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France's most beautiful chateau hotels

Château de la Treyne has history, drama, and magnificent views of the Dordogne river
Château de la Treyne has history, drama, and magnificent views of the Dordogne river

If you've ever fancied being king or queen of your very own castle - here are 15 chateau hotels in France where you can do just that. Featuring regal interiors, turreted rooms, pools with vineyard views, Michelin-starred dining and more - in locations including the Dordogne, Provence and Normandy.

Dordogne

Chateau de Lalande

Annesse-et-Beaulieu, Dordogne, France

9Telegraph expert rating

This creamy stone chateau has smoky-blue shutters; traditional, pitched roof; and pea-green vines. Public areas mirror a private home, with no formal reception and books in the Grand Salon to make it feel reassuringly lived in. Yet features like the pool, wisteria-festooned terrace and contemporary outdoor sculptures ensure guests feel spoilt. Read expert review From £111 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

Château de Maraval, Aquitaine
Château de Maraval, Aquitaine

Château de Maraval

Cénac-et-Saint-Julien, Aquitaine, France

9Telegraph expert rating

Design buffs dreaming of their own exclusive pied à terre in Dordogne’s rural heart will find their match with Château de Maraval, a luxurious maison d’hôte with sharp contemporary design in a 15th-century chateau. Swanky spa, pool and centurion park are all heaven on earth. Guests share a supremely elegant lounge with designer furniture, polished white marble floor and central steam fireplace with lifelike flames. Read expert review From £159 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

Château Le Mas de Montet, Dordogne
Château Le Mas de Montet, Dordogne

Château Le Mas de Montet

Petit-Bersac, Aquitaine, France

8Telegraph expert rating

Château Le Mas de Montet appears like a fictitious mirage amid a luxuriant cloak of velvet green lawn and century-old oaks, sequoias, chestnuts and linden trees; straight out of a picture book. Muck about in the river, grab a bike to pedal around, trek on horseback, climb sequoia trees: hotel life here is buckets of outdoor fun. Read expert review From £777 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

Château de la Treyne, Dordogne
Château de la Treyne, Dordogne

Château de la Treyne

Dordogne, France

9Telegraph expert rating

This turreted fairy-tale chateau has history, drama, and magnificent views of the Dordogne River. Handsome period rooms, a Michelin-starred restaurant and exquisite service ensure a happy ending every time. Several rooms have four-poster beds and striking original features: an incredible Gothic woodwork ceiling; a painted vaulted ceiling; a 14th-century spider web of exposed beams; polished Versailles parquet. Read expert review From £140 per night

Château de Castel Novel, Dordogne
Château de Castel Novel, Dordogne

Château de Castel Novel

Varetz, Dordogne, France

9Telegraph expert rating

'Simple luxury’ is the strapline of this sensational chateau – the very castle where celebrated French writer Colette lived and wrote several novels in the early 20th century. Luxurious, individually designed rooms are a mix of periods and styles, and Michelin-starred dining venerates regional gastronomy. With its mirage of mesmerising witch hat-capped turrets and stately red-brick walls, the 18th-century building is everything a French chateau should be - and more. Read expert review From £122 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

The best hotels in the Dordogne

Provence and Côte d'Azur

Chateau de Mazan hotel, Provence
Chateau de Mazan hotel, Provence

Château de Mazan

Mazan, Provence, France

9Telegraph expert rating

This honey-toned château retains an 18th-century dignity. Within, ancient integrity is intact in halls, salons and stairways – but it’s enlivened by a brilliantly eclectic decorative approach. Classical portraits hang near Indian textiles and drapes, African art crops up in the least expected places and, in the corridor, there’s a life-sized mannequin of crooner Charles Trenet. Read expert review From £115 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

Chateau Saint-Martin hotel, Vence, Cote d'Azur
Chateau Saint-Martin hotel, Vence, Cote d'Azur

Château Saint-Martin & Spa

Vence, Provence, France

9Telegraph expert rating

This revamped retreat hidden in the hills promises low-key luxury, olive groves to lose yourself in and a restorative spa to find yourself in. Then let the romantic Michelin-starred restaurant work its magic. Wandering through the 34-acre estate to the scene-stealing pool confirms the feeling that the chateau's greatest luxury is its setting, with its sense of space and serenity. Read expert review From £370 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

Château de Valmer hotel, La Croix-Valmer, France
Château de Valmer hotel, La Croix-Valmer, France

