Château des Arpentis

I loved so much about this gem. Kids enjoyed the freedom to walk the grounds, wooden sword fight and use their imaginations! The piano could use some tuning (we are a musical family), but the kids enjoyed learning how to play French pool and practice reading their awesome book collection. Victor Hugo books in French!

Lovely stay. Lovely staff. Do ring ahead if you need a child bed, since they do run out. If the weather agrees, the pool is spectacular. It also has its own microkitchen where you can put your own cold drinks. Rooms were charming, perhaps the bathroom fixtures could be improved/fixed. Breakfast was just right, perhaps a bit overpriced.

This chateau is lovely, with lots of cool details regarding decor. It was underwhelming, however, because it felt like we were staying in someone's house but they were having family over for the holidays and were annoying houseguests. Starting with the good: the bed was comfortable (but not a king sized...really? The rooms are enormous and can easily fit king sized beds...). The bathroom was clean. There were a couple bottles of water for us in the room. Things that could be improved: put King sized beds in these enormous rooms. Clean up the coffee/tea station, if not every few hours than at least overnight (our dirty cups were still there the morning after we had afternoon tea). Provide a breakfast worthy of your heritage. Every hotel I've ever been in in France serves the most amazing breakfast; the one at this chateau was minimal and lackluster, with bad coffee. Provide nicer toiletries. Make the windows open-able for fresh air. These are a few of the details that could make the chateau feel worth the nearly $200 euros per night we paid. Instead, it feels like they are depending on their "chateau" status to attract guests instead of providing top-notch service.