La Commanderie de Ballan

From the moment the gates open it’s absolutely wow ! Checked in by Leah who kindly escorted us to our accommodation on the golf buggy which was an experience itself. The amenities in our accommodation, fantastic, clean, spacious a real sense of home. The pool area is stunning again with lots of extras for children. Next morning a beautiful breakfast basket delivered to our door. The whole experience, and atmosphere is 10/10, would highly recommend and can’t wait to visit again.

The place was absolutely beautiful from the grounds to the cottages. Our first night's stay was in the Tourelle suite, a two story small villa style accomodation. We were in the middle of our tour through Europe and requested a suite with a washer/dryer. The staff did not know how to operate the laundry machine, and quite a bit of our evening was spent trying to figure it out. The young lady Maeva tried her best and offered to have housekeeping staff come in the morning to assist. No problem, as my husband finally got it working We decided to book another night in the same suite. Unfortunately, it was booked and we were changed to the Garden suite. Shortly after our arrival to the Garden Suite, we encountered no bath soap, no towels, and a dead bug on the floor. Again, we figured, no problem, garden suite, and removed the bug with a tissue. Shortly thereafter, we encountered a very large black spider (about 2-3 inches in diameter) in the living area. My husband tried to catch him and release him in the garden but he hid somewhere behind the furniture. This was very unsettling, since I don't like spiders and I did not want to be uncomfortable and ruin my stay, or worse yet be bitten by this insect. We first called reception and spoke to a female senior staff member to request maintenance or housekeeping staff to try to catch and remove the spider. She was reluctant but sent the housekeeper, who was unsuccessful. We contacted the senior staff member again and requested another suite. The senior staff member came to the suite, she was very rude and said "what do you expect in a country chateau". We felt that she was totally inappropriate and told her we are not accustomed to sharing our accommodations with bugs. She begrudgingly showed another suite, but she was quite sarcastic, argumentative and antagonistic. At this point, she totally alienated both my husband and me and we promptly requested a refund, packed our bags, and left. How sad it is that this individual is allowed to work in an area of hospitality. The definition hospitality is the friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors or strangers. It also means displaying kindness, geniality, conviviality, generosity, and cordiality. If a hotel host/ess cannot meet the above qualifications, perhaps they are in the wrong industry. As a reminder, we are paying guests. Unfortunately due to the actions of this staff member, we could not enjoy this beautiful estate and recommend it to others. I suggest the Director of this property promptly address this issue by retraining staff and/or finding someone who can properly represent La Commanderie de Ballan - Ballan Mire. L'endroit était absolument magnifique, du terrain aux cottages. Notre première nuit s'est déroulée dans la suite Tourelle, un petit logement de style villa à deux étages. Nous étions au milieu de notre tournée en Europe et avons demandé une suite avec lave-linge/sèche-linge. Le personnel ne savait pas comment