Le Palace De Menthon — Hotel in Annecy

Stayed just one night, on our way to another place.|The breathtaking stunning spectacular VIEWS (from the terrace, bedroom and restaurant) are just out of this world. The hotel and the grounds are truly |beautiful. So peaceful and quiet. |Upon arrival, took us 10 minutes, plus asking guests, where the reception area was. Lots of entrances but absolutely no indication as to where check in was. Same story for finding the spa building. A bit of a labyrinth. |There is an absolutely delicious scent of the ambient perfume everywhere in the hotel, that you can purchase. Rather than leaving the room fragrance holder on the floor, it would be more refined to put it on a small table.|The personnel is composed of young people, extremely nice, friendly and very helpful, every single one of them, from the bar staff to the valet parking young man.|The room was set out in a way that did not allow us to open our suitcases completely. A bit cramped. No blackout curtains. Slippers, safe, bathrobe and toiletries. |The pool was being renovated, so out of use, and there was just a hamam, nothing else, no changing room (just two toilets men/women), no benches or chairs and no shampoo etc in the (only one) shower room. So, no separation men/women, everyone in the same area to change and to shower. So very disappointed. We only stayed for 15 minutes because nothing else to do there really. |Breakfast was very good, great quality and a bit of everything.|The « gourmet dinner » (with a gastronomic price) was very colourful, pretty and beautifully presented but the food needed just a little « je ne sais quoi » in order to be very tasty. It wasn’t. Impossible to put your legs under the table, had to be put aside, because of the metal bars that made up the table legs. Perhaps modern and artistic, but most uncomfortable and the chairs were very heavy to move. I would have liked a white table cloth on the table, even though the table itself was very good, but white table cloths are so classy. No one explained what the food was, like in all good 5/palace hotels. Just put on the table and off they went. |Checkout could have been a bit more personalised, like « bon voyage » or asking if the stay went well. But upon leaving, I did say that the hotel was remarkable.|The one thing I did not like was the "tip" box to be filled in on the bills (bar and restaurant). In the USA I'm used to that but not in Europe. I found it quite shocking for a 5/palace hotel to do that. I did give tips, but individually directly to the person, like I...

This hotel is great and extremely average all at the same time. The rooms are fine, the location is amazing (you can get a great sunset from the Eastern side of European lakes) and the views from the restaurant and lakeside sunbeds were lovely. However there were a few things that they fell short on - we stayed there in the last week of June, it was beautiful weather yet because they don’t count it as high season until July, the beach bar was shut (unless they have corporate events), and their bar in the hotel itself doesn’t open until 3pm. So if you want an Aperol Spritz at midday, you have to go to their fine dining restaurant (no good if you’re sunbathing at the lakeside).

The fine dining restaurant is average, the food was under seasoned and they serve a basket of bread with no plates, butter or olive oil, then their waiters have to scrape crumbs off the table if you’ve made a mess. The waiter recommended a local wine, but it was not good and shouldn’t have been anywhere near this menu. Just because it’s local doesn’t mean it’s good.

Also the bar tables outside need some shade, no one sat there when we visited as the area with parasols was reserved for corporate hospitality. There was uncollected rubbish on side tables too.

We felt that as we weren’t there in high season, the hotel was only paying attention to the corporate guests. So if you (the hotel) don’t want to bother with couples/families, just use your hotel for corporate events - but bear in mind some of those couples may have been scouting the hotel for the future.

I recommend if you’re not going to open the beach bar when it’s 35 degrees celsius, maybe convert one of those golf carts the staff go around in and have a drinks cart… Coca Cola/orange juice/beer/wine/cocktails/snacks - no one was drinking or eating at the lakeside as they couldn’t be bothered to walk up the steps to the hotel, or it was before 3pm. For heaven’s sake make it easy for people to spend money with you, we spent far more money in the local bars and restaurants than we did...

The hotel grounds are quite nice, the view is amazing and the gardens are meticulously kept. Unfortunately that’s where the excellence ends. The hotel certainly does not meet my 5 star expectations. The room we were in was really quite embarrassing. It was a tiny little attic room that resembled something I might expect for a teenage child. Very small, very little light. The coffee maker was a knock off nespresso. We tried to upgrade but there were no other rooms available. The room should not have been a room to begin with, it was far to small and depressing. There were dead bugs in the windowsills of the restaurant. Lots of them. Indicating the windowsills are not often wiped. The pool area was new and nice but dirty. Mud was tracked all over the room and bathrooms on all 3 days I was there, making it not very enjoyable. The breakfast was not good. The cheeses which should be fresh given the area, were bland and tasted like something you’d pick up at any basic supermarket. The pastries were dry and not fresh. But the worst part is that both nights, the hotel was hosting corporate events that led to the hotel being completely booked, mostly with the event parties which dominated the common spaces and were loud into the evening. Loud music all night, including a DJ directly outside our window until 1 am. Loud drunk guests smoking on the terraces and just generally taking over the space. Despite the DJ being specifically provided for the corporate group, we were unable to change rooms to be on the other side. I understand these things are profitable but they leave the other guests to simply be second class and it entirely ruins the peaceful experience that could have been and was expected given the hotels own marketing. If you want a party and don’t care for quiet, you may be fine here. If you expect a quiet and peaceful trip, I’d suggest making sure there are not events going on and no big corporate retreats. Also be weary go the attic rooms, unless your on a budget and space and light are not...