The Château du Grand-Lucé is a French national treasure, located in the Loire Valley, a 55-minute train ride from Paris. Constructed between 1760 and 1764 by Baron Jacques Pineau de Viennay, this neoclassical icon was the vanguard of extravagance and luxury – built for noblemen and meant to host both royalty and the profound philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment. Hotel Château is a destination changing property for the Loire Valley, bringing Parisienne sophistication and an elevated level of design and luxury to the garden of France.
Inspired by Baron Pineau de Viennay insistence in exacting every detail with the finest in ultimate savoir faire. Hotel Château opened with the same curated attention, providing today’s elite guests with the Baron’s vision of modern splendor – translated centuries later.
The property itself is magnificent – a private enclave of eighty acres surrounded by the original medieval wall which itself is a piece of historic art. The grounds include perfectly manicured classic French gardens, the Jardin Anglais, set at a lower elevation and receiving the most warmth from the Loire Valley sunshine, the potager gardens and orchards, filled with vegetables, fruits and herbs for the hotel’s kitchen, a lake, fields and meadows, and a historic white oak forest where statues given as a gift from King Louis XV are secreted.
The main château is forty-five thousand square feet built from creamy white tuffeau (a specific and unique French limestone quarried in the village of Le Grand-Lucé). There are numerous additional buildings, fabulous bâtiments, serving the main château well. The former stables have been converted to a stunning ballroom of grand proportions, what was once a laundry house is now an enchanting spa and fitness center with garden views and a private courtyard. Other buildings maintain the same use they have had for centuries – an orangerie, filled with citrus trees during the winter months and a spectacular inspiring space open to possibilities for any event in the warmer months. There are yet-to-be restored buildings that quite possibly are the most beautiful in their unassuming faded grandeur that inspires — with both a distant memory of what was and evoking thoughts of limitless possibilities.
With a nearly religious reverence for all things French and the awe-inspiring history of the Château – the design team has reimagined and repurposed the majesty of the interiors and crafted 17 rooms and suites in breathtaking esprit that is both resplendent and restrained. The floors throughout are limestone and French white oak in varied patterns of stateliness, the walls – painted in shades of authenticity, with wood detail and original boiserie. This stunning backdrop then layered with crystal chandeliers and sconces, sourced from several centuries, fine Persian rugs – judiciously used as to not distract from the floors themselves, custom fabrics from French luminaries like Pierre Frey and Nobilis to the most au courant – Christian Lacroix and Jean-Paul Gaultier, fine art and furnishings recognizing unparalleled design and composition from several hundred years. All juxtaposed in perfect proportions of scale and symmetry, style and design.
Our staff is prepared to exceed expectations. The French valet has been reinterpreted for the new noble – providing the most intuitive of service to all our guests – no longer just the gentleman’s attendant. From unpacking at arrival – to the first café au lait in the morning – to the just perfect selection of fromage et vin, perhaps arranged in a clearing in the forest, to the right cognac in the evening to sip while strolling through the classical garden contemplating the constellations sans city lights. Hotel Château is its own world from which you may wish to never return.