Saint Bonnet

All of this took from 3:06 PM until 4:40 PM, and in the end the cancellation was accepted as if by magic. Before that, I had booked two rooms for two nights through Booking.com and clearly said we could only collect the keys around 10 pm, even though the website said 7 pm. Once we’d paid, the manager called to say getting the keys then was impossible. I offered to have my daughter, who lives there, pick them up, but the owner refused and asked, “Is she going to give me the €250 in cash?” I said that was no problem. He told me to contact Booking.com and ask them to cancel without a charge, so I did. Then the hotelier called, furious, asking why I’d told Booking.com he refused the rooms. I hadn’t said that. I’d only explained that collecting the keys was impossible for me unless I went by helicopter. He was still angry and said I had to request a free cancellation by 5 PM to avoid being charged. Without his approval, cancellation would cost a fee, and if he didn’t get a free cancellation request, I’d be charged. I called Booking.com again, got a different person on the third call, and explained everything all over again. They said they’d contact Maison du Théâtre. While I waited, the manager sent me the same instructions in a long message. I replied that I’d requested a free cancellation and it was still pending. If we couldn’t make it, we’d come the next day to collect the keys for our Saturday night, which was already paid for. Then, somehow, he accepted the cancellation. The manager had been terrible to deal with. He seemed dishonest and hung up when I tried to explain myself. Visited in October

Fortunately, Booking.com protected us under its conditions and refunded our money. Our stay had to be cancelled because of lockdown, and since we’d booked through Booking.com, we were eligible for a refund in a force majeure situation. The property manager hung up on me the first time I called to ask for the money back, then never answered my calls again. He flatly refused the refund and wouldn’t even give me an invoice for the payment taken from my bank card. I strongly advise against booking here. It’s unacceptable to hang up on customers and then refuse to respond.

This is a wonderful place in the heart of Bourges, tucked behind the townhouses around a small courtyard. The accommodation is very clean and peaceful, and thoughtfully set up for a stay of two or three nights. There’s everything you need for breakfast and even dinner. I highly recommend it.

There was incorrect information in the reservation, and the hostess wouldn’t cooperate. She took the money from our account but didn’t let us in. I hope this doesn’t happen to anyone else.