Any experience with Chateau des Monthairons (Dieue-sur-Meuse near Verdun)?
 

I've been attempting to confirm reservations with this hotel for several weeks, and I'm beginning to feel a little uneasy about dealing with them. It's been nearly 7 weeks since I first inquired of availability and rates through their on-line reservation system. I received an apologetic reply nearly a month later, saying the hotel had been closed (not mentioned on their website) and then they had been busy with Valentine's Day. An interesting excuse. Whatever.

Anyhoo, it's now been 3 weeks since I answered their question about our specific room request and provided my CC information, and I haven't received final confirmation. I sent a polite request earlier this week asking for the confirmation, but [sound of crickets].

I've still got tons of time before our trip, but I'm wondering if their whole operation is a bit casual on the details. They only have 25 rooms, and this is presumably not a busy time (other than Valentine's Day, apparently). Perhaps it's a shortage of English-speaking staff.

Anyone here with any experience?

http://www.chateaudesmonthairons.fr/en/index.php

TTT in hopes someone can comment...

Maybe you could try calling them and if you don't speak french say "excusez-moi, parlez-vous anglais". Mention to them the problem and if language is still a barrier, indicate you will send them an email at that time(now) so that the your details are received correctly. Call them back after 15 minutes and let them know you just sent an email with your details. I have done this on a few occasions and the outcome has been fine

Just another option

Thanks, but they have all of my details. I'm just waiting/hoping they'll send me a final confirmation that sets forth the rate based on my room selection. I guess I'll give them a few more days and then try to call. Thanks, again.

We wanted to go to Verdun in France and follow the trails on of the 1. world War

we found this stunning Castle called Hattonchatel from the 9th century - http://www.hattonchatelchateau.com and we choose to stay there for a few days. The views from the suites are absolutely stunning

The famous American lady Belle Skinner from Holyoake fell in love with the Castle and helped to restore the castle and the village after WW1.
The American auther Jack Dunn has also written a book about Belle Skinner and Hattonchatel Chateau called The Vatican Boys

During our stay we also visit Chateau des Monthairons
The place looked really nice but the rooms wasn´t up to standard we prefer - a bit out dated!

Good email correspondance is one of my criteria for booking. If a hotel or B&B can't be bothered with answering emails they shouldn't be in business.

Personally, I would block any charges from them on the CC and send them a cancellation email, and start looking elsewhere. There is no way I would be kept waiting for several weeks.

If you want to give them the benefit of the doubt (they could have misunderstood something) send them one more email , or call as the otherside suggested. They have excellent reviews on Trip Advisor, it does seem strange.

The place that was suggested by aniwa_watts looks nice too.

Wow. Thanks for finding my old-ish thread and taking the time to comment.

Thankfully, all's well with Chateau des Monthairons. They contacted me shortly after my last post and were very helpful in identifying which room we would most like to be in. I don't know why it took them so long to reply initially, but I'm satisfied now.

aniwa_watts, the Hattonchatel Chateau looks fabulous; however, it's well outside our budget. Moreover, I have a personal reason for picking the Monthairons. I'm going to be tracking my great-uncle's service as a pilot in WWI, and I'm fairly sure he flew over Dieue-sur-Meuse. He wrote often to his mother (my g-grandmother) about the beautiful chateaux he would see south of Verdun, and I inherited these letters and his medals. I'd like to think he saw the Monthairons on one of his missions, perhaps even the last one before he crashed near Damvillers.

Thanks to you both!

Jean, so when do you stay there? I've bookmarked for a future trip. Did they ever say why they had been so late in responding?

We are booked there in July. I had the same email delay. So I called. Anna is great. Great English. Confirmed by email after a quick discussion by phone. No idea why email inquiries don't get responses. Hoping it's an ok place. Under the heading of You Get What You Pay For, at 100 Euro probably is a bit worn.

We'll be there in mid-October. I corresponded with Catherine and decided on corner room 3 (view of the river) at 170 euros.

Please let us know what you think, I'm looking at a june 2014 trip

Will do.

Oops. Just came across this old thread and realized I never reported on our stay...

We enjoyed our stay at the chateau very much. The building and grounds are beautiful, and, wrenwood, I can only imagine how nice it would be to sit out on the terrace in June.

We had a map, but the GPS in our rental car easily found the chateau. We entered through the main gate right on the road but subsequently entered through the gate on the back (north) side of the chateau that is accessed by a small, short, poorly paved road that also leads to the farm adjacent to the chateau. There is a parking lot on the back side that is closer to the door.

Our large room overlooked both this parking area and the river and contained a 4-poster bed, table and chairs, armoire, desk, and non-working fireplace with mantle. The room was comfortable, temperature-wise, and very quiet. The bathroom was rather plain. There was lots of hot water but little counter space although a small wicker étagère in the corner was useful. Wifi was spotty at times, perhaps when more people were attempting access, but not a big problem.

After some time in our room, I noticed some tired furnishings, mostly drapes and carpet. But we learned on check-out that the owners are planning to build an annex and pool and renovate the chateau starting in January 2014. We didn't particularly like the looks of the annex' modern architecture, but we understand the owners' desires to increase the chateau's occupancy and offer additional amenities to attract more guests, not to mention new rooms for those who aren't charmed by old buildings.

The breakfast was a very nice array of options, including cook-yourself boiled eggs and ripe fresh fruit. But dinners were great. The entrees were limited to what was fresh/available (including rabbit), and the service was impeccable. These were the best dinners of our 2-week trip, and at least half of the diners each evening were either locals or guests of other hotels who had driven to the chateau. The front desk will ask you in the morning if you plan to have dinner that evening in the chateau.

We learned that the chateau had been used as a hospital during WWI which fit in well with our plan to see as many battlefield sights in the area as possible during our stay. Everything on our sightseeing list was within an easy drive of the chateau, and I would definitely stay there again if we returned to this area.