Hôtel Charbonnel

Have stayed at this hotel before and not disappointed this time.

We only stayed one night but were part of a larger party that were having a business meeting in the hotel. In total, we must have spent about 1,500 Euros. I knew we were arriving early in Brantome and telephoned to see if we could check in earlier at 14h. I was told 'no' and that not only could we not check in earlier but that the hotel was actually closed until 15h! The restaurant and bar was closed at lunchtime and in the evening! We were all very disappointed. Between 11 and 15h my husband conducted the business meeting with no access to refreshments. In the evening, they went out and I stayed in the hotel. In the bedroom, there was one bottle of water, no tea and coffee making facilities, nothing. When I complained about there being no level of service throughout our stay, I received a very frosty reply from the lady in charge, who didn't seem to care about having a hotel full of guests, who had to go out to eat and drink and who had booked this hotel because of the reputation of its restaurant. She told me that if I expected 24 hour service (which I don't) I should book in at a Mercure! As soon as we checked out, she blocked me on her social media messages to prevent me from taking my complaint further. What an attitude! So my advice to anyone wishing to book is to make sure the hotel is fully open beforehand! A very disappointing visit to beautiful Brantome.

My husband, neighbour and I booked dinner for 3 on the balcony on September 1st. My husband and I have dined here at least 5 times before over the past 10-15 years. So when we decided to take our helpful neighbour out to dinner to thank him, we immediately booked Le Carbonnel. We understood there is a new chef with a Michelin star and of course, a new menu. We looked forward to returning here. But what happened at the restaurant was a great embarrassment and disappointment to us. My husband rang ahead asking if the chef could make him a special vegetarian main course and found out we could order two courses each so a dinner would cost about €45 before wine, aperitifs or coffee. When we arrived, the waiter attempted to serve all three of us my husband’s vegetarian choice as a starter. My husband got that mix-up sorted out and then the waiter took all our silverware away leaving only a fork each and two sharp knives for my neighbour and me. We didn’t know why he did that but after waiting about 15 minutes, I called the waiter over to ask why he hadn’t yet taken our order. He said my husband had ordered breast of duck over the phone. But he never did that. We didn’t really want that but we were told we had to have it and that this choice was a ‘surprise’ choice. We then ate it- it was tasty but undercooked but had just some beetroot coulis and a few pieces of the vegetable. So we waited in anticipation to order a lovely dessert. But again, the waiter said we had to have the surprise! It was fairly tasty but not what any of us really wanted. This whole fiasco costs €165. We were all still hungry and upset over this huge change to this wonderful former restaurant. Needless to say, we will not be returning nor recommending it to anyone.