With Charm & Culture As part of our tour, our guide uses…read morethis hotel for Cheverny. Are we glad we stayed here. The estate is magical, yes, it is an older property. The grounds and decor was something out of a storybook. The food was very good. Since our guide was friends with the owner, I don't know if we got any special treatment. Nevertheless, we were sad to leave this magical place. Note: The new wing may be more accessible for those that need some help.

From the owner: Le Château du Breuil est un lieu historique, authentique situé dans un environnement calme et…read morepaisible, propice au repos et à la détente. Vivez un séjour de rêve au pays des Châteaux !

I must have dreamed this place up. After three days on the chateau route and a night in a room with…read morelots of road noise Amboise, we followed the signs to this charming hotel well off the road on the way to Chambord, but still close enough to walk to stores and restaurants. We have a private balcony overlooking the countryside, along with a shared garden area and tables. The hotel is run by a friendly family that speaks English and were pleasantly surprised to host Americans. The room has a vaulted ceiling, lots of space and a modernized bathroom, along with good wifi.

We rode,our,bike from Paris and found the perfect place to recuperate. Great room, fabulous food…read moreand a helpful staff. We still dream about it. We were just pedaling done the road,and turned into the courtyard. We were very lucky to find it.

I've stayed at many Relais & Chateau (R&C), three in the past two weeks. This is my first ever…read morecomplaint. It concerns Les Hauts de Loire in Onzain, France. The site is advertised as having air conditioning and a Michelin two star restaurant. Still today their web site claims both. One area on your R&C site does say one star. We booked 5 nights in a suite, about 800€ a night. We get there and, as I have asthma, I need an air conditioner. We could not get it to work. We went to the lobby and were informed that air conditioning is not needed or available and is turned off. Turned off and unavailable, yes, not needed, no. It makes no sense. It costs nothing to leave it available; if no one needs it, they won't turn it on. But if it is needed, it is not available. But it was advertised as available. We were met with a shrug. Obviously it was a cost saving move. Not available--it won't be used. Room value to me was less than half of what was charged. Ridiculous price. And false advertising. I later expressed my concern to Eric, the manager, who stopped by our table and asked how our stay was. Another shrug. It's not available. A heel turn and he was gone. The room air was stifling and there was no air exchange. Windows had no screens against insects and were not opened. We sweated all night. Each night. Management did not care, did not sympathize, did not resolve the issue, and did not compensate or even acknowledge it to be an issue. As for the room, furniture is dated, blue rug throughout tacky. It was not up to R&C standards. As for the two star Michelin restaurant, it's been downgraded to one star and the website stills advertises two. Appointments are incredibly dated. Affinage on the cheese cart was not great, served a couple not yet ripe fromages. Continuing, the wine list shames Michelin. The first three wines I ordered were "out of stock." Two days later, they were still listed as available, yet still out of stock. In an era of computers and photocopiers, it is completely inexcusable that a wine list is not maintained accurately, especially when such a list is a draw to a restaurant. It's a fake wine list. Michelin should check the cellar, not trust the restaurant. The "wide selection of [actually available] excellent wines" is shameful for a Michelin restaurant. My opinion, after eating at multiple two and three star restaurants in just the past two weeks, is that this Les Hauts de Loire restaurant deserves none. The one bright spot of our stay was the bistro. Service was warm and gracious, food good quality. We really enjoyed the cuisine and the staff, felt like family, incredibly gracious. We did not receive any hotel request for a rating, and I'm not surprised. Other R&C hotels often ask after departure for a rating. This one does not. No surprise there. Why ask for a beating?

