Domaine de Biar

The beautiful grounds and the manager, Ben, were the only real positives for me. He was very helpful: when we asked for a yoga mat, he even lent us his wife’s the next day. The two stars are for him alone. I booked four nights six months ahead after seeing recommendations in Michelin Guide and The Telegraph. This was meant to be the highlight of my trip from Singapore to Barcelona, but it turned into a huge disappointment, and I left feeling sick in more ways than one. I’ve never stayed at a hotel in winter without hot water for guests. For the first three of our four nights, the taps only gave icy cold water. We were told there was a problem they were trying to fix, and each time we followed up, talk of “commercial adjustments” gave us the impression the hot water would soon return. The adjustment was a complimentary dinner on our first night, worth 89€, about 6% of what we paid. I got sick on the third night, shivering and having cold sweats in my sleep after that first icy shower. Of course, we couldn’t use the bathtub either. When the water finally got warm on our last day, I had developed pneumonia and couldn’t do anything. I had planned to do a lot, but cancelled because I didn’t want to get dirty and then be unable to shower. We mostly stayed in the room or did very little, nowhere near what we’d planned. The owner offered no alternative for the hot water problem. They could have arranged a move to another hotel with hot water, even if they covered the cost. Expecting guests to “live with it” isn’t acceptable, however nice the property looks. A meal doesn’t come close to proper compensation. I don’t understand how a guest saying they caught pneumonia after being unable to get proper hot water could be treated as unimportant. I understand a place needs to make money, but guests’ health and safety need basic human consideration, especially when staff say they had raised the issue with the owner several times. I’ll be writing to the Michelin Guide and The Telegraph editorial department to ask them to reevaluate their assessments so readers aren’t misled. We also noticed that evening that the property’s Google rating had dropped to 41% below usual. There were other problems too. The housekeeping comments about cleanliness from other reviews seemed accurate: there were cobwebs on the windows, grime in the kettle and watermarks on the glasses. The room needs serious maintenance. The bathtub taps were loose the whole time, and the safe was out of order, even after we reported both issues repeatedly. In response to the owner: thank you for admitting you failed to provide hot water to a paying guest, but I still haven’t heard what you consider appropriate compensation. I don’t recall speaking to or even seeing you during my stay. Your staff told me the hot water issue was known and had been brought to the owner’s attention many times before that weekend. I couldn’t have made that up. Is it normal to run a hotel this size without a backup? How can you expect guests to accept this?

The Genesis room was large and comfortable, with huge windows that filled it with light and a lovely view of the grounds. The building, dining room and grounds are beautifully renovated, and the pool area is calm. I also found the seating out front relaxing. The staff were helpful and welcoming while we were there. Still, at nearly five-star prices, I expected a much more polished stay: proper amenities, cleaner rooms, better food and a shower that works. The bathroom is huge but poorly designed and not well maintained. The main shower didn’t work properly. Part of the faucet was hanging off, and the lever for the main shower head was so stiff we couldn’t use it. Reception confirmed that the lever gets stiff, so the hotel knew about the issue but hadn’t fixed it. There’s also a very powerful lower shower at body height, but it can only be angled toward the wall outside the shower. It soaked towels, the floor and the walls, and the bathroom had damp problems as a result. The mirror is behind the wide sink, which makes it hard to use for putting in contact lenses or shaving. The sink is so tall that washing your face or shaving is awkward, water splashes across the wide counter, and you can’t plug or fill it. It looks spectacular, but using the bathroom was annoying. Cleanliness was patchy around the hotel. One dressing gown had brown stains and the other had horse hair. Towels soaked by the faulty shower were left on the floor to be replaced, but weren’t. The balcony glass looked as if it hadn’t been cleaned in years. We left our used glasses out for replacement and later found them in the huge sink, apparently rinsed rather than washed. I also saw restaurant staff wipe the floor with a cloth, then use that same un-rinsed cloth on all the tables. Our room had a serious noise problem too. Guests with a large dog stayed up late and bounced a ball for it in the early hours. We could hear every movement from the room above because there’s no sound insulation. Light sleepers should ask for a top-floor room. The restaurant looks lovely, but the food was only okay, cooked to an average standard. There was just one lunch dish and few choices in the evening. That was difficult for me because one ingredient I’m allergic to appeared in two of the three dinner dishes. There are better places to eat nearby, especially in the local small town, though the hotel is relaxed about guests getting takeout. There are no poolside snacks or light lunches, so on a pool day you have to drive off the grounds or eat the single option in the fancy restaurant. That’s a missed opportunity. We weren’t disturbed by noise from the upstairs room, and I expected better. The hotel gave my contact details to an outside company arranging trips without asking me. They contacted me several times, and the hotel shouldn’t share guest details without permission. Checkout is at 11am, which is fair enough, but our flight wasn’t until 7pm and it was incredibly hot, so we spent the last hours by the pool. There’s nowhere proper to wash afterward, just a makeshift outdoor shower beside the pool with no shampoo and little privacy, or a sink in the spa area. The staff were lovely and the property is beautiful, but at these prices I expected good restaurant food, lighter poolside meals, cleaner rooms, a working shower, replacement towels and somewhere decent to wash after swimming.

The location and pool are beautiful, and the houses feel calm and relaxing. The manager was friendly, welcoming and accommodating, and the massages my husband and I had were absolutely amazing. The rest of the service, though, wasn’t great. Our room had quite a few cobwebs, and the outsides of the windows looked as if they hadn’t been properly cleaned in ages. When the room was cleaned, dirty dishes and glasses were left behind. At the restaurant, the waiter had quite an attitude. We asked if they could make an old fashioned and got a rather rude reply that everything available was on the menu. I wanted my starter and cheese platter at the same time as my husband’s main, but was told it was a “difficult” request. I’d mentioned on the restaurant booking that my husband is intolerant to eggplant, yet it was included with his main. At breakfast, we asked for an almond latte and were told to use the machine, which only had regular milk in it. I’d also suggest asking guests whether they smoke and separating the seating accordingly. Having an expensive meal surrounded by cigarette smoke really affects the experience.

The outside of Domaine de Biar looked beautiful, and the receptionist was very friendly during our two-night stay while visiting Montpellier. But I thought the price was far too high for what the hotel offered. We paid over 300 euros a night for a small room, and the rooms apart from the suites weren’t nice. Cleaning wasn’t thorough, with dust and cobwebs still there, and breakfast was pleasant but nothing special. When we left, despite having paid in advance, reception said there was still a small city tax to pay. The man had also added a 40 euro tip charge, saying it was standard but could be removed if I didn’t want it. No one had offered to carry our bags or provided any other service during the stay. Service is included in France, and if it had been exceptional I wouldn’t have minded a tip. Having it charged automatically, so you had to explicitly ask for it to be removed, disgusted me.