Château Capitoul — Hotel in Narbonne

First the good parts: the hotel sits on a hill overlooking the marshes and the sea with spectacular views and sunsets.

We stayed in the main Chateau building on the first floor, room was spacious with a high ceiling and wonderful marble in the bathroom.

The buildings are nice, the grounds well kept. There are some shared terraces on the first floor of the castle and tent-like structures in the garden towards the sea.

We had breakfast which was not spectacular but good and well worth it, no lunch or dinner though.

They have several charging stations for electric vehicles (but I did not use them).

The spa has a small inside pool, jacuzzi, hamam and sauna. This was included in our package and nice because quite empty at this time of the year. With more people it would have been too crowded for my taste.

They also have free mountain bikes to borrow for a ride in the area - condition was ok but not great (probably end of season they had gotten a lot of use during the year). Even smaller ones for kids, so bring your helmets. No lights though, if you have clip-ons or a headlamp maybe bring those too.

All the staff was really friendly, helpful and welcoming - they even had a personal written note in the room (with a bottle of wine).

The not so good parts: The fan in the bathroom was very loud (even with the door closed) and could not be turned off. In addition the music and peoples voices from the restaurant on the ground floor were quite audible. Please note: I am 55 and my hearing is really not that good anymore, I could still hear it well though. Bring earplugs if you plan on going to bed earlier. Instead I recommend getting a room on the second floor if you can (which we also looked at but ended up not taking) - it's a bit smaller but actually cozier and also a bit cheaper.

The castle has a lot of stairs and no elevator, you can get help with the luggage though.

The housekeeping and maintenance really needs some improvement: the staircase to the first floor definitely needed cleaning, our room fridge was half empty, and the security bar on top of the shower glas wall was completely loose and came down (luckily no injury). Each of these a forgivable minor issue, but taken together not what I would expect from a first class hotel.

Nothing the hotel can change: we had massive moskitos outside in the evening, I assume due to the nearby swamps. So bring insect...

Warning: Be Cautious When Booking at Chateau Capitoul or Sister Locations for weddings or large scale events

My experience with Chateau Capitoul was unfortunately stressful and filled with many challenges. We initially thought the venue would be perfect for a boutique festival we were organizing in the South of France, but things quickly took a turn. The initial interactions with their sales director were pleasant, but once we agreed on pricing, the process became increasingly difficult and hostile.

After agreeing on the price, communication with Darren and CEO Karl became tense. They demanded immediate payment via wire transfer, even though we hadn’t received a formal contract. When we requested additional time to review the terms, they threatened to cancel our reservation, despite us already having guest bookings.

After reviewing the terms, we noticed and outlined several red flags in the contract, and we attempted to negotiate changes. Unfortunately, instead of working with us, they responded by insulting us and threatening full cancellation. This hostile behavior continued throughout our interactions.

Despite these challenges, we proceeded with a credit card payment as we were nearing the date of our event. However, they later refused to accept the payment method and insisted on a wire transfer payment. When we explained the foreign transaction limits imposed by our bank, they responded by questioning our honesty, which felt unprofessional.

Eventually, after a series of back-and-forth emails and calls, their behavior escalated, with Darren even shouting and cursing at us during a meeting in France. We decided to scale back the booking and proposed a compromise to mitigate the impact on our event, but they refused and ultimately cancelled everything, leaving us with a significant financial loss—over $35,000—from the credit payment we made without ever stepping foot on the property.

Given our experience, we would caution anyone looking to host a large event here to carefully consider the terms of any contract, as well as the behavior of the management. There are other venues in the area, such as l’Hospitalet, Chateau de la Floure, as well as others, where we found much better service and more...

Extremely Disappointing and Dishonest Experience with Chateau Capitoul…

We were initially excited to book Chateau Capitoul for a large-scale event in the region, planning to spend upwards of $200,000. However, this excitement quickly turned into frustration and a complete nightmare.

We spent hours on the phone with Joyce and our bank, trying to resolve issues and make things work. The entire process was stressful, and we were subjected to unnecessary humiliation in our attempts to get things sorted. Things took a turn for the worse when we learned that Chateau Capitoul does not actually own the villas they rent out as part of their property. The villas are owned by individual owners, and Chateau Capitoul simply manages them, sending monthly payments to these owners. They repeatedly mentioned this to us as a way to pressure us into sending them $35,000, even though we had serious concerns about the terms of the contract.

Ultimately, it became clear that Chateau Capitoul was not the right venue for our event. They never returned our initial $35,000 payment, despite the fact that neither we nor anyone in our party ever stayed there or used any of their facilities. This felt very dishonest, and we were left with a significant financial loss.

Once we started working with other hotels in the region, such as Chateau Villarlong, the difference in service and professionalism was clear. Our entire experience improved dramatically with venues that prioritized customer care, transparency, and reliability.

We strongly advise anyone considering this venue to think twice—our experience was filled with frustration, poor communication, and what felt like dishonest...