Villa Gallici, Aix-en-Provence

My wife and I have travelled extensively with relais & chateux and had great expectations of this property. The price was quite high, but we thought it would probably be worth it. It turned out to be the worst relais & chateux place we've ever stayed. Our room was extremely dark with almost no natural light and very dim electrical lighting. In addition the room smelled very musty and old. The carpet in the room was stained as was the marble in the bathroom. It also had no shower. Our supposedly "garden view" room had an extremely small (1 meter by 2 meter) gravel area with a hedge blocking any view of anything. When we asked if we could have another room that wasn't so poorly appointed, we were told there was one available for one night, but not the other two nights of our stay. We asked for a manager and were told one would not be available until the following day. He was not available by 10:30am the following day.. Our experience was so poor that we checked out the next morning. No one ever called us to inquire why we checked out early, but we were still charged for a night that we didn't stay, even though they weren't full. A couple of days later I called to speak with someone about not being charged for the night we hadn't stayed and was told that we would be charged as that was part of the cancellation policy. I informed them that we didn't cancel, but that the accomadations and service were totally unacceptable. I would have thought in a service industry like this there would be a desire to be gracious to the customer, but no such response. So we were charge over 500euros for a room we didn't stay in. Our travel agent also complained to the Villa Gallici and to Relais & Chateux - to no avail. It's not the money I'm disappointed in so much as the disinterest and poor service at a place that should be at the highest level of customer service and satisfaction. Don't make the same mistake we did.

Villa Gallici is wonderful. The rooms clean and the staff friendly. We loved coming back to dine at the hotel after our daily excursions. The restaurant is superb. We enjoyed the service and the wine that Marc picked every evening for us.

Amazing service from this hidden gem in Aix, 10 min walk from Cours Mirabeau. Rooms are lavishly decorated but very comfortable in local countryside designs