Relais de Chambord – 4*

REGION : Chambord – Centre Val de Loire
ATMOSPHERE : Countryside
STYLE : Royal annex
CATEGORY : 4*
ROOMS : 56 rooms and suites

Royal splendor

What if you were to spend the night in the heart of the 5,440 hectares of the National Estate of Chambord and discover, in the morning, the turrets, the chimneys and the windows of the largest Renaissance castle in the Loire Valley from your window? This is a privilege, a luxury, or rather, a royal favor granted by the Relais de Chambord, a 4* boutique-hotel located barely two hundred meters from the castle of Chambord, in a former outbuilding that once lived as a post office relay.

RESTORED, EXTENDED, AND ELEVATED by architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, the place now houses, good sir, a gastronomic restaurant, brasserie, bar, spa and 56 charming rooms and suites. Ideal for playing prince and princess, the decoration is cozy, refined, worldly and mixes styles by exposing old garden tools (Guillaume Pellerin collection), ceramics by Ettore Sottsass, contemporary lights designed by Marcel Wanders and Johanna Grawunder, old manuscripts, and engravings…

EVERYWHERE, THE ROYAL HOMESTREAD comes back to life. Omnipresent without being oppressive, the spectacular 16th century castle, commissioned by King François I, dominates the exterior view but also decorates the rooms’ interiors (classic, superior, deluxe, junior suite…). Many of the rooms face the castle, while the others overlook the Cosson River and the Place Saint-Louis. All of them are dressed with masterful “photo-graphic” trompe l’oeil effect headboards, using architectural details (cornices, cherubs, Leonardo da Vinci’s double staircase…), sculpted facades, and surrounding forests. A suite on the water, the Toue du Relais, completes the collection, proposing to stay in a flat-bottomed boat typical of navigation on the Loire.
CHAMBORD RED reigns supreme, sometimes stepping aside to usher in a flamboyant tangerine orange or a few touches of plum around the fireplace. A welcoming, warm kingdom, a perfect site for enjoying one of the most beautiful castles in the history of France, a Unesco World Heritage Site.

To do

RESTAURANTS – Led by the chef Rita Silva, the gastronomic table Le Grand Saint-Michel cheerfully picks from the gourmet jewels of its land (vegetables from the castle’s garden, Sologne caviar, Orleans mustard…) while the Table du Bistro offers, as its name suggests, seasonal bistro cuisine.
BAR – Dressed in pewter, leather and brass, the Bar du Relais is lovely to take a drink.
BRASSERIE – To enjoy the view with a bit of a nibble, the Armes du Château serves salads, burgers, pasta…
SPA – Hammam, sauna, outdoor jacuzzi with view and Nuxe treatment rooms.
PARKING – 10 € / day.

The surrounding area

• Walking or biking in the woods, in the heart of the largest nature reserve in Europe, to rub shoulders with the deer, wild boars and foxes that inhabit the forest.
• Visit the Chambord castle, the vineyard, the gardens, the vegetable garden…
• Horseback riding
• Sailing on the Cosson river or on the Loire
• Hot air balloon flights
• Gastronomic food-tour
• Route of the Loire castles
• Wine tourism