Hôtel Restaurant & Spa La Magdeleine - Mathias Dandine

Beautiful French country house hotel just 30 minutes drive from Marseille airport. From the moment you arrive you are in a comfortable luxurious environment. Lovely and peaceful with beautiful large terrace for dining and relaxing under the tall shady plane trees. As you would expect all the the food was delicious- breakfast, lunch and dinner. Bed was very comfortable and room and bathroom were spacious. Great swimming pool. Outstanding service from the restaurant and bistro staff.

For a structure rated 5 stars, the only thing that reflects this rating is the price of the stay. The setting is exceptional, a Provençal bastide in an enchanting park, the staff are very welcoming and attentive, and the swimming pool and SPA are pleasant. However, our room was minimal, I think because we had booked on Booking, when the hotel was far from full. Our first shower was in a shabby bathtub with no shower soap because the dispensary had not been filled. Wardrobe, fridge in the bathroom (??), wifi that didn't work... you have the choice of sleeping with the window open, but then you won't get much sleep because of the frogs and other jackdaws that fight all night long. And forget the air conditioning, which dates back to the last century. Not to mention the soundproofing in the rooms... Breakfast is served from 7am, but nothing hot is available before 8.30am (??). If you don't want to take advantage of the gourmet restaurant, the evening meal offer is also limited, so you'd be better off walking to the village.

We have been staying at the hotel for four nights. Overall a nice experience, but the rooms are too outdated and do not meet the criteria for a 5-star hotel. Breakfast was great at 30 euros per person.||The main reason we are disappoined with our stay, is the quality of the 1 Michelin- star restaurant. A week before our dinner, I asked the restaurant to take into consideration that my wife is pregnant. One day before the dinner, I mentioned this again at the hotel reception and we were reassured that this would not be a problem as there would be plenty of options for pregnant women.||To our surprise, the restaurant had no idea how to handle this situation the day of our dinner. For the first dish, my wife received the same course as I did, but without the main ingredient: the fish. All that was left was cucumber in a bit of sauce (see photo of my wife’s couse compared to mine). For the second course, she received almost the exact same dish that was served to her as the main course. The only difference being that for the second dish, the veil (cooked: well done) was replaced by mushrooms. ||All in all we consider this unacceptable for a restaurant with a price range of ~ 200 euros a person. We cannot image that a Michelin chef was attending the kitchen the night we dined here. Especially with Michelin star restaurants, you would expect the chef to see it as a challenge to prepare something suitable, but creativity was absolutely lacking here.

The best is the location and the surroundings of this 18C mansion. The garden, restaurant and pool area are stunning! The Michelin star restaurant is outstanding, although a bit pricy. Absolutely worth a visit. The rooms are spacious, in summer a little too warm (old AC) and could use an overall face lift. The hotel is dog friendly, you can bring the dog to most areas except for the pool area.

An idyllic slice of Provence. Great views, beautiful garden, charming outdoor seating...my room had large windows and was very spacious, and had a lovely bathtub. All the design details, from the keys to the pottery used in the breakfast buffet, plus a staff that is very helpful and kind. The restaurant is definitely worth eating at. A wonderful space, very professional and informative staff, three menus to choose from guaranteed to give you a snapshot of the local culture with a finesse and refinement. Highly recommend and can't wait to come back.

Sadly this is a property that is not meeting 5 star standards, both in terms of infrastructure and service. The team tried to ‘school me’ on what to expect in a 5-star establishment when I challenged them, sadly they picked the wrong person to try to educate: I stay in average 100+ nights/year in 5 star hotels for work and also work in this industry, so I have an above average understanding of standards. And sadly, in their case, they are well below 5 star standards. Our main challenge during our stay was the air conditioning. We couldn’t get the temperature in our room below 28C/82F due to the weak and old air con unit. They tried to convince me that it wasn’t possible for aircons to cool a room below 10 degree celcius than the outside temperature (hmmm obviously not the case, a modern, functioning AC system can get the temp down to 18C/65F even if it’s 40C/100F+ outside). They wouldn’t admit that it was their 20+ year old AC system that couldn’t do the job. Then they gaslit me in making it seem like it was my fault: “you’re probably from America, you’re used to sleeping in rooms that are too cold. It’s not common in France, what we have here is normal’. Hmmm again, no (AMERICAN GUESTS BEWARE!). Regardless of what temperature I’m used to sleeping in, you cannot expect me (or anyone, especially not my 5-month old baby) to sleep comfortably in a room at 28C/82F. When I explained that we had a sleepless night because our baby (who normally sleeps through the night) was up all night, uncomfortable, there was no apology, no compassion, no offer to make amends, just defensiveness. Not a smile, no hospitality, nothing. I made the mistake of flagging that the mini fridge in the room didn’t work either, which also got a defensive response (it’s not supposed to be as cold as a regular fridge, it’s not going to keep food cold etc). Ok cool, again, not the point: the fridge was on the maximum setting and everything was room temp in there, even just bottled water. |As opposed to admitting their shortcomings, the staff are defensive and argumentative (as you can probably see from their responses to the other negative reviews. I’m sure they’ll find something to accuse me of instead of admitting the issues and/or responding hospitably). |Real disappointment - this was supposed to be a treat for our family as my husband just finished participating in the Paris Olympics but sadly it was a very frustrating 3 days instead. Hard pass next time. Real shame as it’s a lovely setting and property.

Excellent, attention to details and wonderful atmosphere. Highly recommended

We stayed at this hotel for a week. The location of this hotel is beautiful. The rooms are old and in need of some renovation, but do not lack charm. The team is overall friendly and helpful. Food was very problematic as guests at the hotel. Here is why: The hotel has two restaurants. One is Michelin rated and not at all suited for repeat dinners and lunches. The other one is supposed to be more accessible, however this restaurant offers only three-course lunches. Eating a three-course lunch everyday is excessive for most people, let alone on a long stay and with children. We asked very kindly if we could eat at the restaurant without taking the three-course lunch every day and received a somewhat stern and condescending "no" from management. They asked us to eat in the entrance area instead. That area had a few scattered tables and chairs, however it did not have service. When we asked for service, we were told that they cannot serve us there as they need to prioritize the restaurant. As a result, we had to go find food outside of the hotel most of the time, which really affected the quality of our stay. It was a disappointing response and attitude from management, which seemed to prioritize the operation of the restaurants for outside guests over the experience of people staying at the hotel.