Hotel Château du Rivau

Picture this: you're on your honeymoon, where your wonderful, patient spouse indulges your crazy desire to stay in a castle. You save money and book an expensive suite at Château du Rivau for three nights because it's a lifelong dream, once in a lifetime. You arrive late in the evening, drop off luggage in your amazing-looking room, and have dinner in the beautiful garden at the castle. After a satisfying meal, you return to the comfort of your suite, only to discover the room is not something out of a fairytale fantasy... it's a bloody nightmare. Picture this: a graveyard of dead flies surrounds you. Countless bodies of dead flies absolutely litter your entire suite. Dead flies adorn the floors, gathering in higher densities near the windows, their bodies sprinkled on the floor all around the bed. Intrepid individuals have crawled into nooks and crannies to die, including a handful under your pillows. It is far too late. You are locked in. There is no staff at night. You are exhausted and want to scream and run away, but you don't want to ruin the trip. Your amazing, infinitely patient spouse sweeps away the bodies of insects off the bed, including a live spider, and even checks under the sheets for strays. None there, mercifully. You try to sleep but can't, because there is a single, surviving fly buzzing up in the ceiling, trying desperately to escape. Go ahead and spend hours pondering that fly's pitiful, doomed existence, seeing its fate in its expired brethren scattered all over the floor. Go ahead and try not to think of crushing their bodies underfoot as you must inevitably get up and walk around the room in the long-awaited morning. Go ahead and pray that this last fly--let's call it Gerard, shall we?--will not choose to lay itself to rest somewhere over your head and fall lifelessly on to your face. Go ahead and spend six sleepless hours repressing your own despair, and perhaps use the (long, oh my god far too long) time awake to compose a wretched review such as this one. This was our reality: I had dragged my poor spouse into an insect horror show on our honeymoon. When morning arrived, I discovered the body of Gerard on the vanity upstairs; it hadn't been there the night before so I assume it was Gerard. We headed to the front desk downstairs--by the way, there are no elevators, so tough luck if you have lots of heavy luggage or are disabled. The receptionist, Mateo, was professional and understanding, but also new--no idea how this happened and escaped housekeeping's notice. He apologized and promised they would clean everything and change the sheets, so perhaps there was a chance to salvage this? We left for the day, hoping we'd get the experience we were here for. To their credit, I believe housekeeping did clean and change the sheets, but when my wonderful, infinitely patient spouse went up to our room to check after we got back that afternoon, the situation had only gotten worse. The insect graveyard was out of control. And

The chateau was comfortable and had modern amenities (especially the bathtub). The gardens were very beautiful and perfect for children. The meals were delicious and fresh, with vegetables and fruits that were grown at the chateau. It was like a fairy tale.

Merveilleux endroit, un hôtel magnifique, un déjeuner avec les produits locaux qui offre une qualité exceptionnelle ＞ et un sens de l’accueil de la part d’Anna ＞ une douceur qui est en équilibre avec les lieux et les prestations proposées ＞ En un mot ＞ offrez vous cette magie c’est bonheur Tout était PARFAIT 🌟♥️

Un coup de cœur. Nous étions sous le charme. Un château… des jardins… un restaurant… des chambres… tout était beau. Très esthétique, ce mélange de l’ancien avec l’art contemporain. Très original. Un personnel passionné et dévoué. À voir à vivre absolument.

Een prachtig kasteel met bijpassende ingerichte kamers. Alles is tot in de puntjes in orde. Bij het ontbijt kwamen we niets tekort. 's Avonds heerlijk gedineerd met bijpassende wijnen in de serre van Le Jardin Secret.

Für drei Nächte waren wir im Zimmer Henri II und haben wunderbar geschlafen. Am Morgen gab es ein leckeres Frühstück mit frisch zu bereiteten Crepes, Kaffee oder Tee nach Wahl, einer grossen Auswahl an Marmeladen und Honig von den Bienen des Chateau! M. Thomas war sehr hilfsbereit Touren in der Umgebung zu planen - vom Besuch weiterer Chateaux bis hin zur Tischreservierung (unbedingt in Anspruch nehmen). Wenn sie geöffnet sind, sind die beiden Restaurants im Chateau absolut empfehlenswert. Die Gärten und das Chateau selbst laden zum entdecken ein. Auch im Oktober blühten noch viele Rosen. Die Dahlien und Gräser sind eine Pracht! Besonders schön im Oktober: Der Potager im Innenhof mit liebevoll gestalteten Beeten! Wir waren rundum begeistert.