Oliver’s Travels

My extended family booked a château in France for a week’s holiday together. There are a total of 21 of us, who fly in from the four corners of the world to spend time together. Oliver Travels promised us a stately home for our retreat, allowing us to relax and enjoy.
Yeah, not so much.
The first location that we booked sounded fantastic — then Oliver’s came back and said, actually, no, we made a mistake and now you can’t have that location after all. There was not much left available, but having all made the plans for travel, we took the other option, a château in the Aquitaine region of France — read «Middle of Nowhere».
They had promised we could purchase services for cleaning and a chef — neither were available. What we did have to purchase, directly from the owner, were sheets and towels!
The château was in rough condition. There was much broken furniture, and several pieces of furniture labeled not to touch, including a piano. Why have a piano in a family house stay and then say, don’t touch? Our group consists of ages 8 – 86, and it was ridiculous to have nowhere to put your clothes because you were not allowed to open the wardrobes. We were greeted by a page of Rules for the house, including not making noise and no dancing. Reminder, we are in the middle of Ruffiac, a village hamlet of perhaps 2 homes.
The owner’s live on site, in the next house, which was also uncomfortable. He would come by each night and survey, making us feel that we were not at our leisure to enjoy the site. The furnishings are all old, musty and the house has outdoors stairs that were crumbling away, making it unsafe for my grandparents to get around.
We were thrilled to have the time together as a family, but disappointed in the service altogether. For the price, we could have stayed at a hotel in much better surroundings and upkeep, closer to the Bordeaux region, rather than an hour away by car with the owner surveying our every move. We will not use this service again.