During our royal visit to Versailles, we spent two nights at the 14-key Airelles Chateau de Versailles, Le Grand Controle. Staying at this hotel was our main motivation for taking this trip. I had very high expectations, but OMG, even those high hopes were exceeded. This hotel is an absolute masterpiece.
Continue reading: Review: Airelles Chateau De Versailles, Le Grand Controle (AMAZING!)
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Wow, looks amazing! That shot of the empty palace...
Was there an extra charge for the "French revolution experience" so you could really feel like a royal? Guillotine and all?
Beautiful decor, but I hate attic rooms with those claustrophobic slanted ceilings. The top floor was always the servants quarters back then.
This is a great review, wondering if I should send my parents there for a couple of nights for their 70th birthday.
Were all the other guests American?
It's a hefty price point but compared to some U.S. properties that charge about the same, this certainly seems to be at a different level of service. I especially like that a number of things are included - it really irks me when expensive hotels feel they can nickel and dime you for every little thing. Also, the food looks exquisite. The French are just so good at elevated experiences.
Just a quick correction, you note the King in the history of the hotel as Louis VIX and I think you meant Louis XIV 🙂
Also, I wonder if Alain Ducasse has a brand standard font because the restaurant menu here uses the same font as the Air France La Premiere Lounge CDG. That capital A that looks like a backwards D. Or is that a French thing?
Overall, looks like an incredible experience. If you had to pick one to splurge on: Aman (not any of the new city locations, talking old school out of the way destination) or Airelle? Seems to be similar price points.
Between the sharply pitched ceilings and the impossibly busy balloon motif that seems to adorn every single surface in the room, I don't think I'd be able to cope. I frequently bemoan the lifeless "international beige" styling of new luxury hotels, but sometimes "traditional elegance" is just too OTT to be endured.
The first time we visited the palace was a cold, rainy day in early March, and there was a tiny number of other tourists. It was fantastic!
I waited for this review a long time. And it doesn’t disappoint. This hotel is now definitely on my list, need to start saving.
I’m surprised you didn’t mention or compare the stay at all to the Waldorf Astoria Versailles, the other luxury property right on the grounds of Versailles. This is especially surprising since you’ve actually written a lot about the momentum of the Waldorf brand and how much Hilton is expanding its luxury hotel collection - not to mention this blog is supposed to be about hotels accessible by points rather than absurdly-priced hotels - and it’s the most premium hotel brand for Hilton in the greater Paris area.
In short, it’s really disappointing that you didn’t stay at Waldorf Versailles for at least one night to compare. It’s 100 times less useful to your readers for you to review such a tiny hotel with 2000 euro a night rates not accessible via points than the Waldorf. Yes it’s your blog and you can write whatever you want, but your readers have the right to give you feedback.
And since you welcome feedback, I’ll offer that I think yours is utterly ridiculous. If you want to give feedback and make a suggestion about other hotels might want to review, have the decency and respect to do it constructively rather than lashing out at Ben for daring to write an interesting review of an interesting hotel.
How anyone can muster the energy to have such anger and vitriol about a hotel review is beyond me. Perhaps you need to take a breath. Or find other blogs to read.
Meh, besides access to the Palace, I wasn't all that impressed. Cool to experience I suppose.
The French are just so good at elevated experiences.
…so true.
In the South of France last week and had the pleasure of experiencing those elevated experiences. Such a treat!
apart from the pitivier for dinner (an incredibly difficult dish to pull off) and indeniably, the solitary Versailles access, I do not see anything that can remotely justify 2'200 EUR per night. Also, for the sake of the hospitality industry ex-US, let's NOT, I repeat, let's ABSOLUTELY NOT, start to normalise "destination fees".
@ Matrix.SG -- I'll play along. :p I'm curious, how much do you think this hotel should cost, and what hotel do you think justifies a 2,200 EUR price tag?
@ Clem -- During our stay, yes, all the other guests were American. However, while I think Americans make up a large percentage of the guests, I don't think it's usually that extreme. Instead, I think it just reflects that only three other rooms were occupied.
@ Beachfan -- I hear you about the slanted ceilings, and usually I'd agree. However, the ceilings in the room were otherwise *really* high, so I didn't get the same feeling I'd usually get with such a setup.
Well some people will value the unique location, it's not for everyone.
By the way, it's a not a destination fee, it's a contribution to the maintenance of the Palace of Versailles paid to the Palace of Versailles not to the hotel, it's written clearly when you book in French, In other words, the fee for the guest to access the site after hours.
