Camping Merry-sur-Yonne

Hi,

Thank you for your review, we always appreciate feedback. However, we feel we must respond to some of the errors in your comments so that other customers are not mislead.

The reason we did not allow you a table (and the reason most restaurants that have a good reputation refuse tables) is that you simply did not reserve and we were very busy.

What you were not aware of is we had a large group who had reserved. You were not also aware that while you were away eating at the other restaurant the 10 tables that 'had' reserved had come, eaten and left by the time you had returned from eating in the next village. The inside was empty as you stated, but the two terraces were full.

We can of course, take every single table that comes in..... this means that those people who reserve have to wait longer - we think this is unacceptable. We want our customers to enjoy a wonderful evening, on the terrace, under the stars. We don't want them waiting an unacceptable amount of time because we've taken too many tables. We're not interested in grabbing every single last euro we can and cramming the restaurant to the roof. We want our customers to have a fabulous experience. If this means refusing tables that haven't booked, then yes, we will do that.

We had also been doing a wine tasting event for campers - free of charge - tasting lovely local wines from within a 15km radius. If you had come earlier, you could also have benefited from this free activity and tasted some of the amazing wines that are produced on our doorstep.

I disagree with you regarding that the menu choice is better at the other restaurant than ours - we had on the menu that night (that you did not reserve) : Beef Bourguignon, Jambon Chablisenne, Oysters with caviar, langoustines and champagne, tuna marinated in strawberries, honey, coriander and teryaki, locally reared pheasant in mustard and cream sauce, whole quail stuffed with apple and prunes, locally sourced sirloin steak with a peppercorn sauce; our desserts included homemade pistachio creme brulee, homemade orange and grand marnier ice cream with strawberries and shortbread, eton mess, apple tart with apples made from the orchard in the village 2km away..... Plus (and here's a good fact...) the restaurant you mentioned only serves two choices of each course in the evening!

The argument you fail to make regarding your husband driving 400 miles and expecting us to cater for you simply on that basis is naive at best. You simply should have thought about phoning and confirming a table if you were driving so far without any food on arrival. How did you even know if we opened on a Tuesday evening? The restaurant you mentioned doesn't open on Sunday or Monday evenings, so had you come the day before, you couldn't have gone there - we are at least open 7 days a week. Had you had the foresight to phone in advance, we'd have happily taken your table reservation (as happened tonight with other customers travelling a long way and arriving late...).

Also regarding our other campers, who are multiple nationalities, not just British, looking down on you as a tenter, I think that is simply your interpreation. We have many, many tenters who fully enjoy their stay. We have campers with small camper vans, large camper vans, small caravans and huge American caravans. Everyone gets along perfectly well.

We honestly feel that due to the bad management of your trip and false expectations, you have left us a less-than-perfect review on the basis that you have had a tantrum because we refused you a table in the restaurant because you didn't have the foresight to book in advance. It is August. We're fully booked. We don't have any pitches spare yet you expect to arrive late and waltz in to a busy restaurant that not just serves the campsite but all the local villages around and eat without a reservation? Had we been driving 400 miles to a campsite with a restaurant, we'd have had the foresight to phone in advance to check it was actually open that night and able to take us.

The other reviews we have here on pitchup and on other sites don't agree with you.

Thank you for the positives about the cleanliness and beauty of the campsite and local area. You seemed to think that the facilities needed renovating but they were completely new in 2018.... I don't think you've visited many French campsites. Please read the many 10/10 and 100% reviews about our facilities...... not just on PitchUp but on all the other sites and social media.

We would actually love you to come back, make a reservation for our restaurant and let us show you what we can achieve. Our head chef was trained in a Michelin starred restaurant. We serve amazing, locally sourced food, in a beautiful and relaxing environment. But, please, book in advance!