Airelles Château de Versailles, le Grand Contrôle

Best hotel on earth. Service at a Royal level. The private tours were fantastic. It seemed that the Chateau was ours alone. The tea by Ducasse was to die for and the tour of the apartments at sunset , completely private was once in a lifetime. The petite Trianon was opened just for us as was the hall of mirrors. An opportunity to experience the palace the same way royalty did. Except with better food and beds!!

This is expensive but definitely worth it if you can afford it. This was my third visit to Versailles but quite unlike my previous visits a child hood visit by car in 1980 and a day trip from Paris by train in 2014. Though of course both of those visits made a great impression which was why I was up for a third visit. We stayed in a two bedroom suite in the petite contrôle annexe it was very beautiful and comfortable. In fact the entire property of the grand contrôle is very beautiful and comfortable with great attention to detail in terms of decor and presentation. You really need to stay here for two afternoons and two mornings to be able to view the main highlights of Versailles and take advantage of staying here. One evening for the tour of the queen’s apartments and the hall of mirrors and a second for the kings apartments and the hall of mirrors but approached from the opposite side. One morning for the gardens of the petit Trianon and a tour of the queens hamlet and another morning for the gardens of the grand Trianon and the petit Trianon ( aside from the queen’s hamlet) . Separately you should ask the concierge to arrange entry tickets for both Trianons and visit them inside us in one of the golf carts. We also did horse back riding in the grounds of the palace and boating on the grand canale and also had lunch one day by the grand canale in the cafe overlooking it. All in all it was very enjoyable experience from start to finish and I would definitely recommend it . Notes to the management in case you read this review. 1. Housekeeping for room 310 The remote for the toilet for in the main bathroom is missing. The suite phone and iPad for the main bedroom were dead despite our not using them but when we actually did need to make a phone call on the last day we could not use them so you need to ensure that if you relying on devices they are charged regularly. 2. service. The staff were all very polite and friendly but at times it felt like that no one was in charge not really acceptable at this price point. Obviously le grand contrôle is a unique property so some issues with the service were not really a big deal but it wasn’t a great advert for the Airelles brand and would make me think twice about visiting any of your other properties which obviously don’t have location as their main draw. Examples. 1. On the first day at breakfast we were given dinner menus instead of breakfast menus so we obviously declined to order anything just assuming it was a strange peculiarity of the establishment to offer dinner for breakfast - again not a great advert for your chef. 2. We ordered room service for our teenage daughter for breakfast but the finished tray was never removed when the room was serviced. During the course of the day I asked three times for the tray to be removed ibut it was never collected. In the evening when we were leaving for dinner we happened to depart when the ladies came to do the night service so asked them mys

In researching this hotel I was happy to read reviews that said you could accomplish all you wanted to with this amazing hotel by only staying one night as we only had one free night in our itinerary. But I could have stayed for days. Our stay was over the top in every way. Thank you to sweet Charlotte who took such good care of us. The suite we had and the hotel amenities were amazing they have truly thought of everything and then some! We had great fun with the golf carts around the gardens took a relaxing swim in the gorgeous pool and enjoyed the afternoon tea! The extra birthday cake to celebrate my husbands birthday was the best cake we ever had ! Breakfast in the morning was quite delicious in a beautiful dining room overlooking the gardens plus a glass of champagne! The tours were top-notch our guide was the same for both tours he was very passionate and informative he was a pleasure to listen to , the opportunity to visit all that we did with just our small group was so special. From valet service to bar service everyone seemed to anticipate your every need it was truly service I’ve never experienced before. Thank you I hope to return one day soon!