Chateau Elan

Calling this a "Resort" is a stretch. At best, it's a nice hotel, and the dining is why I'm giving it one star. The ingredients need to be better. Wherever we ate, food was either stale, overcooked, or too heavily seasoned. The staff were okay, but if you want to call this a resort, they need better training too. At the brunch omelette station at Versailles, the man serving had a very inappropriate interaction with female guests, scowled at male guests, and made inappropriate jokes with a coworker. We ordered two steak frites through in-room dining and the meat was bad. The burger actually made my wife sick. I won't come here willingly. It's just the only nicer place nearby, so once a year I'm forced to stay because of a kids event. I really hope things improve by then, and I'll update my review if they do. Fingers crossed.

The nature trail was enjoyable, and I liked the large bed in my room. Maria at Versailles also gave excellent service at dinner. My steak had a lot of gross fatty bits and ligaments, so it wasn't appetizing, though the truffle fries were good. I was here for a two-day, one-night work retreat and wouldn't have chosen to stay otherwise. The grounds were pretty, but the hotel, restaurants, conference area, spa, and pool all felt cold, sterile, and lacking character. The French theme felt generic, and the pool area was eerily quiet and boring. I got side-eye for actually swimming while everyone else sunbathed. On a weekday, don't expect poolside food or drinks. The conference food was fine, though I would have expected at least one gluten-free dessert option. Several colleagues and I noticed there was no hand soap in the hotel bathroom. Are guests not supposed to wash their hands? Everything was also incredibly overpriced. Room service had a $10 delivery fee on top of the service charge and gratuity already included. Give me a break.

The service was great. Every employee knew where the wines came from, could describe their notes, and suggested food pairings. The space is very open, but get there early if you want a seat. By around 5 p.m. every booth was taken and people had to stand. My best friend visited eight wineries, and this was the only one she wanted to return to. We were visiting from The Bay Area of California to see what Georgia wineries had to offer. It turns out Georgia can only grow this particular sweet grape for moscatos, while all the wines here were from Napa, California. No wonder my best friend loved it! They had a great fixed price deal on a tasting of six wines, and we liked two enough to buy the bottles. I'll add what we got later. I'd definitely recommend coming here again.

The grounds were beautiful and the venue felt spacious and open. It was a nice surprise seeing high school students taking prom photos there. The place was crowded on a lovely Saturday, since everyone had the same idea, but staff suggested our group buy bottles and have our own tasting together, which worked out perfectly. We were there to celebrate a dear friend who is no longer with us, and the atmosphere let us do that with love, laughter, and good company. The wine was enjoyable and the setting made it feel special. Even with the crowd, it was a memorable visit, and I'd recommend it and look forward to returning. I just wish the venue had more food options.