Chateau Grand Barail

Fantastic place. Dropped by coincidently - stayed for one night. Great staff, fantastic food and super rooms and facilities.

My husband booked a spa package for us at Château Grand Barrail in Saint-Émilion as a surprise after I’d recently been unwell and hospitalised during our holiday in France. We were really looking forward to a relaxing afternoon, but unfortunately our experience was so upsetting that we left before our treatments. After arriving, we were shown to the spa and invited to use the facilities while waiting for our massages. While I was alone in the ladies’ changing room, two male private security guards walked in without any warning. Just moments earlier I had been completely undressed. They did not introduce themselves, explain why they were there or apologise, and they were not accompanied by a female member of staff. I was shocked, embarrassed and felt my privacy had been completely disregarded. I fully appreciate that security staff have an important role, but that should not extend to entering a ladies-only changing room without warning while female guests are undressing. At the same time, my husband experienced an equally unacceptable situation. He had locked all of his clothes, wallet and personal belongings in the locker provided, expecting them to be safe and secure. When he returned to retrieve his sunglasses, he discovered that the locker door had been removed completely, leaving all of his belongings exposed and accessible to anyone. We then realised maintenance staff were replacing locker doors while guests were actively using the changing rooms. When my husband questioned the workers, they were dismissive, simply saying they were “doing their job.” We then raised the matter with the spa staff, who appeared equally unconcerned, explaining that maintenance staff were simply changing the locker doors. This completely misses the point. Guests should never be allocated lockers that are about to be dismantled, nor should the door be removed from an occupied locker without warning. It was an obvious security risk and entirely avoidable. Following these two incidents, we no longer felt comfortable remaining at the spa and made the difficult decision to leave before our massages. We then spoke to the front-of-house manager, Rodrigo (if I have his name correct). While he apologised regarding my husband’s locker, he immediately dismissed my concerns about the two male security guards entering the ladies’ changing room while I was alone. His response was that the security staff “could go anywhere they like.” At no point did he acknowledge the impact this had on my privacy, apologise for that aspect of the incident, or suggest that the hotel’s procedures would be reviewed to prevent it happening again. Equally disappointing, despite the distress caused and the fact that we left without receiving the spa treatments we had booked, no goodwill gesture or attempt was made to resolve the situation. This response from management was particularly concerning and left us feeling that guest welfare was not being taken seriously. For a luxury château and spa in Saint-Émilion, I would expect guest privacy, dignity and the security of personal belongings to be treated as fundamental priorities, and for all guests to be treated with the same respect and courtesy at all times. Sadly, our experience suggested otherwise. Given both the incidents we experienced and the dismissive response from management, I would strongly caution others against staying here if this is the standard of care and accountability you can expect. If you value your privacy in a ladies-only changing room or expect your belongings to remain secure after locking them away, I would strongly recommend considering alternative spa facilities in Saint-Émilion.

Beautiful property and accommodations. We are here for a 3 night stay. On our 1st night, at 6pm we triedto go to the wine bar but it was closed due to a private event. We went to main restaurant and were told that they were fully booked, which is understandable. We saw high tables and asked if we could sit there and they said oh yes but you have to hurry to order because the light menu finishes at 7pm. We hurry to make our selection of a nice white Bordeaux and food. 40 min. later, the food has arrived for a while but still no wine bottle. It just got better when we finished our meal and that no one came to clean our table for over one hour. Actually no tables were cleaned around us. We asked for the table to be cleaned and they nos but nothing happened apart from several flies and bees snacking in our left overs. My husband had to get up and go to the hostess station to ask again to clean our table and to the wine list and more water. We waited another 30 min. to have our order taken… We are thinking about leaving the hotel earlier than expected … this is just unacceptable in term of service.