Hostellerie de Varennes

We had chosen this 4* stopover on our way back from vacation to celebrate a birthday. Ultimately, we did not have the expected experience. Upon arrival, the sandy paths, which were particularly impractical, ruined our shoes, and it was impossible to roll our suitcases. The welcome is unpleasant, and I have to return to my car because they refuse to give me the key without an ID. Even though I offered to show it later. The room is small. The shower works poorly, and there is no ironing equipment. I have to return to the front desk, which does not bring equipment up to the rooms. The pool closes at 7:00 PM!… we had to hurry to get 30 minutes in. The restaurant is nice, but the dishes are mediocre or even worse, not worthy of the establishment. Certainly not homemade. Big disappointment for an anniversary dinner in a 4-star hotel. Nice breakfast buffet but… no more omelets. The kitchen is already closed at 9:30 AM!!! At checkout, we complained about the many details, but the receptionist did not care at all. In short, it is not bad but not worthy of the advertised level, which is ultimately disappointing.

Extremely disappointing experience, and clearly not at the level of what one can expect from an establishment of this standing. Everything starts even before arrival: to book the spa and dinner, you must necessarily go through the phone. The problem? No one answers. They leave you on hold, without a truly effective alternative solution; this booking system is frankly incomprehensible and deserves to be completely overhauled. Once on-site, another disappointment. The cleaning is clearly half-done: visible dust in the room and cleanliness that leaves something to be desired. Another particularly unpleasant detail: the sand paths. If you come here, really avoid wearing nice shoes, because they will come out in a pitiful state. A small shoe sponge is provided in the room, certainly, but it is very far from solving the problem. But the worst part remains our arrival. We traveled to the establishment only to learn on-site that we ultimately did not have a slot available for the spa. Fair enough, that can happen, and it is clearly stated during booking that spa access is subject to availability. However, we also learned, once on-site, that the pool was unavailable, and this, without having been warned before our trip. That is precisely where I find the situation unacceptable: why not notify guests before their arrival when a facility as important as the pool is inaccessible? Especially since we had specifically tried to reach the establishment by phone beforehand, without getting an answer. We therefore made the whole trip only to discover the situation once on-site. And unfortunately, the reception absolutely did not make up for the experience. The person who received us was particularly unpleasant, unwelcoming, and unprofessional regarding the situation. No real consideration for the inconvenience caused, even though we had just traveled for a service that ultimately could not be offered under the planned conditions. Being used to traveling and frequenting different types of establishments, I have sincerely never encountered such a lack of professionalism and communication. When you choose an establishment of this standing, you expect at a minimum cleanliness, proper organization, communication, and a welcome that is up to par. Given the accumulation, I preferred to cancel my stay completely. An experience that was supposed to be a moment of relaxation turned into a useless trip and a huge disappointment. There are clearly many things to review in the organization and in the way of considering customers.

This hotel is very far from being the charming hotel promised on the site. It is a collection of public housing-style buildings. The parking lot is littered with trash, a whiskey bottle, and other cans. The path from the parking lot to the reception is impassable with a suitcase. You sink into a type of gravel that ruins shoes and suitcases. The room, very cramped, is furnished with poor-quality furniture, crate-style. The shower faucet has no pressure and lets a thin trickle of water run. The reception staff cruelly lacks professionalism and friendliness. To top it all off, we were charged for the room twice. For the moment, we have not managed to obtain a refund for the amount wrongly charged. The restaurant and breakfast are really not appealing; we preferred to avoid them. The restaurant dining room is quite sad, just like the hotel. It is quite surprising that the Nuxe brand chose to set up in this establishment's spa. This hotel is absolutely not up to 4-star standards