Domaine de Saint Charles

The estate and its reception room are beautiful, and the garden is lovely too. I was there as a wedding witness, though, and the rest of the experience was dismal and overpriced for what was offered. I stayed with my partner in the “stables,” where the damp was so bad that the musty smell made it feel almost tropical. With that smell, keeping the door shut all day wasn't an option, and the local wildlife made its presence known. The first night, a terrible noise woke me. I found myself sunk into the mattress, then saw that half the slats were rotten and already broken, with tape holding them in place. I put them back as best I could and tried to sleep in the middle so I wouldn't break the makeshift setup again. For context, I weigh 68 kg, and even a child's bed would be sturdier. I told the housekeeper the next day. She seemed surprised and said someone would be sent, but four months later I'm still waiting to hear about that person. I spent the second night in the same conditions. I was invited to breakfast as a close friend of the groom. The “LITTLE” breakfast lived up to its name: one tiny pastry per person, counted out exactly for everyone there. We were reminded several times so nobody with a sweet tooth would get carried away and take a second. Given the price of the night, we'd imagined we might have another pastry, but perhaps I was getting ahead of myself. Management made us feel unwelcome all weekend, and I left with multiple bedbug bites that stayed on my skin for a month. I practically had the property under my skin, literally, just like breakfast. If you're attending a wedding there, I hope the couple's organization is so good it makes up for the poor, overpriced services. Make up your own mind, but you can probably guess mine.

The Domaine was an idyllic place to celebrate our engagement and recharge. We really appreciated the owners' warm welcome and their invaluable advice. The services were high quality, and the room furnishings had clearly been chosen with care.

The estate is undeniably beautiful, but the owners made our reception miserable. They were unpleasant, dishonest, authoritarian, and even threatening, and our guests and vendors agreed. There were cockroaches in the rooms, dampness, false accusations, and later threats. When we mentioned filing a complaint and getting a lawyer, they suddenly went completely silent. On the day we arrived, the housekeeper couldn't be reached. The owner watched us from the shadows when we went to our rooms to sleep, which felt reassuring, apparently. During the reception evening, we called her ten times just to get a roll of toilet paper. The next day she literally yelled at us for bothering her. Breakfast was a joke, and the service is expensive but nowhere near the standard advertised. Future couples, run. If zero stars were possible, that's what I'd give. Don't waste your money here.

We went for a wedding and had a really lovely time. The grounds leading to the different buildings are beautiful, varied, and well kept, with flowers, a small pond, and plenty of other features. My one reservation is the reception room: it's very long but narrow. I especially felt for the servers trying to carry dishes between the tables when guests were standing up. Otherwise, a magnificent place.