A review of Airelles, Le Grand Contrôle at Versailles

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Dédié à ma grand-mère. Dedicated to my Granny, who loved all things French, all things history and all things royal.

I’ve never stayed anywhere *quite* like this hotel. It offers something truly special and unique – after hours access to the Palace of Versailles – whilst staying in the epitome of sumptuous luxury in a hotel attached to said Palace. Pair that with 10/10 service and facilities and you have the making of one of the most special places at which I’ve ever had the privilege of staying.


Located directly next to (attached) to The Palace of Versailles, Le Grand Contrôle is the former home of the King’s Financial Controller – appropriate given my job!

Versailles is a former royal residence of the French Kings commissioned by King Louis XIV (he of the large hair), located about 10 miles from Paris. It is truly opulent, like an enhanced Buckingham Palace, and lies in acres of parkland and gardens to enjoy.

The hotel is set within the Palace of Versailles grounds

Getting to Le Grand Contrôle is simple – this is a luxury hotel, so there is a limousine service to pick you up and drop you off from wherever you may be, as long as you’re in the vicinity of Paris. This covers airports, train stations, or city centre hotels.


Pauline, our butler, checked my Mum and I in and showed us to our room. We were upgraded to a suite, and found ourselves in the Loménie de Brienne Suite.

The suite was absolutely beautifully done in 18th Century style (though probably not what I’d choose for my living room!). Through the suite door we walked to a corridor, which led to a sumptuous living area decorated in pinks and reds, leading through to a shower room, and separate toilet – all in beautiful neutral stone and well appointed.

Our living area

Back out to the corridor and it was through to the gigantic bedroom with 18th century furniture, a fireplace and the comfiest bed you’ve ever slept in with luxury sheets.

After that it was through between the wardrobes to yet another corridor leading to another toilet, a desk area overlooking Versailles and through to a second bathroom housing a roll top bath.

The excellence was in the details. No normal rubbish hairdryer – it was a Dyson. No charged minibar – it was free and stocked with jelly babies, macarons, home made chocolate, alcohol and soft drinks. No basic slippers – there was a whole pressed night gown, with padded slippers and a silk eye mask. You get the picture, it was BEAUTIFUL.

WOW Mum and I said – we couldn’t believe we were able to stay somewhere like this. We truly felt like royal Queens.


Food and drink at the hotel is posh, to say the least. At breakfast we were seated in a glorious dining room complete with chandeliers and all the tableware overlooking the gardens. Choices were served from a menu (you could order everything if you wanted for no extra charge), so we tucked in to poached eggs, porridge, avocado toast and some crepes with a cup of tea. Champagne is also on offer if you so wish, as are multiple juice choices served from an old globe (of course!).

For dinner, you can order off the a la carte menu, or elect to stay at the hotel on a Royal Stay – meaning you are served a 5 course meal inspired by 18th Century French dishes. The Feast was designed in partnership with Alain Ducasse (he of 21 Michelin star fame).

We tucked in to everything from sole, to venison, to Fois Gras and caviar, as well as some lovely wine. In total the meal took us 3 hours to get through, and we slept very soundly afterwards!


The hotel offers a number of sumptuous communal rooms to enjoy, including a gorgeous sitting room and an upstairs library perfect for curling up and reading a book on a cold day.

In the library

There is also a beautiful Valmont spa with luxury loungers to sit and enjoy the pool, or indulge in a massage/treatment from the extensive spa menu.

In the spa

But let’s talk about the main star of the show. The hotel offers after/pre hours tours of the Palace of Versailles so there’s no need to see it with all the crowds. We took an after hours tour of the King’s Apartments, including the Hall of Mirrors. Can you even believe how utterly amazing it is?!

The King’s Library

We also took a pre hours tour of Le Petit Trianon, Marie Antoinette’s house. The guides were absolutely amazing, and we learned so much about history, art and French culture of the time. It was so special to see these amazing places without the crowds and we absolutely loved both tours.

Finally, the hotel also offers golf buggies to self drive around the estate – again you could do this pre or post opening hours to enjoy the Palace’s grounds without other tourists. This was so much fun to do and we had a blast exploring.

Versailles to myself – Happy Hannah

Underpinning all these experience the service at Airelles is second to none. Our butler Pauline was there for everything we needed – from getting us blankets for the golf buggies as it was cold out, to changing our departure time twice so we could have longer in the hotel, to insisting we have a photo in front of the tree, to meticulous service at breakfast and dinner, we really did feel like we had the royal treatment.


My Granny would have loved this experience, and Mum and I toasted to her while we had our dinner. It was such a special thing to do with my Mum and I am so grateful to Airelles for having us. I hope you enjoyed the post – stay safe and happy travelling!

34 responses to “A review of Airelles, Le Grand Contrôle at Versailles”

  1. You had an unforgettable experience staying at the Palace of Versailles; truly a time you’ll look back on in the years to come! A perfect way to spend the holidays. 🎄

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It was truly amazing Rebecca, once in a lifetime 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Lovely place! Sounds like a fantastic time!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It was absolutely incredible – hope you’ve had a lovely Christmas 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  3. How wonderful Hannah. Staying at the Palace of Versailles is what memories are made of!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It really is, it was super special. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas Marion.

