Samantha Duncan
Google
We were happy to find a dog friendly Relais & Chateux inn that sounded like it had a similar set up to one of our other favorite R&C inns - the Inn at Little Washington. The idea of a highly rated Inn with an entire village to explore is enticing, but unfortunately, this place was mostly a let down.
The pros: The grounds, full of native flowers, beautiful fountains, and landscaped and walkable gardens, are gorgeous. I loved walking by the farm in the mornings. The bookstore is absolutely worth a visit. The food market has diverse packaged snacks and drinks to browse and purchase. The Roost had great pizzas (although, they ran out of dough shortly after us) but their hours are strange, like the rest of the property. We stayed in a grand suite which was clean and large, with a lot of natural light with nice linens including very comfy robes, and was fairly updated. The oversized tub was excellent. Staff in the restaurant were very kind and attentive.
Cons: The stay is simply not a five star hotel stay. Although someone told me they were marking that it was our anniversary on our reservation, we heard nothing about that all weekend. We were asked if we wanted turn down service our first night and we declined. Noone inquired about or came to do turn down the second night. The room had no dog bowls, towels, or treats as we've seen in other 5 star inns. There is no in-room coffee, no mini fridge option, no room service, and some outdated odd details in the room like the 1990-style large scale in the closet. The room has a placard that says they practice sustainability and therefore provide refillable waters. They don't. You are "gifted" two plastic bottles and a single random non-local bag of potato chips when you check in, and continued use of single plastic throughout the property is expected on your stay. No options for recycling, either. Fine, but not consistent with the sustainable aspect they advertise. The website says all grand suites (the most expensive room option) have fireplaces. Ours did not. Fine for us in the summer, but again, not accurate. We were told the garden room had tea and coffee each morning starting at 7am. It did not have tea. The coffee was bland and no options except 1/2 and 1/2. The breakfast croissant was very good, otherwise the food was mediocre. As many have remarked, the pancakes have a very strange texture. It was nice for them to pack up the breakfast to go when we both could not stay for the meal, though.Tea service was okay, but not worth the add on (sometimes included in other 5 star locations). The hours are weird here and all food locations are affiliated or share a kitchen except the Roost pizza spot. I recommend giving guests a print out of what is open and available when upon check in. Through trial and error, we learned that the pizza place is only open Thursday and Friday. We knew the food market closed at 5pm, but learned showing up at 4pm that any made-to-order food service ends at 3pm. All of the prepared salads feature bland boiled pulled chicken. Although it also has espresso coffee drinks, it doesn't open until 9am.
Overall: the grounds are absolutely worth a visit and a few hours of your time if you're in town - grab a pizza if you come during those limited hours. I can see how this place is popular for weddings (there was one during our stay) as the property is spectacular and the food staff are great. But, beyond that, a hotel stay here is unremarkable for a Relais and Chateux location. To add needed value to the stay, the sun room or garden room would be a great place to offer a wine and cheese hour for guests as an amenity, more attentive room service and some add ins in the room would be welcomed.