Relais du Silence Auberge de la Source

The dining room and inn still have plenty of their original charm. Our manager was very friendly, and we were welcomed warmly when we arrived through Smartbox. The food was delicious, with attentive service that never felt pretentious. We had a wonderful evening at the Auberge de la Source, and I’d definitely recommend it.

After my Smartbox booking for one night was confirmed, the manager told me the place was full. He hadn’t updated the availability calendar. I pointed out that cancelling myself, with less than 10 days to go, would mean I wasn’t reimbursed. His response was that he “didn’t have time to deal with it.” It’s a shame to be treated that way over an error on his end, especially in the service industry.

We arrived at 7:45 PM for our 8 PM booking on August 15th, 2017, made the day before on August 14th. There was no record of it, apparently because the owner had made the reservation. We were left with the impression that hotel guests came first. The cook and waitress were friendly, but they weren’t responsible for the very disappointing welcome we received that evening. We’d stayed here two years earlier and had fond memories, so this was a real letdown. As business owners with a residence in the valley, we won’t be coming back.

We’d been there before and things were fine, which made our May 1st visit all the more frustrating. The food we ordered didn’t match the order, and it took ages for everything to arrive. We waited 30 minutes for water, there was no bread, and the dessert was out of flavors. When we asked for coffee at the end, we were told the machine wasn’t working anymore. Awful, a complete nightmare. At least we all had a good laugh swapping stories afterward.