Chateau de la Semondiere

We thoroughly enjoyed our overnight stay in this Chateau. From the moment we entered the drive until we left everything was "wow". The building and grounds were quite a sight and the restoration that has been carried out was sympathetic to the period in the public rooms while providing up to date facilities in the bedrooms. The views across the gardens and over the French countryside were terrific and our hosts were very helpful during our stay.

Two black marks against my name on our arrival as we arrived a whole 5 mins before time - and I perched on a stool in the hallway to say hello to the dog to be told I mustn’t sit on the stool as it’s an antique!! Welcome !! The breakfast was pretty basic - and we had to pre-order the one pastry that we were entitled to - it was placed in a dish on the buffet table, but we weren’t supposed to touch it until it was served to us ... I won’t elaborate on the instructions for transferring the (rather nice) jams to your plate to eat with the croissant. The room was small, but was clean and comfortable with very low beams. We were given only one small bottle of drinking water for our 3 night stay - the room wasn’t made up or bins emptied/refreshed during our stay. Having run a B&B in France ourselves for 9 years we found the hospitality and ambiance rather lacking !