Le Petit Château — Hotel in Great Britain

Team Le Petit Chateau did an INCREDIBLE job.

This venue is UNBELIEVABLE. The pictures were something else and that's just a snapshot of the most beautiful day you could imagine.

I wanted to write this to praise the staff but it's a venue that even with horrible staff would probably be a stand out event - it's just that special. Luckily for us they were not horrible...

Wedding Planner Hannah took us 90% of the way before going on maternity leave, congrats again - excellent, caring and genuine. Lauren stepped up to take us the final mile and really could have made a mess of it but did the opposite. Fully briefed and covered everything, nothing was missed and nothing was too small. Excellent, both of them. Thank you guys.

Interestingly, your wedding planner isn't on there on the day (from my experience maybe it was a one off I am not sure) we had Tia who was just exceptional - considering they do not know you, never spoken - she was so kind and patient along with being a brilliant project manager for the day. Best of all, she said she finished at 10pm but was there till the end and I saw her clearing tables. She deserves a medal but certainly a pay rise.

Ruth was also a personal favourite - managing things so well and being so switched on - unsure how her role differs/reporting structure to Tia but similarly to Tia was just constantly on it. Best way of putting it, nothing was too big or small - and considering the challenging circumstances they did everything to ensure they didn't add to them. I couldn't believe it - in the morning after, they were all at it again - setting up for another day. Probably a thankless job in a lot of ways and not on tons and tons of money (I imagine) but acted as if it was the only wedding on that week and I was blown away by the service of Tia especially and Ruth a very close second like 1% in it (just cause Tia stayed so late and was so tired and up at it first thing again but never got annoyed once).

There was Jordan, Andy and Lewis on the bar - specifically Jordan who saved the day when I dropped a glass on the dance floor and was massively charming as well as holding onto some special things for me until the morning, keeping them safe. Andy was great too - he had a big old shift from memory and just really kept things ticking over on the bar. Mark too - just remembered, again he was back at it in the morning after.

One of the MCs we'll call him EGBERT (on the venue's side, amazing as it meant my MC was in safe hands) was pretty good, I also had heard good things from guests at previous weddings. Feedback would be, he wasn't firm enough - I worry like most but on my wedding day I wanted some more firmness from the man running the day. Potentially it would be good to agree times and mutually understand if things need to get moving that it's on the wedding party to do so or EGBERT but we agree that and then know that when we have to, we crack the whip. In the end, I found we sort of overruled him towards the evening and I am unsure if he'd had enough of me personally by then haha or felt snubbed but it did frustrate me there was a bit too much ''relaxed'' approach because I wanted it more clear to ensure things ran smoothly - ofc, he was so charming and relaxed was nice and defs the right approach in terms of communication but should have been more orderly and less waffley for the important stuff. Conversely, this is the feeling I got from Tia and Ruth, very pleasant, nice and kind hearted people but good at getting stuff done.

Nicky in William de Percy was also lovely, just a little shoutout to her- very friendly and helpful and an asset to the organisation.

I have to admit the Apartment Group as a whole were not great to deal with but they're a big beast of a company (North East speaking) and we had to rearrange over covid and of course, that was an IMMENSELY challenging time for any and everyone let along the hospitality business so I won't hammer them. However, their teams of staff really came through.

Thanks again - and best of luck...

We were wedding guests in September 2020 and I think there must have been a backlog of weddings as we attended on a weekday and there was a wedding the day before and after the one we attended.

When we arrived, the car park was packed so it was tricky to park. In the end I had to park the hire car right by the beer garden exit so when we left the next day, the people attending the next wedding the next day were boozing near it which wasn't that ideal.

We had a different room for each night of our two night stay, which was a bit odd as people just want to unpack and chill, rather than repack and move. I don't think they tell all couples this - as our couple did not know - so I'm just mentioning it in case you are planning to book your big day here. There's no lift, so if you have a heavy case and a room above the ground floor, you may need to ask for help or an accessible room. We stayed in a small room facing onto the main road on night one, which was very dark due to the mood lighting, so we couldn't see to iron the wedding clothes!

There was also no shower gel in the room, which I didn't discover until I was in the shower (so it was too late to phone for some) which was really annoying given the cost of the room. Then I saw the cost of the shower gel if you take it home, so I made sure we let the staff know it was never there! As the room backed onto the main road and was not double-glazed, I was woken up by cars speeding by at 4.30am, so if you're a light sleeper too, take your ear plugs. I didn't so I only had four hours sleep before the wedding.

