Château du Grand Jardin

TRAVELERS BEWARE: I booked a room at the Chateau Du Garden in Valensole, France through *********** on May 19th 2022, paying upfront almost $764 or $725.47 euros for three nights for my two cousins (F19, F26) and my little sister (F, 12). I messaged Jacques to inquire if it would be possible to accommodate a fourth person into our stay. Jacques, the owner and manager, responded the next day agreeing to the request and assuring me that all would be taken care of. Upon arrival, Jacques showed us the room, where the twin bed seemed smaller than the photos he had posted online. When I told him there were four people total as we agreed upon, he raised his voice and started angrily stating that our request, that I had inquired about months ago before arriving in France “was not possible.” He said that we would need an extra bed and that we would have to pay an extra $150 euros for the accommodation and breakfast for an extra person, though there was nothing of the sort stated when I made the request and he agreed to the accommodation. I started crying because it had been an incredibly long day of traveling, late at night, and I had made these requests months ago, where he stated everything would be “all in order.” He continued to tell me that it was my fault and that he never agreed to this, even after I showed him the messages between us. I have concluded that he does not know English very well, or he either forgot he agreed to this accommodation request or wanted to make more money from the situation. Regardless, as an owner and manager he should not have treated us this way. If it was handled differently, I would have stayed and figured out a plan with him, however, I was being yelled at with hungry kids in the car at 9:30PM at night without a place to sleep for all four of us, I was left no choice but to book another accommodation. As four young women ALONE in a foreign country where we did not speak the language, this behavior and lack of care from him was particularly disturbing. I did not want to stay in that house with that man, nor did I want my young girls staying there given his outburst. I booked another place that night after we got out of the Chateau, but I was exceptionally rattled, scared, and felt belittled afterwards even when he called *********** to say he would give us everything we had agreed upon months prior without additional costs. I have never been treated like this in my life, I hope no other woman stays in the Chateau with that man, who has no business being a host or manager of any kind given his temperament and treatment of paying guests. I am expecting a full refund ($764), for we did not stay more than an hour at his place given his unstable and frightening behavior.

Chateau du Grand Jardin is a charming property painstakingly restored by the lovely owners, Mr & Mrs Glory. We had a very large suite on the third floor (Suite Louise) which had a lsizeable terrace overlooking the village of Valensole - we felt immersed in authentic 17th century charm. The public rooms have tremendous style and class - the breakfast room in particular is a rustic delight - stone walls, original paintings and antique furnishings, Christofle cutlery and classical music playing in the background - a great way to start a day touring the lavender fields. Breakfast is light - French style with pastries, fruits and coffee but is more than sufficient. The Chateau is very well located - less than 5 minutes walk to the town of Valensole for dinner/lunch and extremely well situated for touring the lavender fields. It also has very secure parking. Apparently they have live classical music from time to time - we missed that opportunity but it would be a great thing to do if you can make it. Would definitely visit again.