The good points: beautiful setting and buildings. Stylish and very clean, comfortable bedroom with top quality bedding. Less good: the dinner - the food was fine, and surroundings pleasant, but the service was too slow. Two and a half hours for a 3-course meal is excessive. And the glass of red wine was simply horrid, with a bitter aftertaste. So we decided against dinner in the hotel the second night. Breakfast costing €25 pp was buffet style and good/average quality. However neither coffee machine was functioning- (one of these simply needed water), but the only young woman on duty this Saturday didn’t get round to sorting this out so we had a very expensive breakfast without coffee. We felt service was lackluster in this expensive hotel. Parking is in a free public car park behind the hotel, and our room was in the annex of the hotel above the restaurant, so nice and quiet. But we were left to carry our cases up the stairs to our room with no lift. Compared to previous hotels we’ve stayed in on this trip, we felt Aux Ducs de Sienne does not give value for the cost.
Fantastique! We did not book this hotel. It was part of a vineyard walking tour package and we were very happily surprised when the taxi dropped us. It's located perfectly in the heart of St Emilion. Surrounded by medieval buildings and history, we were warmly welcomed into a clean lined and modern interior. On arrival we were given a lot of useful local information before being shown to our beautifully presented room; light and roomy, with a king bed, crisp linen sheets and a pristine ensuite, it ticked all the boxes for us. The hotel also provided daily breakfasts (eggs to order) that were hearty and set us up for our walks. While the town, with its local sites (including the largest underground medieval church in Europe and a specialist wineshop on every corner) and its surrounding vineyards are destinations in themselves, the Badon is a nestled gem in the heart of the action with outstanding service and attention to detail. Highly recommended and we will be back!
Arrived around noon, were told rooms won't be ready till 3pm, despite requesting early check-in (which is a benefit when booking via Hyatt), so we figured out we will spend some time in the spa and pool. Spa experience was a mess. Staff directed us to the changing rooms, but for some reason didn't provide the bathrobes and slippers. Had to go back to front desk to ask for some. Changing rooms didn't have hairdryers, so again had to go to reception with the wet hair and ask for one. Finally got a room key (note that the extra bed is only possible in Deluxe room). Room was spacious and had a separate bathroom and toilet, toilet walls had mould - not sure how this could be allowed in a luxury hotel. We were coming to celebrate a birthday - on such hotel provided a very generous (of course not) welcome gift of a postcard (wow!) and some unwrapped (sick!) chocolates, for which neither front desk, nor housekeeping had ingredients/allregens list available. Not that I really expected anything, but given we are in the heart of winemaking area, one would think a bottle of wine would be a nice touch, but no. We had a breakfast (again as a part of the arrangement for booking via Hyatt) on the terrace. Selection was of good quality, but pretty limited. Parking was free.
Usually, when you stay in an Ibis you know what you are going to get. A no frills room with a comfy bed and decent service. Ibis St Emilion falls below standard. The room whilst clean was tiny, hardly room to even put down my dogs bed, the service from reception was terrible, receptionist was sitting at a table eating burger and chips whilst people were waiting to check in. She told us she couldnt get us a drink from the bar as it was closed until 7pm but then she served some French people before 7 without any problem. The restaurant attached to the hotel was from the La Boucherie chain and the service in there and the food was excellent. Parking was ample & free, dogs accepted at a charge of €5 a night Would I stay again, no. There are better Ibis hotels than this one.