I have no idea why or how the other reviews are five stars. We stayed here for three nights and…read morewere basically treated like second class citizens the whole time. I've traveled all over the world, and I've ever experienced a staff that is more unaccommodating and rude in my entire life. I'll never go back here, nor would I recommend anyone stay here. It's quite upsetting to be spending so much on your stay and have an arrogant staff kill the entire vibe. The food is great and the place itself is nice, though the blow dryer in my room did not work. The issue is the staff. They don't care about their guests at all and when you ask for something, they consider it an imposition. I asked the hotel concierge if they could make us a reservation at a nearby restaurant, and they told me they couldn't do it (WHY NOT?!) and suggested I email them myself because the restaurant never answers the phone. A simple google search revealed that the restaurant wasn't even open that day. Another night, we had asked to reserve a table at one of two restaurants on site, which the receptionist confirmed 24 hours before the supposed reservation. We arrived at the restaurant where they told us that they did not have room for us and did not have our name on the list. We had to wait an hour and a half to eat something (it was pouring rain and we didn't have a car or know of any other restaurants in the area). The receptionist and the restaurant host went back and forth blaming each other for the fact that they didn't have room for us, and no one made even the smallest effort to rectify their error. This is also after we've been eating at the hotel for the previous two nights and spent over $1,000 just on the food there. You think they'd be a bit more accommodating for hotel guests instead of turning us away in the pouring rain when we had actually made a reservation. It made us so uncomfortable that we were happy to leave the next day after spending thousands of dollars at the hotel. It's really a shame that such a beautiful place employs such ugly people.

For a nice lunch / dinner near Blois, this is a very good address (if you prefer food over…read moreatmosphere). The €45 menu (appetizers, starter, main, cheese, dessert, coffee treats) is way too much food, but it is delicious. You have 2-3 options each time (note that they are not strong on vegetarian options, but I am sure you can ask for a special plate), and everything we had was delicious. The foie gras starter is super good, as well as the veal mains (served with the most delicious purée). Don't hesitate to go crazy on cheese - we didn't dare, but the next table took 10 different cheeses by person, so go on and live your best life. Service is made by young apprentices - all very nice, although you can see that they don't have much experience. The only thing is that this is primarily an hotel, in the suburbs of Blois - so the restaurant is not full, and the average age of diners is quite high. But if that doesn't bother you, go and enjoy the food!

From the owner: Le Manoir de Contres Le restaurant du Manoir de Contres est situé aux portes de la célèbre Vallée…read morede la Loire, dans un cadre où nature verdoyante côtoie la beauté d'une bâtisse du 19ème siècle. Derrière les fourneaux, le chef s'applique à proposer tous les soirs des menus gourmands inspirés de spécialités régionales. Lorsque le temps le permet les repas se transforment en Barbecue sur la belle terrasse du parc. A déguster à titre d'exemple le "Magret de Canard au Porto, Galette de pommes de Terre à la Ciboulette, légume de saison" ou encore le "Tatin de boudin noir, crème légèrement acidulée".

We stayed one night in a 2nd floor attic charm room. We had a beautiful view of the Chateau…read mored'Amboise and the Loire River. There are exposed beams in the room and the ceiling is slanted so the configuration is a bit unusual. I was worried one of us would hit our head on something at some point but it wasn't an issue. My husband is about 6'3" and was fine. If you're much taller, I'd probably avoid the attic rooms. The hotel is great - probably one of my favorite that I've stayed at. The bed was extremely comfortable and the service was very friendly. There were plenty of in room amenities and it was spacious compared to many other hotels. I was a bit concerned about the friendliness going into our stay due to reviews I'd read. We aren't "fancy" people and I was worried that we would feel out of place. It was definitely a nice hotel and a bit more upscale but I never felt awkward being there. The price was also very good in comparison to other hotels we stayed at (realizing that Paris is obviously more expensive than smaller cities elsewhere) so this felt like a real bargain! 5 stars.

Beautiful hotel and rooms, fantastic beds and bedding, and outstanding service. The staff couldn't…read morehave been more helpful or polite and our four day stay was wonderful. And don't miss their tomato soup - it is the best I've ever had. They sell it in their little grocery bistro which has everything you need for lunch or a light dinner as an alternative to a restaurant. They'll serve it for you nice and hot in their lounge, on the patio, or in your room.