Chateau de la Lande

As I had been following along with the Chateau Diaries since it began some years ago, I was beyond excited to actually have the opportunity to stay in the chateau and meet the inhabitants! Stephanie and Phillip were absolutely charming hosts and chatted freely to all of the guests. Nati was friendly, attentive and greeted us warmly upon our arrival. (A bonus was the lovely Armoury collecting us from nearby Chateauroux station)! The rooms, the grounds, the chapel, the woods, the potager .... the list goes on were all wonderful. However the most magical experience was just feeling the genuine happiness and love that lives within the walls of this chateau. Merci beaucoup to all, and thank you for the birthday song and candle at dinner:))

I was both a YouTube follower and patron of the Chateau before traveling to France to stay there. I'm not anymore. I was treated like an inconvenience and an interloper. All I can say is DON'T GO. The volunteers were not paid to run the place so they had no reason to be accommodating and in some cases, they were outright rude. There was no heat in October and I was freezing - there is not a hot water bottle in existence that can keep you warm enough. They did not answer their landline and did not respond to WhatsApp when I needed important information. There was a skeleton staff of 2 people for the first 3 days of my visit so I was essentially alone in the gigantic edifice. It was eerily quiet and desolate. I was not greeted warmly but rather was grilled about my Pass Sanitaire - which I luckily secured before leaving the US. If I hadn't gotten one I would not have been able to stay there and they didn't even tell me I needed one. I was never thanked or acknowledged for my patronage and I was there for 8 days! The owner did not even take the time to talk to me for more than a few minutes much less make me feel welcome. And it needs to be said that the building is in dire need of basic repairs - It is much more "grubby" and run down then I was lead to believe and there is no safety compliance. The money being donated through Patreon is not being used to renovate but rather to decorate. There were no shutters on the windows of my apartment, no locks on the apartment door, and the cement spiral stairs had no railing. No one offered to help me get my luggage up the stairs and I am elderly and arthritic. I was basically ignored. The whole experience was a bitter disappointment. I know there are many others who have had the same experience and have not posted here but I wish they would. If you want to have an experience like the guests you see on YouTube you will be taking your chances - Don't say you weren't warned.