Rick

Looking for suggestions for a nice hotel in Champagne region to kick-off our honeymoon. Any help would be appreciated.

Ismael Libanio

Rick, <BR>the best hotel and restaurant in the Champagne region is "Les Crayeres" chef and owner Gerard Boyer in Reims. One of the "Relaix & Chateaux" hotels and restaurants. Expensive but worth every cent. <BR>Enjoy, Ismael

Rich

Rick, <BR> <BR>I have not stayed here but am considering the “Château de Fère” for a future trip. It is about 90 km from CDG Airport and is part of the Small and Luxury Hotels of the World group. <BR> <BR>Address: <BR>Route de Fismes <BR>02130 Fère-en Tardenois, France <BR> <BR>Tel: +33 3 23 82 21 13 <BR>Fax: +33 3 23 82 37 81 <BR> <BR>Website: http://www.slh.com/pages/c/chafraa.html <BR> <BR>Congratulations! Enjoy your trip. Rich <BR>

elaine

Here is a second, resounding yes! for <BR>les Crayeres <BR>Also very easy to reach, either by taxi from train station, or by car. <BR>They can also arrange a private tour of the Pommery champagne caves.

Rick

Thanks for the input. Unfortunately, Les Crayeres is sold out for the dates we'll be in Champagne. Have any of you heard of Chateau d'Etoges? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Phil

Rick, <BR> <BR>I just got back from my own honeymoon in France last month and, like you, we started out in Champagne. We dined at Les Crayeres but saved a few bucks on the accommodations by staying at Chateau de Courcelles, a Relais & Chateaux property 20 minutes east of Reims. The 300-year old main building sits on a large, quiet parcel of land in the countryside and boasts a highly-rated dining room. Excellent service as well; for example, occupancy was low on the night we stayed there and we were given a junior suite for the price of a superior room. <BR> <BR>The Chateau d'Etoges was our second choice. It looks nice, and seems to offer good value, but it's located 25 minutes or so south of Epernay. Depending on your itinerary, that may not be a good base for you - it wasn't for us. <BR> <BR>If you need some tips on other great hotels and restaurants in the east half of France, let me know.

kam

Highly, highly recommend the Royal Champagne in Champillon, very near the town of Epernay. Dinners are delightful and you will be located in the heart of the Champagne. The hotel can arrange reservations for you to visit various cellars. In Epernay are Moet et Chandon, Perrier Jouet, Charbaut, Mercier. The area is also rich in WWI history. From the Champagne region you can easily get over to Strasbourg and the Alsace wine road as well. Have fun.

Rick

Thanks, Phil and Kam for the input. Since I don't know the region as well as you two, I'm curious about it's location relative to champagne houses and other things we might want to see. As it's the beginning of the honeymoon, we may want to just put our feet up for the first day or two, but will probably want to explore the area as well. I'm guessing that you all think this is too far removed from the local attractions. Can you expand on that and why you chose the hotels you did? Thanks!

kam

Hi Rick, We chose to visit Champagne two years ago after a business meeting in Paris. We have been to various other areas of France and decided we wanted to see Alsace this time. My husband is very much into wine and we both are interested in Medieval history, so we wanted to see Reims and the cathedral there. The two principal wine cities in Champagne are Reims and Epernay. Epernay is a little easier to visit so we decided to base there and do a daytrip to Reims. We chose the Royal Champagne hotel based on Karen Brown's France book as she has never disappointed us in the past. We tend to like hotels out of the main cities with good restaurants(and wine lists) and with some individual charm though not necessarily grand. The Royal Champagne used to be an inn on the post road from Reims and was also a military facility during Napoleon's time. It's close to Epernay but not in town ,set among the vineyards, and is peaceful and has a wonderfully helpful staff and excellent restaurant. We stayed two nights and felt that we had seen Champagne well enough to then move on to Alsace. While Champagne is rich in history, there is not much left after the two world wars. Wine tasting in the region is very different than what we do here in California--many of the "houses" require that you make a reservation and then take a tour before being allowed to taste. While Champagne is an easy drive from Paris, if truth be told, we enjoyed the wine road through Alsace more and would like to return there sometime. You might find the hotel on www.karenbrown.com

Phil

Rick, <BR> <BR>We chose the Chateau de Courcelles because (i) it was a little less expensive than Les Crayeres and the Royal Champagne, but looked great anyway, (ii) it was a Relais & Chateaux property, a sign of quality that rarely lets me down, and (iii) it was located near Reims. <BR> <BR>The location was important since we flew into Paris on an overnight flight from Canada. From CDG, we took the main autoroute into Champagne, which leads to Reims. After a tour of the cathedral (very nice, but more important historically than aesthetically) and visits to a couple of the big champagne houses in town, it was an easy trip to the Chateau for a much-needed afternoon nap. This set us up nicely for dinner at Les Crayeres back in Reims that night. The next day, we were well-rested for a full day of tasting en route to and within Epernay. <BR> <BR>In short, the Reims area is best if you want to keep the driving on day one to a minimum. Reims is also larger than Epernay and has a greater number of non-wine-related attractions. Epernay may be better for you if you're comfortable with a longer initial drive and don't need to be near Reims for dining. <BR> <BR>From a wine perspective, almost all of the major houses are in either Reims or Epernay and many of the minor one are somewhere in between. You can get into quite a few of them without an appointment. If you are relatively new to champagne, a tour may be a good idea; the one offered at Moet & Chandon is a safe bet, even if the tasting at the end is less than inspirational. Take the time also to visit at least one small vigneron in the countryside. My favourite stop was at Pierre Moncuit, where you can find stellar champagne made from 100% chardonnay at bargain prices. In any year, the Cuvee Nicole Moncuit is highly recommended, and bottles of the excellent 1990 vintage are still available for a mere US$25 or so. <BR> <BR>I should note that I used Karen Brown's guide to inns in France (as opposed to her B&B guide, which is quite a different thing) throughout my visit and found her recommendations to be very sound. I would also recommend buying a wine guide - I would tell you my personal choice, but I wouldn't want to upset our forum's hosts...

kam

Yes, it was Karen Brown's Inns of France that we used as well. Agree also that the Relais et Chateaux hotels are always winners throughout the world. I think it's generally accepted that Les Crayeres in the best restaurant in Reims--hard to go wrong.