The review for Chateau D'Audrieu was a challenge to write. Challenging because when one reviews a…read more5-star hotel/lodging, there is a higher standard of expectation - which goes along with the higher cost of staying there.
The question is, if the establishment claims proudly that it is "5 Star", then is it a fair expectation that the entire experience from start to finish be 5 Star? Having spent the past 2 weeks in Dublin and in France at only 5-star hotels, my answer to this question is yes.
So that readers of my review and those considering staying at Chateau D'Adrieu as well as the management of Chateau D'Audrieu understand my rating, I'll separate out what I think are the great, good and bad elements of my experience.
The Great:
The property is simply beautiful. Beautiful grounds, beautiful building and it is very nice.
The Reception and Concierge are excellent. I must take a moment to really compliment Tatiana M. who really enhanced our stay in the area with her excellent recommendations for dining.
All of her recommendations were spot on and we had simply fabulous meals at the places she suggested. Tatiana, vous êtes exceptionnel et un atout pour Château D'Adrieu, certainement 5 étoiles. Merci encore!
Le Séran, the restaurant with Chef Olivier Barbarin was fantastic - the food, the wine, the sommelier and the service were all 5-star. Excellent.
The Good:
Our room #30 was on the top floor and it is large. 2 big bathrooms, well appointed. A large sitting/dining area and a large bedroom with great views to the gardens. Beyond the space, the views and the area; I rate it simply good because it was not up to the level of the other 5-star properties we stayed at in Dublin and France.
The Bad:
Here is where, unfortunately, the crux of my rating for Chateau D'Adrieu lies. Where it was bad, it was really bad. If I could give it zero or minus 10 stars, I would in an effort to convey just how bad it was.
The Bar - very pretty but the bartender was literally non-existent at 3:30-4:00 in the afternoon. When he did pop in after we sat for almost 30 minutes, he was inattentive and very distracted. We managed to order two drinks, an Aperol Spritz and a Ruby Port - which turned out to be a Tawny Port and not a Ruby Port.
Once he delivered our drinks, he simply disappeared and as we were meeting friends in the bar (who were also staying at the Chateau D'Audrieu); when they appeared; he was again nowhere to be found. We ended up just leaving to go get ready for dinner at Le Séran - which again WAS wonderfully 5-star.
The Breakfast Service. Oh la la, the breakfast service. This is where over two days, the stars and experience simply turned into the worst possible experience we've ever had in Europe, Asia and North America.
On the first morning, we arrived for breakfast and were told it would be a 5 to10 minute wait. The dining room, was practically empty. There were two occupied tables across 2 dining rooms and the rest of the tables were simply dirty and uncleared of the previous diners' dishes. After almost 30 minutes, we were seated at our table. The table had been set with fresh dishes, but they were set onto a dirty tablecloth that was literally covered with food crumbs and breakfast stains and remains from the previous diners.
Three of the four of us had to brush food crumbs off the seats before we sat down and then when we sat down, we really noticed that the table was covered with food crumbs and stains. Our friends, who are French, were aghast and appalled. It was a glaring contrast from the dinner the night before where everything was executed perfectly.
The server could barely be bother to take our order and a simple breakfast of croissant, coffee, juice and yogurt took well over 90 minutes. The service took so long that one of us ended up missing/cancelling our scheduled massage.
I told the reception staff that the breakfast service was rather poor as we left for the day and when I returned that afternoon, I was presented with a Chateau D'Adrieu towel and tin of black tea in apology - an odd gesture but I felt that the message of poor service was received.
Apparently not, however, as the second day's breakfast service was even worse. I am not even kidding, unfortunately.
The tablecloth was clean at least, but my dining partner was missing a plate - which we had to ask for twice. We also needed to ask for the basket of bread, which was on almost every other table as part of the set up. We kept it simple, just coffee and bread for me, 2 soft boiled eggs and coffee for my dining partner. I asked for hot milk with our coffee - it didn't arrive until 25 minutes and 2 requests for it later.
The couple next to us had ordered pancakes and they didn't get any syrup with their pancakes. They asked three times in English for the syrup and I asked twice in French for the syrup. The requests were all politely acknowledged with a nod but the syrup never appeared. T
