Les Demeures de Varennes, BW Signature Collection

I would like to report here the extent of the malfunctions we encountered during our stay. Their accumulation reveals not an isolated incident, but a structural problem in management and service quality, entirely incompatible with the standards advertised by your establishment and by the Best Western chain. Here are the facts: • Unlit parking area covered with gravel, making it impossible to roll luggage. • Dirt pathways rendered unusable, filled with puddles, preventing any movement with wheeled suitcases. • Contradictory information regarding the half‑board menu depending on which staff member was serving. • Extremely limited menu, to the point that we had to eat the same dishes for an entire week. • Inconsistent room cleaning, with parts of the coffee machine found in several places. • TV remote controls with dead batteries upon arrival. • Empty shower gel bottles. • Power outage on the morning of our departure. • Sauna out of service from 14 December onward, followed by complete unavailability of the entire wellness area during our stay. As a result, we were unable to use the complimentary hour included in our booking. No commercial gesture was offered, not even in relation to my wife's massage treatment. • Clear disorganization at reception: three different staff members over two days were needed to obtain a simple invoice. • Restaurant staff generally pleasant, but the reception desk was particularly deficient: no smiles, minimal friendliness, confusing information. A level of hospitality unworthy of an establishment of this category. All of these points combined resulted in an experience far below what we were entitled to expect. At no point did we perceive any willingness to compensate for the inconveniences suffered, nor even to acknowledge the shortcomings. We will not be returning to your establishment and will inform Best Western of the situation. We will also share our experience on review platforms and social media so that other guests can make an informed decision.

Nice hotel in a nice place with a kind staff A marvellous garden The room was cosy and the bed very comfortable. However the breakfast could be improved with more choice and more classical jams! The environment of the swimming-pool could be improved too.

We stayed here the night before we flew out of Paris. It was charming. The staff was especially helpful. They found an antigen test for us within walking distance. We had dinner and breakfast at the excellent restaurant. Highly recommend staying here instead of a generic airport hotel. It took us approximately an hour driving time.

Excellent French Hotel in a chateaux. I love the style and the people and the love they put in their property. They have a sweet Weimaraner dog! Excellent breakfast and good french food. Thats old french living and not Paris Show off. High Classe.

We came here as a gift for our wedding. From the outside it seems picturesque and in a great setting- which it is. However, we were a little disappointed. The whole place seems to have been converted from a much bigger house at some point, with very little planning or prior thinking as to how it would be converted into usable, quality guest house. The welcome was warm and charming. Staff were pretty helpful. The grounds are pretty big, but with some areas cordoned off, making the actual usable space much smaller. The pool was a great little feature tucked away, it was heated and was clean- full marks there... This said, as previous comments have suggested, 'quirky' and 'rustic' should not be confused with 'dated, old and mismatched', some bits are indeed authentic and charming, whereas other features are the latter. Our room was on the 2nd floor with a great view over the garden, however the walls were extremely thin and we could hear the couple in the next room... (He booked it for her as a surprise. They intended to dine at 8.30 after a quick walk). The shower was luke warm, a door which didn't open, due to shelves infront if it, made one of the walls in the bathroom. Some furniture was damaged with missing handles, but in general it was clean and tidy. We weren't sure whether our bed was a double bed, or a 3/4 bed. Neither of us slept well. The toilets made a big noise when being flushed, never mind the smell that they emitted... (they seem like the toilets that one would put in a loft conversion, with an inbuilt blade). The restaurant served an excellent evening meal, the t-bone steak was one of the best I've ever had. The staff in the restaurant were amazing. The breakfast was a standard continental breakfast buffet. Not a great stay, but not a bad stay either. +Great restaurant +Great pool +Friendly staff -Poor quality of rooms -Thin walls -Poor sleep Overall, I think that much better facilities could have been created if they'd have spent more money, more time and aimed for a better standard of finish on the planning stages.

We were staying here for a night en route to Bordeaux from Amsterdam. We saw online that the hotel had a restaurant but on arrival were told that this was closed that evening because of a function. There was a vague mention of a carry out pizzeria but no recommendations. We only managed to find some sandwiches in a local shop. The room was in the loft of an out building which had been converted into a bedroom The room was clean and warm but cluttered with odd bits of furniture which did not come together in a comfortable way. There was a large pillar in the room which I suspect was a ventilation duct to rooms below because from time to time it emitted a sound of air flow and a metallic rattle. During the day this was OK but during the night it was disturbing. There was a gallery above our bed with a double mattress on the floor but not made up. The part of the room was accessed from a dangerous looking loft ladder type structure and would have been a hazard for children or guests not quite fit or sober. Breakfast was very disappointing especially as we had had no evening meal. The salle de petit dejeuner was very petit and the only space to sit was in front of a very busy coffee machine. There were only stale brioche and pain au chocolate left to eat and nothing cooked. Our table was incompletely set and I had to go looking for spoons.

This place was simply beautiful! The room was clean and the staff was very helpful. They also spoke english and were all extremely friendly. The garden around the house is wonderful! Recommendable to anyone, even families because of the pool and garden.

My review is based on my experience at Chateau Varennes when my husband and I stayed there with a large group for a friend's wedding nearby. The first thing that I have to say is that ours was not the easiest of groups. A few days before we arrived there were only 7 people booked in for dinner. That number gradually increased to 20 on the day of our arrival, and the final tally at dinner was even higher. Naturally this is very challenging for a restaurant that relies on advance bookings. There was one waiter dealing with all of our tables and he did a very good job. Likewise the kitchen, there was enough variety to please everyone, although a few people missed out on their first choice because those dishes ran out. I'm not going to go into too much detail on the food because this is a review of the hotel as a whole. So, for me a thumbs up for the staff, especially our waiter that night and the owner, Didier. As regards the rooms, our party took over some of the annexes. I didn't get to see anyone else's room, so I will comment on ours. It was an apartment with a little kitchen/dining room with a sofa bed, a double bedroom and very small single room. The décor was very plain, but the bed was very comfortable and it met our needs adequately. It isn't the kind of room that I would want to spend a lot of time in, but based on the photographs on TripAdvisor there are more charming rooms to be had in the main house. It didn't matter to us at all, it was just a place to put our heads down over a very busy weekend. Breakfast was a generous and varied continental buffet with everything that you would expect. There was also plenty of it. On the Sunday we had another example of how friendly and helpful the staff could be, when the bride's mother treated us all to a lunch buffet. The waiting staff were excellent. Afterwards we used the new outdoor swimming pool, an excellent addition. The only thing that I would personally recommend to the reception/management staff would be that they provide a properly stocked first aid box. I fell and cut my knee during the wedding (ouch!) and they didn't really have enough in the way of first aid supplies. I had to buy sterile dressings from a pharmacy the next day. Hence my "Very Good" rating - my experience was mostly very good and I commend the staff for dealing well with a challenging group. It's maybe important to note that the bar doesn't stay open during the day, so if you are going to be arriving during the day maybe speak to the staff beforehand.