Royal Champagne sits on a ridge above the vines between Reims and Épernay, inside the UNESCO-listed Champagne landscape, on the site of a 19th-century coaching inn where travellers changed horses and where Napoleon Bonaparte once stopped. It reopened in 2018 after a four-year restoration that joined the old post house to a modernist wing by architect Giovanni Pace, whose curved, amphitheatre plan turns every room towards the valley. References to bubbles recur throughout, in the metalwork, the light fittings and the etchings on bedroom walls. The spa runs to about 1,500 square metres, with nine treatment rooms, an indoor pool, a heated outdoor pool above the vineyards, a hammam, a sauna and a yoga studio. Chef Christophe Raoux, Meilleur Ouvrier de France in 2015 and trained under Alain Ducasse, oversees both restaurants. Le Royal, under a gilded ceiling hung with 36 blown-glass globes, holds a one-MICHELIN-star rating and serves dinner Tuesday to Saturday; Le Bellevue is the easier table. Head sommelier Philippe Marques runs a cellar led by Champagne. All 47 rooms and suites look over the vines.
- Nearest airport
- Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG), 64 Miles / 103 Kilometres
- Rooms
- 47 rooms and suites, all with vineyard views
Insider tip Book the spa's signature High Technicality Massage, shaped to each guest by the resident therapists.
Why I choose it A restored coaching inn above the Champagne vineyards, with a starred restaurant and the region's first destination spa.