Such a bad experience that I cannot even give one star. My husband and I traveled nearly 30 minutes by taxi to go to dinner at this hotel’s restaurant, Le Séran. We had stayed at Chateau D’Audrieu 30 years ago, during our first time in Normandy. This time, our fourth visit, we wanted to stay closer to the D-Day landing beaches. However, when our travel agent recommended dinner at Chateau d’Audrieu, we found ourselves full of enthusiastic anticipation. The approach up the long drive to the chateau was more impressive than we’d remembered, but that’s where the good experience stopped. When we got out of our taxi and made our way towards the chateau, a gardener shouted at us asking if we were there for the hotel or for the restaurant. Once a direction was established, we proceeded through the door to what looked to be an erstwhile dining room. The one featured online but missing any of the finery. It seemed to be more like a large staging area or store room. We encountered a perspiring young man as we found ourselves in his hurried path and he seemed to be somewhat of a deer caught in the headlights. He was nervous, if not concerned to see us. When we told him we were looking for the restaurant, he uncertainly indicated that we should continue outside to the back. There, we found ourselves on a practically empty terrace where a handful of hotel guests had gathered informally at one table. Otherwise, no one else was in sight, and there weren’t any tables set for any kind of dining whatsoever. Certainly no evidence of a venue for fine dining, and particularly none worth our time and expense from Porte-en-Bessin! As the surreal experience set in, we were shown to an ordinary garden table for two that had been hastily and spartanly set for two. My husband had to ask for someone to get us some drinks. It took an eternity to get 2 glasses of wine, but in the meantime, a 3-part amuse-bouche that had a pre-fab look about it was plunked down in front of us. These hors-d’œuvres looked as if they’d been plucked out of a catering box and plopped onto our plates. Everything seemed as if the few employees who were there were trying to pull off a charade to make us believe we’d found the right place! Incredibly sorry to have let our taxi go, our first priority was to ask anyone we saw to call to have it come back. If we hadn’t been so far from our hotel and in such a remote location, we would have certainly gotten up and left on foot. We were literally sitting on a deserted garden terrace that could have accommodated about 40 people. Yet, we were only 2 of about 7 people, feeling unsettled and duped and wondering how we’d be able to see a hand in front of our faces, let alone a fork, unless a light source was to magically materialize. Translation: absolutely no ambience or artificial lighting whatsoever. After being unceremoniously handed menus one might find in an ordinary café, we were expected to order almost immediately from a choice of 3 options: the chef’s
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