At least now when you say first or business class good is good, I can point to this and be like, how does it compare to real food. Lol
Admittedly my impression is based only on Ben’s reviews of Airelles properties, but to me this seems to be the brand that gets luxury right in the sense that it’s a luxurious experience to stay there. Most luxury brands seem just to label themselves so in order to justify charging a higher rate without delivering much of a luxury experience besides exclusivity (I am looking at you Bulgari).
Great review. Clearly a lovely stay. Love the pool, gorgeous. If it wasn’t for the included privileged access to Versailles, I’m not persuaded the gordy room or the dinner would have justified the price tag otherwise, but maybe the images of the meal didn’t quite do it justice. Fascinating glimpse into how the overly well heeled spend their money tho. Great read.
I did. Huge apologies to Michael.FFM. Now posted in the right place, but unfortunately I can’t seem to remove this one.
And since you welcome feedback, I’ll offer that I think yours is utterly ridiculous. If you want to give feedback and make a suggestion about other hotels might want to review, have the decency and respect to do it constructively rather than lashing out at Ben for daring to write an interesting review of an interesting hotel.
How anyone can muster the energy to have such anger and vitriol about a hotel review is beyond me. Perhaps you need to take a breath. Or find other blogs to read.
Thanks, Ben, for another fun, fantastically aspirational review. I really love your passion for travel and all the airline and hotel products you review for us (and likely to satisfy your own interest and curiosity, too!).
@Ben thanks! That would work for me anyway since my parents are French and it means they'd probably have a private guide for the visits, in the absence of other French speaking folks :).
€55 million on renovation and they ended up with those bathroom counters and shower fixtures? Where did that money go?
One suggestions for future reviews: You frequently get upgraded to a higher room category. I would like to at least see some photos of the standard (booked) room, as that may very well be what I—or any other guest—end up with. It is difficult to make a price–value judgement when you see the price of a standard room but see the experience of an upgraded one.
Thank you for writing an extensive review on this hotel. It has been on my radar for several years now. I feel I just really need to check it off my to do list next time I’m in Paris. I had no idea this hotel brand is owned by the same owner as Laduree. No wonder color schemes of Airelles properties is similar to Laduree boutiques!
I came here to ask about the standard room - how does it compare? @Ben you said that the room you got was a very good size, especially as it was only one level up from the standard, which begged the question of what the standard room is like? Yes, when Virtuoso is an option I recognize that we can contact Ford for such a booking, but a lot of your upgrades are through status rather than a program such as Virtuoso and thus not something that many of your readers can access.
I know several people from the industry and the real issue are the ownership of these hotels, which have way too many layers and thus have invested banking on luxury travel. This hotel would have easily cost half before the pandemic and the EU inflation has nothing to do with these increases. It is a fact that due to the increase of M2 money supply in the US of 40% alone in 2021, Europe is invaded by Americans and many, many establishments in the hospitality industry, like this one are simply banking on these aspirational trips. I can guarantee you no sane French person, even the most refined and culturally attuned, would pay 2'200 EUR per single night for what this hotel charges.
ps. as for the resort fees, I am STRONGLY against them as much as I hate the whole "before taxes and fees" prices display of hotels in many countries. I want transparent pricing, period. Then if I choose to go to a Versailles alone with my partner, I am willing to even pay 5'000 EUR or more, but that is my choice and not something "baked" into the price that just justifies in future to keep a normal room price and just add "fees".
@ GlobalTraveller -- You can see pictures of the standard room here:
https://airelles.com/en/destination/chateau-de-versailles-hotel/suites/chambres-deluxe-orry
It's just under 400 square feet, so it's a bit smaller, but still a decent size. The upgrade we received here was the standard upgrade that anyone would receive through Virtuoso, availability permitting.
@ Matrix.SG -- I totally agree that luxury rates have gone through the roof since the start of the pandemic, and just about all luxury goods used to be a lot less expensive.
But ultimately there's not much value in comparing pre-pandemic rates to post-pandemic rates, since the old rates are long gone. The question now is how the value of this compares to other post-pandemic values.
I so want to do this ... I had a friend who had an insane time. It is hard for me to justify two nights at this price ... would one night be worth it, or given check in/check out times, do you not really get the full experience?
Thankyou for this comprehensive review. I now feel more comfortable about the price I have paid for our forthcoming stay.