Château de Mercuès

We visited the castle in early August. It looks fantastic. Personell is friendly and English speaking. Unfortunately there were several negative issues to be mentioned. Internet is not secure. Air conditioning did not work. Visiting La Table gastronomique at at Château de Mercuès I Igor Sh We had reservation for The Chef's Table on August the 5th, 2025. Normal degustation menu costs Euro 200. Chef's table menu (the same) costs Euro 250. We arrived at the restaurant and very quickly realised that the Chef did not want to communicate with us. At all. He even did not come to say hello. In one hour of his absence from our table we decided not to disturb him from his work and asked somilleier to relocate us to the dining room which has been done quickly and effectively. This is not the first time when we ordered this option and I understand the difference between a Micheline starred Chef who is eager to communicate with the guests and young chef without any stars who who hates comunication with his guests. His cooking was not bad but it looks like it was his revolt against the owner of the hotel who had advertised this option against his will. I wrote a letter with complaints to the management and asked them to remove not valid option from their Web site not to confuse other perspective customers. I did not get any reply. Nobody apologised for the issue on departure but they charged for normal menu only.

The hotel was a wonderful ancient building, superbly positioned on top of a hill. Our room was very good and the beautiful gardens and swimming pool much appreciated. All the staff were very friendly. We would stay again. The restaurant was quiet and we felt a bit "overserviced" with staff coming to our table more than was required. We felt the restaurant was not the same value-for-money as the hotel stay as the wines by the glass seemed overpriced.

The restaurant was a big disappointment and a reason to reconsider staying in the future. The restaurant information on line suggests that there are ala carte choices but in reality it is a fixed menu (2 options) with no choices. There are likely many customers who like me cannot eat certain foods and would prefer some flexibility even if in the set menu format.