My wife and I recently visited Provence for three nights, and stayed at Chateau de la Gaude because we had read great things about this relatively new hotel, and it seemed to offer a lovely, quintessentially French setting. This boutique hotel did fit what we were looking for in many ways, with its impeccably restored historic buildings that are fully updated and modern on the inside. However, we were disappointed with the service, which was simply not at the level of a true five-star hotel. Pre-Arrival Experience: Prior to our stay, I contacted the hotel by email on several occasions to help plan our stay. I asked for help in booking dinners and planning transfers, including from the airport on our arrival, and then to our next hotel on the Cote d’Azur at the end of our stay. I thought the transfer costs, while not cheap, were actually fair given what other hotels on our trip were charging for the same services. As an example, the airport transfer is 110€ each way, and other hotels were charging almost double that amount for similar distances between hotel and airport. The communication prior to arrival was great. Sarah in particular went out of her way to respond promptly to each of my inquiries, and I felt really confident that everything was well taken care of prior to arrival. I think this gave me a false sense of how service would be once we were there. Arrival Experience: We arrived at M****ille Airport on a morning flight, just before 10:00 am. The driver arranged by the hotel, Eric, was waiting for us with our name on a sign just outside of baggage claim, and he was just incredibly nice and welcoming. He took us out to a van and had us quickly on our way. He was also our driver to our next destination at the end of the trip, and I was so glad that the hotel had booked him on both ends of the trip. He was a great driver and just did a perfect job. The hotel’s website specifies that airport transfers will be in a Tesla Model X, and this was not that, but instead was a standard Mercedes van. We didn’t have a problem with it really, and like I said, we thought the driver was great. However, it could be disappointing to think you’re being picked up in a Tesla and not have that. The drive from M****ille Airport to the hotel was easy – just under 30 minutes at a time of day with minimal traffic. When we pulled into the property, I was a little surprised that none of the staff were around to greet us. Since we were arriving in a transfer booked by the hotel, it would have been easy to coordinate with the driver to be ready to welcome us. When I walked into the small lobby/reception area, the staff just seemed surprised to have an arriving guest. The staff member who checked us in did seem well-meaning though. She was helpful, and apologized profusely for the fact that our room was not yet ready, even though it was well before standard check-in time. She told us they would expedite room cleaning so we could have the room by noon, which w
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