I'm not often moved to write a review and especially a bad one (must be a British thing) but I felt the need to balance the positive reviews. My review is long and detailed but given we stayed only 2 nights it's interesting that I found so much to say.

I'm always a little sceptical when reading bad reviews among lots of good ones so I try to imagine who might have written it and what other experiences they may have had. In case you do the same, I've stayed in a broad range of hotels in terms of price (above and below this), style, location, etc. and have plenty of experience on which to benchmark.

It started well; lovely welcome, car parked for us, champagne in the room (I later discovered, at a different hotel, that this was because I booked via the Relais and Chateaux website using my Mastercard rather than a generous gift from the hotel - no mention of this here though).

The rooms

Our room was quite large and in the main house - room 3 - but that's pretty much as good as it got. First up, no air con - just an electric fan. Call me fussy but for 380 Euro a night it isn't an unreasonable expectation. The bathroom was huge but the decor needed attention (peeling paint and nasty Formica tops). There was a shower in the bath but you couldn't actually shower as there was no hook for the shower head; weirdly there was a screen though. The bath was small and dingy. The full length mirror directly in front of the toilet was interesting - I don't think I've ever had the pleasure of viewing myself on the loo before. I do hope it's an experience I don't get to repeat. The best bit was the double sink and a bit of nice soap. Hmmm. Finally, the bed. My feet were higher than my head and every time my husband moved the entire bed did. I woke up in pain; back pain isn't a typical ailment for me. I found myself recalling the price more than once in this room. Also not that usual for me.

So perhaps my daughter's room would be better? Truthfully, it was a bit. But it was about 1/3 the size of ours in both the room and bathroom (number 9 in the main house) and was 300 Euros per night. She had an air con unit (albeit a poor one she had to fix). The decor seemed a little more up to date. And she had a shower you could stand under. Sounds OK then? Maybe - more on this later.

The Food

We ate in the restaurant both nights. We're not particularly fussy eaters but it's worth pointing out that almost every option contained either sweetbreads or foie gras, or both. The food was quite nice but trying too hard. Nice cheese trolley. Expensive? Yes, very. More on this later too.

So to bed for the first night. As we were about to climb the stairs to retire we were a little non-plussed by the enquiry about the drinks we'd like at breakfast but we duly answered.

Breakfast. On the first morning and without any order taking we were presented with a continental breakfast along with the drinks we'd ordered the previous night. We thought it a little odd but resolved not to make a fuss and to ask for the menu the following morning. The next night we weren't asked to order any drinks (after we'd given up on getting any bar service after our meal) . The next morning the same drinks order as the previous day arrived. A menu was on the table though so that was better. But the wretched continental breakfast arrived anyway (at 22 Euro each). We ordered some additional eggs. Nothing happened for quite a while. Still nothing. An apology from the (very sweet) waiter to say there'd been a problem with the eggs and it would be ten minutes. But then amazingly he came back around ten minutes later to say that we couldn't have the eggs as there was no cook! What kind of 4 star hotel doesn't have a cook to rustle up some boiled eggs?? Why was the menu even on the table?! Laughably the cook turned up a couple of minutes later but by this time we were way past being interested. It wasn't especially early or late so pretty unfathomable. My advice to the hotel; if you have weird rules it's generally best to share them.

We left vowing never to return and headed off to Domain des Hauts de Loire where we paid 450 Euro for a room that was larger, prettier, had a small terrace and all of the relevant facillities and was easily twice as good for us and 215 Euro for my daughter's room which was similar in size to Noirieux but with said better facilities. That's roughly the same cost for far better rooms. The menu has a Michelin star and the food was great - I don't recall seeing Sweetbread and you didn't have to do Foie Gras if you didn't want to. Both the food and the wine were cheaper and better. The setting more beautiful, the staff more friendly and more helpful. They'd informed us in advance the restaurant would be closed for dinner for 2 of our 5 night stay so we weren't even too disappointed by that. If you don't mind a little driving towards Angers there's no good reason not to stay here instead. Or save yoursefl the cash and go budget (and that is seriously un-me).

A special Chateau with special rooms and an excellent restaurant.

The room we had was in the converted barn separate to the Chateau, a very large room, beautifully furnished with bathroom and shower all completed to a great standard. Dinner in the dining room was excellent and in the summer the terrace looking out over the countryside would be an excellent choice for a summer’s evening.

The Chateau has the original flooring, has been open since 1991 as a hotel and has very friendly and helpful staff who tried and succeeded in making the visit to the Chateau a very special one.

Perhaps the best feature of the Chateau was the art deco lounge completed in 1936. It contains the original light fittings and other special features as well as the original furniture and a very special art deco staircase. In another part of the hotel is the art deco bedroom, again very special and original and a must to stay in on another occasion.

Well worth the detour to visit just outside Anger and a world away from the hustle and bustle of that city.

This hotel is in a beautiful setting in the countryside. Our room was in the attics but it was very nicely decorated and big enough. The bathroom was excellent and we had a very generous array of toiletries to use. Fruit and cakes were provided in the room also. We had an enjoyable couple of hours sitting reading in the lounge with afternoon tea as it was snowy outside. Dinner was a grand affair but we felt the dining room lacked atmosphere as the tables were too big and there was not sufficient soft lighting. Waiters were over attentive but that is only a personal observation. Breakfast was served in the conservatory which was cosy and very nicely presented. Overall a very pleasant stay

We have stayed at this chateau several times over the years. We went back this month because we have enjoyed it so much before. I doubt we will go back. We stayed in the main chateau, and the room was great - incredibly high ceilings, and flooded with light (although the bed left a lot to be desired and I awoke with backache - it was small and uncomfortable). The big downer was the “Host”. I understand that she is the wife of the chef, and we found her approach to be very false. As we were enjoying an aperitif in the lounge before our meal, she came across to ask if we minded moving to the sofa in the corner as there was a group of people wishing to sit together and we were in the way. This set the scene for a very average meal which was grossly expensive. One night stay with dinner was over 700 Euro, and that was without breakfast. I am sad to say that the quality has dropped and the prices have increased, in all respects. No longer a treat. What a shame.