la nourriture était incroyablement désagréable et nous ne pourrons plus jamais y manger ou le recommander à nos clients. Il est vraiment impardonnable de servir de la nourriture qui rend les convives malades et même un jour après notre repas désastreux au Grand Hard, nous sommes tous en colère et déçus de l'attitude insouciante affichée par le personnel à qui nous avons parlé dans cet établissement. Le nouveau propriétaire devrait embaucher un gestionnaire expérimenté, un personnel de service intelligent et un chef réputé plus expérimenté.

Delicious food! We had such a great time there. Service was great, really helpful and fluent in English. Three course dinner with fitting wine, oysters to start with, the fish of the day and a home made mouse as dessert. It fitted perfect together. So happy!