      Liked by 1 person

  4. That does sound and look like an amazing place to stay, and to have access to the Palace of Versailles…oh, my! Exquisite decor with stunning historical features, wow!! Thanks for sharing your grand adventure, Hannah 🙂 Wishing for you and yours a fabulous 2024!!!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you so much Phil, it was truly an amazing place to be able to stay 🙂 And same to you as well, I hope you’ve had a lovely Christmas and festive holiday season 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  5. Oh my; what an amazing experience for you and your mom! This hotel looks completely opulent, but to get to enjoy Versailles without the crowds seems like the icing on the cake. I imagine you two will be talking about this for many years to come. I hope you have a safe and happy new year!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It was so special, we had such an experience – the likes of which we will never get again that’s for sure. Very special memories 🙂 Thank you, and I hope you’re having a wonderful holiday season back in the US!

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Oh wow, what an incredible experience!! The hotel’s breathtakingly beautiful (I love the spa!), but getting the chance to tour Versailles sans tourists is such a treat. Looking forward to reading your upcoming posts about your trip 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It was really beautifully done, they paid attention to every small detail 🙂 The Versailles tours were so incredibly special. I hope you’ve had a wonderful Christmas!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thanks Hannah! Hope you’ve had a wonderful Christmas, too 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  7. Wow, wow, wow- to stay at Versailles!!! The whole place is absolutely stunning! What an experience that might just put to shame any other place youll ever stay. What a lovely way to celebrate your grandmother. Im sure she was there enjoying the moment with you 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It was soooo special, and thank you – I hope she was looking down on us and revelling in the experience 🙂 It was definitely special and I don’t think we’ll ever get to stay anywhere like it again! I hope you’ve had a wonderful Christmas Meg x

      Liked by 1 person

  8. Anonymous

    Oh my goodness! Talk about opulent. I didn’t even know this was a thing you could do but it certainly seems worth the splurge.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Sounds like a luxurious place to stay. How nice to share that experience with your mom. The suite looks lovely and quite spacious. I’m sure it was really nice to go on an after hours tour to avoid the crowds and swarms of people that would otherwise obstruct your pictures.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It was such a special experience to share with my Mum and we had the best time – thanks as always for stopping by and taking the time to comment!

      Liked by 1 person

  10. Wow! What an amazing stay. You really must have felt like royalty. And to spend it with your mum is so special. Happy Christmas and New Year Hannah! Maggie

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It was truly special – an amazing thing to be able to do 🙂 Happy Christmas and New Year to you too, Maggie

      Liked by 1 person

  11. OMG! This hotel tops them all! I just can’t believe the luxury! I think I would be afraid to stay there in case I broke or dirtied anything! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It was absolutely nuts, just incredibly opulent and magical. Thanks so much for stopping by and reading 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  12. I visited Versailles two summers ago and I didn’t even know there was a hotel attached to the palace. What a magical place overall, but what an incredible experience to actually stay in Versailles! Definitely adding this to my list.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It was really special, I still can’t quite believe we got to experience it!! Thanks for taking the time to read and comment Liz – happy new year!

      Liked by 1 person

  13. […] Back from Thailand, the second half of November and pretty much all of December was again lost to work. However, just before Christmas I managed to steal a weekend away to Paris with my Mum. We did something truly special and stayed at the hotel attached to the Palace of Versailles. […]

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  14. This is such a special experience to have with your mom. I know your Granny was with you in spirit. I just love this so much! Such a bucket list experience and I hope to do this one day. Visiting Versailles was one of my favorite memories of my travels to date.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. ❤ It was amazing, and I can't recommend it highly enough as a bucketlist option one day 🙂

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  15. Wow – what a wonderful experience, Hannah – it looks amazing. I’d go for the jellybeans alone!! And how lovely to tour the Palace after hours.
    Hope it doesn’t give you ‘notions’ as we say in these here parts! Or – is this what we can expect from ALL your travels from now on!!!!!!!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks so much Marie it was absolutely spectacular. Unfortunately I don’t think this is the baseline expectation for my travels now, but oh how I wish it was haha! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  16. Wow, I admire you who were able to find enough adjectives to be able to describe your wonderful stay here! Oh hang on, free macarons … this is where you convinced me it’s a luxury hotel (see, I’m not asking for much)! Everything is beautiful – it’s definitely very close to a royal stay!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. HA – my mum went mad for the macarons as well so I couldn’t agree more 🙂 It truly was a royal stay and it’s hard adjusting back to being a normal commoner again!! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  17. […] weekend, my Mum and I did something a little bit special. We went to stay at the Palace of Versailles for the night (post coming soon)! But not content with just 1 night in Paris, we added a day on to […]

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  18. […] my stay at Airelles, Le Grand Contrôle, a hotel within the grounds of The Palace of Versailles, I was so privileged to be able to go on an […]

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  19. […] my recent stay at Airelles, Le Grand Contrôle, another out of hours tour I had the privilege of enjoying was of Le Petit Trianon (literally […]

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About the author

Hi! My name is Hannah, I’m a travel blogger from the UK who fits travel around a full time (and full on) job. In this blog I share my adventures around the world and hopefully help you to find some inspiration for destinations, things to do or places to stay. Thanks for stopping by – stay safe and happy travelling.

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