The Chateau On The Lake — Restaurant in Town of Bolton

Edited to one star after the restaurant's response.

We went to the Chateau on Saturday night of Labor Day Weekend. The place had great ambeyance, the staff was friendly, and the drinks were excellent, but boy is this restaurant disfunctional. If you've seen the show Summer Rush that features the restaurant you may think Food Network instigated drama, but after our experience, I can tell you it certainly did not. We got there and the waitress informed us there was a problem with the gas lines so about 1/3 of the menu was unavailable because they couldn't cook using the stove top. At first we were understanding because the Chateau is an old house on a Lake, we could see there being issues. But then a young waiter for the table next to us spilled the beans as he loudly told his table that the restaurant forgot to order enough propane. That in itself is a disaster. It's Saturday of Labor Day Weekend after a winter where your restaurant is featured on a TV show so you expect a bigger crowd and you forgot to check that you have enough essential supplies to cook? I can't understand that.

Adding more to the disfuntion, a little bit later we see a waiter on the show, Freddie, who the show portrays as clumsy, trying to move a large heat lamp with a 12 inch flame underneath a tent by himself. The entire restaurant is watching him in amazement as the heater is about to tip over which could cause a fire. He doesn't tip it over but he hits a string of lights causing all the lights and the power in the tent to burn out. No more music no more abeyance from the lighting.

As if that wasn't enough, we then see the owner Jen and another member of her staff looking like they are trying to fix the power and get the music back on. They're right behind our table and we see them confused as to why there is a chord just in the middle of the gravel. Jen starts pulling it all confused (rightfully so as someone could trip on it) only to figure out it was a line for the propane tank that had been left it. She then just threw it to the side. The lack of organization was truly bewildering at this place.

We're still not done with the little things. The young waiter who spilled the beans about not ordering propane is the taking orders at a table and in the middle shouts to the bus boy to bring his table water. Not a big deal at all, but this is supposed to be a high end restaurant and it charges a premium. All these things affect the experience.

As to the food, it was good but not worth the prices. The Chateau charges Manhattan prices, and it is good food, but it's nowhere near Manhattan quality. We ordered the chaucterie board that came with several cheeses and meats. At a place charging these prices the waiter should tell you what each cheese and meat is. We didn't get that and when we asked the waitress to explain what we got, she only knew what half the board was. Again, not a big deal but when you're charging the prices the Chateau does, you expect a certain level of service. The Chateau falls short on that.

Overall, I might go back because it does have nice ambeyance and is the only nicer end restaurant on the Lake. But otherwise, I dont think it's worth the money. It might be worth the entertainment though to watch the disfunctional management of the place.

On a separate issue, I seriously question the judgment of the Chateau's management. We follow the Chateau on instagram and noticed that they had posted about a table that was dining at the restaurant the same night we did, Saturday night. We watched that particular guest's instagram story documenting the experience at the Chateau. The guest's story was an honest review of the service issues they had, but the guest was very polite and she even said when certain dishes were delicious. The Chateau then totally attacked this guest reposting her Instagram post on their account and saying that guest is blacklisted from the Chateau. Be careful, if you don't have a good experience apparently the Chateau will mock you and blacklist you from...

We are from Boston and were in search for a fine restaurant to host our 50-person rehearsal dinner in the Lake George area. The Chateau on the Lake came highly recommended by a local friend, and we were further impressed by its raving reviews online. Mark, Chateau’s previous event manager, was a delight to deal with online and by phone. His successor, Billy, chef and event manager, was reassuring, accommodating and responsive when he took over the coordination of the event. My family and I met Billy in person in Bolton Landing in April, a month prior to the rehearsal dinner to check out the venue and discuss finer details of our menu selection. We were warmly greeted by Billy, who gave us a grand tour. After a long, harsh winter, he was in the middle of cleaning up the outdoor grounds and bringing the restaurant back to life for our dinner and their new season. Billy promised us that everything would be perfect and up and running by our May event date. He also afforded us the opportunity to taste two wines that we contemplated serving at the dinner but could not find at our local liquor store, thereby facilitating our wine selection and enabling us to choose with confidence. We arrived in Lake George a day before the rehearsal dinner and stopped by the Chateau. Not only did we have the pleasure that afternoon to meet the owners, Buddy and Jennifer, but also we enjoyed a rare opportunity to watch the entire crew, including Jennifer’s mother, roll up their sleeves to do whatever it took to make our dinner a success. We witnessed the hard work that conscientious restaurateurs invest behind the scenes, sparing no effort to achieve the perfect outcome for their patrons and for themselves! Friday night, we arrived to the quaint restaurant to see decorative lights strung and a chalkboard welcome sign prominently displayed at the entrance. The luscious garden with its serene lake view made for a beautiful setting, and we were blessed with a cool, dry evening. Buddy and Jen lit up two cozy fire pits, supplemented by two heat torches after sunset to keep the ladies warm and happy. Billy made sure the children in our group were fed early, so that their parents could relax and enjoy their own dinners later. Chateau’s signature Chef’s Cut steak and halibut were absolutely delicious. We all experienced a gastronomical joy at the rehearsal dinner. Buddy and Jennifer came around a few times to ensure everything was proceeding as smoothly as possible, so did Billy before dessert was served. The next day many of our guests expressed their joy and immense satisfaction with the previous night’s rehearsal dinner. We commend Chateau and feel most fortunate to have been the beneficiaries of an evening well worth remembering for the rest of our lives. Our thanks to the talented chef, the ever-charming owners and the whole team for making our event a total success. We can’t wait to return and look forward to dining at Chateau next time we visit...

My husband and I stayed here three nights while attending a wedding nearby. We had the room without a lake view, which was still far from cheap. The location is lovely--right on the lake--and very convenient to the main street of Bolton Landing, but also peaceful and quiet.||||When we arrived at about 6:30 p.m., someone in the restaurant let us know that the key was in the door and that Buddy, who was off-site, had texted us that information. (We hadn't received the text because we had entered our landline when making the reservation, not realizing that we might be contacted by text.) Buddy's phone number was posted in the hallway, but we never saw or contacted him--perhaps we should have, although it's hard to think how he might have resolved the problems we encountered when he was not there.||||The room was spacious, with a high ceiling and a fireplace--probably very nice on a chilly evening--and two upholstered armchairs and ottomans as well as a comfortable bed. The air conditioner worked well, keeping the room cool on an extremely hot weekend. The bathroom was nicely appointed, with a large shower--but the shower leaked terribly, and we were not provided with a bathmat until we asked for one the next day, when someone stopped by to ask if we needed anything. There was an ironing board, but it was just bare metal without a cover--we needed to iron clothes for wedding events, and when we asked the person who stopped by about an ironing board cover, we were told that there wasn't one, so we had to improvise with a towel and pillowcase. ||||The main problem, though, was that the room was filthy. Not just a little dirty--there were dust bunnies at least an inch thick covering the floor under the bed, and anything that touched the wooden floor was instantly covered in dust and hair. The rug was disgusting, and the shelf holding the coffee maker and such was in desperate need of cleaning. (The bathroom was clean, though.) When we left, and a staff member asked how our stay had been, we did point out the cleanliness problem--she came up to take a look, and was quite apologetic; she also said that a new vacuum cleaner had just been purchased. She, like everyone we spoke to there, was very nice. But the issues described above really detracted from our enjoyment of our stay. (Let me add that we are far from fanatical about cleanliness--in fact, we have a pretty high tolerance in that area--but this was really unacceptable.) ||||The problems we experienced may have been unusual and/or temporary, and they could certainly be remedied--the place has many wonderful aspects, and would be a great place to stay if those issues...