Breakfast was really good and odd as you had hungover guests from the wedding before and other guests trying to get ready to attend a wedding. There were lots of great breakfast choices but it was very slow, some other guests were waiting 45-50 minutes for their cooked breakfast, which isn't great if you had planned to meet others or get ready earlier. Perhaps asking guests to book slots would be better, rather than having people sit and wait for so long at peak times? We went down for breakfast at 9:30 on day two and couldn't find a clean table and had to stand over dirty dishes for a while and wait for the table to be cleaned.

On the plus side, the female receptionist was great, friendly and very helpful. She moved us to an accessible room for night two as my partner has a health issue and couldn't manage an attic room. The bar staff were lovely too - cheerful and happy. The wedding venue and its gardens are lovely so there's great backdrop for photos. The outside space had comfy seats with fire pits so it was good to chat over drinks out there.

We attended the wedding ceremony and asked the master of ceremonies if we could throw confetti. He said yes at the end and only in the ceremony room, so do ask him if you can and don't forget to pack some confetti and get it ready.

There was also a photo booth by the dance floor which was good fun but the camera lens is too high up, so children and short people couldn't use it easily. Jumping up or providing a higher platform may be the answer!

On the final day the check out time was 11am which many of us felt was a bit too early, given how many hangovers there were! Some other guests couldn't make it down to breakfast before 10am, so they had to forage in the local area but luckily the local shop had a cafe.

As I was the driving the day after the wedding, I was conscious not to drink too much at the wedding as there are lots of winding country roads to navigate when you leave. This was a bit of a shame but worth considering if you're planning to book a wedding here. Booking an extra night here after the wedding was not an option as it was fully booked up as they had back-to-back weddings lined up - a bit of a conveyor belt operation. Even so, the wedding was great but the venue could tweak a few things to make their offer more...

Horrible wedding service during storm. No emergency contingency.

I visited this hotel from 24th to 26th February for my friends wedding. So here is my review.

Rooms: My room was beautiful. I like the shabby chic decor. It's very artistic and quirky. The bathroom and bed were very comfortable.

Shower; good power. So 5/5.

Staff: All staff were generally friendly. So, no complaints there.

Garden and grounds: Also, no complaints. Good manicured garden with a lady gardener who obviously loves the hotel. She took me round to show me the winter flowering plants. 5/5.

NEGATIVES.

Now, this visit was to attend a wedding. It was also during the storm  (bad weather) so my best bet bearing in mind that we had a weeks warning was that the hotel management who is used to having storms in this area of the country would have some kind of back up process just in case any of their usual storms takes out the electricity or causes ANY disruption.

Unfortunately, this hotel has absolutely NO BACK UP PLAN for power/storm emergencies. We had quite a few power cuts on the 24th, 25th, and 26th.

SERVICES INTERRUPTED DURING POWER CUT

NO HOT WATER TO SHOWER WITH. NO WORKING TILLS, SO YOU CAN NOT BUY DRINKS NO FOOD FROM THE KITCHEN SO YOU WONT BE FED NO MUSIC NO HELP FROM STAFF OR MANAGEMENT NO INTERNET

So, bearing in mind the hotel has taken fees for hosting a WEDDING on this particular weekend, and bearing in mind that they knew that there was going to be a storm, the hotel management MADE NO BACK UP PLANS OR CONTINGENCIES to look after the wedding part AT ALL.

In fact, we were threatened that they would kick us out of the hotel if the power did not come back on. So on most of the weekend the two brides were in totally panic mode and distressed because not only was there a threat that their wedding would be ruined, but guest who had all driven between 8 and 15 hours from the south were being threatened with being thrown out into the cold on the night of the 24th.

The duty manager made everything worse for the brides and their guest as he didn't appear concerned AT ALL that everyone was distressed. He really does not deserve to be in front of the house AT ALL

The wedding took place on the 25th. The reception could not start on time because there was no electricity and NO GENERATOR to provide backup power. The live musician could not perform because he had no electricity. The guests were thrown out of the reception hall. We were without food or drinks for a considerable amount of time.

Eventually, some of the guests had to go to the local shops to buy crisps, pork pies, sandwiches, and drinks for all the guests. That was what we ate after the wedding.

The power did come back on later in the evening after a few hours, and the hotel proceeded to serve the guest cold and awful food that had been standing in the kitchen all day. See the pictures included.

I mean this should have been a happy day but the hotel manager had absolutely no plans in place to deal with the emergency we faced thereby ruining what should have been a happy day for the 2 brides and their family.

My advice to anyone coming to this hotel is this: Yes, it is a pretty hotel, but be prepared to be thrown out if there is an emergency. The hotel has no plans in place for any emergency.

If you are getting married here, make sure you ask them about plans for any and all types of emergencies.

So my overall rating for this hotel for special occasions, unfortunately, is a 1/5 due to their total inability to even care for guests in an emergency.

Pictures of food served for wedding...