u/Ok-Statistician1023

My family and I (wife, parents, + in-laws) while traveling to Paris stayed one night at Arielles Le Grand Contrôle on the grounds of Versailles. The building was part of the treasury department during the Louis XIV - XVI days.

When I tell you that this was the BEST experience of our lives, I can't recommend this hotel enough, especially if you're a fan of this part of history. We have stayed at some very very nice properties around the world (six senses, Aman, Banyan Tree, Edition, etc.) all with a wide range of privacy, modern/traditional, and in remote / touristy locations. This beats them all.

I summarized the hotel based on the property, staff, rooms, experiences below.

We booked through Amex so we had early check-in at 12pm and late check-out at 4pm. If you don't book through a platform that allows you these two perks then I would recommend 2 nights. It was great that we were able to check out late because we wanted to explore more of the grounds in the morning before doing our scheduled tour.

Property: This is one of the most unique hotels, I think, in the world. The shear fact that you get to be on the grounds of Versailles, puts it in the top 10. Then you add in the architecture of the building, the contextual relationship to going back in time by buying back all 18th century furniture after it had all been sold off is an incredible attention to detail.

The amenities are great but honestly you're going to be able to do so much outside of the building itself that they fall to the wayside in terms of priority. There is an indoor pool (best amenity imo), with a sauna and steam room.

It's open between 8am and 10pm but they will open the pool for you at any time, you just need to ask the staff. There's also a small gym, outdoor terrace, and library.

Lastly, you are secluded from the rush of the main entry of the Château so it is very quiet and surrounded by gardens.

Staff: 5-star hotels are required to have 2-3 staff members per guest, and it shows when you're staying here. You are made to feel like this is your house when you arrive and for the duration of your stay.

You are welcomed by people at the front door to assist you with your luggage and sat in a beautiful room where you are checked-in and told about the property and then given a short tour of the grounds and shown to your suite.

You have a direct text chat with the staff and a personal butler assigned to your room. Anything that you want, they are at your disposal. It's truly a unique experience and they are all very accommodating for younger and older guests.

Rooms: The rooms are absolutely wonderful from a design perspective. As I mentioned in the property section, they've appointed all of the rooms with furniture from the 18th century and named all of the rooms after significant figures of the time.

The amenities they give you are extensive and the mini bar / alcohol / snacks are all included. It also has one of the most comfortable beds I've ever slept on.

My only qualm is that if you like it cold in your room, you'll need to request them to turn it down more than the allowable 3 degree range.

That said it's an amazing space and every room is unique to the next.

Experiences: This is what you're paying for. Which is insane to say because I think the room and property without the experiences included is still worth it.

The only reason I think you'd need two nights is to be able to get the full experience of all the tours they offer. One night you will do the king's or queen's apartment in Versailles (both are included to show you a completely empty Hall of Mirrors) and the next morning you will either tour the Grand or Petite Trianon, which is few km away.

That said, you can also do one night and still be VERY satisfied with the trip there, but two nights would allow you to breathe a little in terms of trying to experience it all.

You will receive a golf cart for your room that you can take around the entirety of the grounds from the hotel all the way to Marie Antoinette's village. Considering how big the grounds are this might be the best offering for the ability to explore every part of what Versailles has.

You are invited for tea in the afternoon which we did shortly after checking in and exploring the grounds a little. It's very generous in terms of what you get.

The dinner options are also immaculate. We opted for the a la carte dinner which was served in the lower level overlooking the private gardens. The set course meal looked amazing but we just gravitated more toward the a la carte menu.

The dinner was exceptional and very affordable for the location and seeing as it's one of only two options on/near the property. Dinner was around 500 euros for 6 people with one bottle of wine and cocktails.

Because we had 6 people we essentially chose a few items from each section of the menu and they made portions to split everything family sized. I thought this was incredibly generous and perhaps was a splurge because it was my wife's birthday but if someone also had this experience it is a great attention to detail.

Food was incredibly rich and thoughtful while staying within the boundaries of "normal dinner" not "Michelin-experimental" dinner which I like.

Breakfast is equally as amazing, over the top with offerings and quantity of food, and delicious.

There are a number of additional experiences available such as horseback riding, helicopter rides, spa, etc. and these are all extra costs that are added to your room. All of the experiences I listed above (except dinner) is included in your stay.

Summary:

I would do this hotel again 10/10 times, if you want to feel like you live in a palace, you need to stay here. There is food everywhere for you to pick at throughout the day. The people are amazing and thoughtful. And the architecture + experiences are something you really can only do by staying here.

cheers.

Chubby Travel Itinerary - Italy

Review: Airelles Le Grand Contrôle | Château de Versailles is a notch above the rest