Château le Clos de la Ribaudière

This is a great looking place, albeit tucked away in the back end of a village so somewhat tricky to find. It certainly has an above-average ambience, as does the food. I've never seen cheese carved before! The only thing that spoiled the experience was my room. I was shocked to find it had no windows, just a Velux roof window that you couldn't open because it was out of reach. As a result the room felt claustrophobic. The bathroom, whilst well fitted, had no ventilation at all. Forget any views. The closest you can get to fresh air in this room is a wall-mounted a/c unit, and that proved far too noisy to sleep with. I asked Reception if I could change to another room. No luck. 'You were told there was no window in the booking' she said. No I hadn't. I asked why there wasn't a pole to operate the roof window; she just shrugged. Later on I put a chair on the bed, climbed up the wobbly structure and opened the window. Fresh air at last! (There would originally have been a pole to operate the window; it got lost or broken and never replaced. For the sake of a pole and some initiative they lose two stars). Actually there was another thing, a rather rude waitress. When our main courses arrived, one of my party asked the waiter if there were vegetables (expecting a side dish as the menu mentioned vegetables). A nearby manager overheard, came across, jabbed a finger at the food and said curtly 'There are vegetables there'. Inspired by Basil Fawlty perhaps, but a rude moment in what was otherwise a very pleasant evening.

Friendly and helpful staff. Food in restaurant is excellent. Fantastic choice at breakfast. The only negative is the price. Expensive place to stay.

An excellent find The staff were so friendly and helpful. Everywhere was spotless and comfortable. Highly recommend the restaurant as the food was exceptional and beautifully presented. Service was amazing.

Watch out - the very good reviews do not match with the actual experience. The walls of the hotel room are paper thin, there are cockroaches in the hallway and the building is a bit run down. The spa and gym cost 15 euros per hour and person. On the positive side, the staff is super nice and helpful, the breakfast is really great and put together with attention to detail.

Lovely setting, very nice staff and nice hotel. Meal was very good, but disappointed that our 90euro per person meal did not have a fish course and a meat course, especially as the lobster half was very small. Also confit tomatoes did not go with the raspberry sorbet, not a good idea. But the sorbet was delicious

Hotel in good conditions and very lovely people . Nice for a week to rest. Good restaurant and excellent wine choice.