Chocolate Heaven (Hotel Chocolat)

Member Name: Mrs-LT

Product:	Hotel Chocolat
Date:	15/02/09 (63 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Amazing, amazing, amazing chocolates

Disadvantages: Pricey

I always thought Thorntons or Cadburys chocolate was my all-time favourite, as the 'better' brands (i.e. higher cocos solids, better quality) such as Green & Blacks just don't do it for me. I also hate dark chocolate and the fancier brands seem to specialise in this. With this in mind, I initially viewed the newly-opened Hotel Chocolat store with scepticism, presuming I would not prefer it to Thorntons and so would just waste a lot of money.

I thought this until Christmas 2007 when I was given a box of Hotel Chocolate chocolates as a gift from a client. Waste not, want not, any chocolate will get eaten by me even if I wouldn't have purchased it myself, so I tucked in somewhat dubiously at first.

Within the first mouthful, all of my Hotel Chocolat preconceptions had flown right out of the window and I was their lastest convert - another devoted fan.

The choolate pralines and truffles (my favourite chocolates) are rich and decadent yet still light and fluffy. This is something my previous favourite Thorntons Continentals have never managed to achieve - their delicious moreishness soon gives way to a sickly feeling after 2 or 3 truffles. By comparison, the Hotel Chocolat truffles are merely moreish and divine.

The Hotel Chocolat store is modern and well laid-out with bright lighting. Everything is well spaced and organised into sections by different types of chocolate - tasting selections, boxes, slabs, mini slabs and so on. This is brilliant if you are in a hurry and know you want to just pick up a chcolate slab as a gift for someone. This is something which sounds so simple yet again Thorntons never achieve - they constantly move their stock around which I know is to get customers to look round the whole shop but in the tiny Thorntons shops (which tend to be too crammed full of products anyway) all it does is put me off as it is too stressful. I like the fact that the sections in Hotel Chocolat stay the same from visit to visit. Also, the shop had well-spaced displays that are easily negotiated with a pram or wheelchair. You don't feel as though everything has just been thrown in. They seem to value quality over quantity which again gives a very positive impression of the products they sell.

The other thing I love is the farnkly unrivalled range of flavours they have - literally dozens of different flavoured chocolates from alcohol to fruit filled, and everything in between. They don't just sell the usual strawberry and orange cremes; here you can find raspberry, mango, blueberry...pretty much any conceivable flavour is available. For the originality alone this shop is well worth a visit.

OK so you are probably now wondering about the prices. Well I'm not going to lie, it is broadly 50% more expensive than Thorntons for boxes of chocolates.

Large 500g chocolate slabs (which come in a massive range of flavours and are delicious) cost £11.75 and the mini slabs cost £3.75, although if you buy 3 you get them for £3.45 each so slightly cheaper.

They sell selector chocolates which are basically a little tray of 6-9 chocolates for £3.85. they are ideal as a stocking filler or if you only like a couple of flavours in a box it saves you buying a whole box and wasting a lot of the chocolates. All in all they are a great idea.

They even sell teeny tiny chocolate buttons for babies and toddlers, called Tiddly Pots. Yes at £2 they are hardly cheap but they are so adorable I can't resist buying them.

They also do a chocolate tasting club which friends of ours rave about, although I have no personal experience of this.

You can shop online at www.hotelchocolat.co.uk if you do not have a store nearby, although be aware that the range in store is wider than the range online (and of course you do not pay delivery on it) so if you can visit a store I would say this is definately the preferable option.

Summary: Chocolate lovers, welcome to heaven!