History of our Hotel de St Maixent

The Cheval Blanc hotel, at the bottom of Avenue Gambetta, is the only one remaining in situ of the long series of inns and hostelries mentioned in the work published in 1913 by Louis Lévesque on this subject. In the 16th century, they were all grouped in the old town, most of them near the market halls; then, with the prevailing security and the road network improving, it was the external accesses, the suburbs near the gates and, in the 18th century, the main road that established the hostelries.

The Cheval Blanc hotel has migrated to the outskirts of the city since it was located in the 16th century near the Porte Chalon, on the suburb side. In 1574, the innkeeper was a certain Gauthier, reformed. In the 18th century, probably around 1730, the Cheval Blanc inn was transferred to its current location, formerly called "Les Granges-Bresdin" which depended on the parish of Exireuil. On the occasion of a division of property, on 24 Pluviose Year 4 (February 13, 1796), we discover the composition of the inn: "a large house used as an inn, a courtyard, a recently renovated building, four large stables and an adjoining garden (...) all touching the main road which leads from (Niort), Saint Maixent to Poitiers".

The hotel restaurant was restored and partly rebuilt in the 19th century, then remodeled and enlarged in 1988, while retaining part of the original building. (Source: Saint Maixent au fil des ses rues, de ses Monuments et de son histoire, 1994). Today we find in the hotel lobby, a well dating from the 18th century, and the traces of a well, since closed, on the current parking lot.

The restaurant Le Cheval Blanc (now Lysius Restaurant, chef Luc Robin), made locally famous by Chef Pierre Perrichon in the 60s, was separated from the hotel in 2006, the two establishments are now independent.