Chateau de Bagnols

CHATEAU DE BAGNOLS IS ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU believe in fairytales. Step across the drawbridge and moat, and you are encircled by medieval pierres dorees – honey coloured stone that positively glows in the evening light. Set against the green Beaujolais vineyards and hills, it is now arguably the world’s finest vineyard chateau hotel.

Rescued from near dereliction 20 years ago by Lady Hamlyn, Château de Bagnols has been wonderfully and atmospherically restored. Renaissance frescoes discovered during four years of painstaking works now shine from walls and ceilings in all their former glory.

Vast rooms are the stuff of romance, filled with stunning decorative flourishes and beautiful pieces. One of the finest gothic fireplaces in Europe dominates the Grand salon, while others are adorned with antiques and silver and glass objets d’art set against opulent velvets, wood panelling and marble.

Four-posters – just the place to play the princess and the page, perhaps – are dressed in crisp Swiss bedlinen and draped with shimmering silks and velvets, while monastic stone floors add yet more visual drama. Huge clawfoot baths, enveloping fluffy towels, bottles of fragrance and local lavender add indulgence to baronial bathrooms.

Breakfast beneath the trees

Suites come with huge sofas, while rooms in the converted stables and carriage house have a more rustic-contemporary feel and bucolic views. Outside, you’ll find towers, terraces and parkland with sweeping views to complete the idyll. Breakfast on the terrace beneath the lime trees makes a superlative to start to the day.

Château de Bagnols’ gastronomic restaurant, Salle des Gardes exemplifies the gastronomy this area’s famous for. Expect traditional dishes working with the seasons, spit-roasted game and seductive modern dishes. You’ll see the culinary brigade preparing your dinner in the bustling, open-to-view kitchens. The vaulted stone cellars are stuffed with some of the great vintages of Burgundy and Beaujolais.

Despite its grandeur, Château de Bagnols is far from overpowering or stuffily formal, and contrives to feel relaxed and private. Service and personal attention second to none.

From here you can take off with a picnic basket and follow vine trails through Beaujolais and Burgundy countryside. Lyon with its vieille ville, tennis and balloon rides are just some of the other diversions to tempt you away from this Burgundian heaven.

© Room for Romance