Chateau Joncasses — Hotel in Cahors

I'm going to preface this review by saying our extended family have hired a number of chateaus over the years, so we have something to make comparisons with!

Without doubt this chateau offered the best value for money we have ever enjoyed. Our party of 18 used all the 10 bedrooms on offer, without anyone having to compromise on bedroom space.

The kitchen was large enough to cater for the entire party with plenty of worktop space and a large island unit. Refreshingly there are plenty of cooking utensils and professional sized pans etc. There are three fridges, we used the large stand alone fridge for food, and the two under counter fridges for 'adults' and kids drinks.

The lounge diner is huge and comfortable, with good quality games available, including chess & backgammon.

The pool is among the largest we've ever enjoyed with a deep end you can actually dive into. At points we had a dozen people in the pool and still had room to swim around.

There are two main terraces, both easily able to accommodate at least 20 people. Smaller seating areas are dotted around the grounds so if inclined you can take yourself off for a bit of peace and quiet. There is a new and very good quality BBQ on the rear terrace with a moving charcoal tray which means you can raise the heat source as charcoal burns away. We were able to BBQ for 18 on half a bag of lump wood.

Our party had 5 cars, the driveway was large enough for them to be parked so that everyone could drive out of the chateau without the need to move another vehicle.

Saving the best to last, the sports hall/games room is magnificent. With a full sized badminton court, a basket ball hoop, 2 table tennis tables, table football, a darts board, and a full sized pool table our whole party had plenty of activities to choose from. This facility was constantly used for weeklong knockout completions including our own decathlon type event. Modesty prevents me revealing who the best pool player was.

From our perspective, this vast array of facilities and activities provided the perfect ingredients for our first ever holiday where children needed no entertaining at all. Finally a place they can truly entertain themselves.

Finally, Richard and Nicky were perfect hosts, we couldn't have been looked...

We have just returned home from a magical week at the Chateau Joncasses in the area of Cahors in the Lot Valley, South West of France – 16 family members of 4 generations came together to celebrate the Diamond Wedding anniversary of our wonderful parents, Jean & Dave and what could be more fitting than a beautiful Chateau set in stunning surroundings. This was our second visit to the Chateau, our first being to celebrate their Golden Wedding anniversary a decade ago! The new owners Richard and Nicky were delightful and catered to pretty much our every whim! The chateau has so much to do, from lazy days around the beautiful pool, a well equipped gym/games room with excellent gym equipment, darts, bikes, pool, badminton, tennis, table tennis, table football, and even an outdoor golf game there is no time to get bored!! There is plenty to do in the local area too such as canoeing, boat trips, historical towns, markets and Chateaus plus plenty of supermarkets close by for provisions. There were no shortage of wonderful settings to enjoy our family mealtimes together, and we opted for catered meals by the wonderful catering team, @Le Quercy Kitchen, run by lovely Jill and her daughter Georgina – we could not fault a single morsel of the delicious food that they prepared for us each evening and they looked after us superbly! Overall an excellent week, would...

I can only reiterate and agree with the superlatives others have mentioned about this amazing chateau, together with it's wonderful owners, the exquisite rooms and plentiful facilities. I had signed up for the Art retreat and I had no preconceptions on what to expect. After pickup at Bergerac airport and a short drive through rural France, we arrived and first caught a glimpse of this magnificent property. It was absolutely stunning in every respect; the pictures on the website don't do it justice! I loved the architectural features of the property and idyllic surroundings. I particularly liked the ancient woodland close by. Walking amongst the ancient oaks adorned with moss and lichen was a magical experience. Activities are many and you can chose which ones to attend. I personally attended the early morning yoga and afternoon meditation sessions in the adjoining building. I had every intention to use the numerous gym facilities but didn't quite make it ! I loved the art classes; Kaz and Annie gave expert tuition, exercising much patience and skill! I particularly liked the silver work which I hadn't done before and it was very satisfying but sometimes frustrating ! There's an ancient Roman wall on the grounds of the property and one day we went out with a metal detector ! Some interesting finds ! This warrants further investigation on a...