Le Chateau De Candie in Chambery

We stayed here for four nights. Good points; * The staff were all super friendly and helpful. We felt very well looked after and attended to by everyone we spoke to. * The grounds are beautiful and kept well. A lovely place to relax away from the city. * The pool and tiki bar offered a great place to enjoy the sunshine. * The restaurant was beautiful and offered a great range of food and drinks, very reasonably priced too. Not so great things: * Our room was very basic, especially the bathroom which resembled something like a budget chain hotel. The room needed some TLC including decoration with peeling paint and chipped wood. We stayed in the lowest tier, but this is not what you'd expect from a 4 star hotel charging these rates. * The house-keeping got worse daily - leaving dirty glasses, not replacing toiletries and when the tissues ran out they just shoved the empty box in a drawer rather than replenishment. * Breakfast was very simple. It was ok, but again not on par with other 4 star hotels. Overall a good stay and with some improvement could be a really great place.

Pretentious hotel with lax standards: repairs and cleaning neglected (bedroom floor was sticky, a spray of blood -or something else- on the wall in the bath), breakfast buffet poorly organized. Music everywhere,even outdoors, perhaps to cover the noise of the nearby highway? I appreciated the airconditioning in the room and the comfortable bed, Restaurant service chaotic, however the food was good. All in all, not truly exceptional except the setting. The bee hives in the nearby garden are empty, just for show perhaps.

This chateau is actually a mansion build on remnants of a very old fortress, enlarged, reformed and refurbished. The owner must be an antique fan because the hotel is full of antique and old pieces of furniture and decorative items, all very nice. The experience has to be understood as in a 4 star hotel. Basically service and maintenance could be better if they could afford more personnel. Our room was usually very late serviced, the bathroom had details which lacked proper cleaning, the sofa had stains, the pool solarium had weeds growing between the pavement. Everything I mentioned can be improved. We had a Prestige type of room. They all differ very much in size and furnishings. The first we were assigned had no king bed so we asked for a change. In France it is common to encounter beds of 170 and 180 cm wide. The second one was very large with an oversized nice bathroom, a sofa, large writing desk and king bed 200 cm. They serve a buffet breakfast where nothing is missing. Fresh baguettes and croissants, plus eggs, etc etc. The restaurant is pretty, the menu is OK and the quality of food is average, and so are the prices ( very reasonable ). The pool is nice but not heated. A detail I did not like are cats roaming around the public areas with their feeding dishes at sight. The hotel is on a hill inside a huge park and overlooking a residential area, in the suburbs of Chambery. A car is mandatory.

Our room was quite tired, shower/bath not comfortable, some plugs not working, NO AIR CONDITIONING (room was very hot). Outdoor pool not heated. Dinner and breakfast average, service good.
Convenient location for travellers going from south to north of France