Château de Valmer

La Croix-Valmer, Côte d'Azur, France

9Telegraph expert rating

This family owned Relais & Châteaux hotel set amid its own vineyards offers the best of both worlds: countryside and seaside in a quieter, less posey part of the Côte d’Azure. It has a quiet dignity and is furnished with antiques and family heirlooms, and there is a comfy sitting room with fireplace for colder evenings. Read expert review From £242 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

The 50 best hotels in France for summer

Normandy

Chateau de Chantore Hotel
Chateau de Chantore Hotel

Chateau de Chantore

Bacilly, Normandy, France

9Telegraph expert rating

This country chateau rises, brick and dressed stone, amid grounds of epic tranquility. Within, it is true to its 18th-century self. Treasures abound. There are also views to the Mont-St-Michel. The Baroque bedroom is redder than any room would dare be today; the Marquis more subdued in gold. Read expert review From £172 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

Château la Chenevière, Normandy, France
Château la Chenevière, Normandy, France

Château la Chenevière

Port-en-Bessin, Normandy, France

9Telegraph expert rating

With its bright, elegant rooms and two fine restaurants using garden-fresh ingredients, this peaceful country-house hotel makes a supremely relaxing rural retreat. It has a definite boutique feel, with fewer than 30 rooms. Above all, it’s the majestic ancient trees – including cedar, sequoia and stunning ginkgo belobas – that give the estate its timeless, unhurried character. Read expert review From £413 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

The best hotels in Normandy

Aquitaine

Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey
Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey

Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey

Sauternes, Bordeaux, France

8Telegraph expert rating

Set within a patchwork of vines in Sauternes is this honey-coloured château, whose gatehouse and wall towers date back to the 13th century. The château’s wines were bought by Thomas Jefferson on his travels in Bordeaux in 1788, and now Lafaurie-Peyraguey has opened as a luxury hotel with Michelin-starred restaurant. There are bikes to borrow to ride through the countryside and wine tastings are held. Read expert review From £225 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

The best hotels in Aquitaine

Château Cordeillan-Bages, France
Château Cordeillan-Bages, France

Château Cordeillan-Bages

Pauillac, Aquitaine, France

9Telegraph expert rating

Château Cordeillan Bages languishes on one of the most prestigious wine-growing estates in the Haut-Médoc. Contemporary rooms enjoy Italian designer furniture and two Michelin-starred dining overlooks the vines. Guests can even try blending their own Bordeaux vintage. Inside you'll find just the right mix of contemporary design and traditional vintage befitting of a turreted chartreuse (country mansion), constructed from local gold stone in the mid-19th century. Read expert review From £249 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

The best hotels in Bordeaux

Champagne

Domaine Les Crayeres, Reims, Champagne, France
Domaine Les Crayeres, Reims, Champagne, France

Domaine Les Crayeres

Reims, Champagne, France

9Telegraph expert rating

Les Crayères is a class act from start to finish. Walk in manicured grounds, book Champagne cellar tours and tastings, dine in two Michelin-starred finery, and drink deep of the regal ambience at this hyper-luxe Reims retreat. You’ll feel like French royalty the minute you arrive and clap eyes on its elegant colonnade, Belle Epoque-style mansard roof and topiary-framed parterre. Read expert review From £337 per night

The best hotels in Champagne

Languedoc-Roussillon

chateau les carrasses, languedoc roussillon, france
chateau les carrasses, languedoc roussillon, france

Château Les Carrasses

Quarante, Languedoc-Roussillon, France

9Telegraph expert rating

A turreted 19th-century castle with luxurious hotel suites and self-catering cottages overlooking vines near the Canal du Midi. Outdoor activities abound and come dusk guests mingle over tapas and Mediterranean cuisine in an intimate, country club setting. Nine luxurious rooms in the chateau have ample French bourgeois charm: lofty ceilings, fireplaces, the odd standalone bathtub and graceful cream, taupe and beige palettes. Read expert review From £203 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com

The best hotels in Languedoc-Roussillon

Rhône-Alpes

Château de Bagnols, France
Château de Bagnols, France

Château de Bagnols

Bagnols, Rhône-Alpes, France

9Telegraph expert rating

This fairy-tale Renaissance castle amid Beaujolais vineyards is ideal for a romantic getaway. Château de Bagnols comes complete with a drawbridge, moat, fortifications, extensive formal gardens and a spa. Its gastronomic restaurant, 1217, has been awarded a Michelin star. Architectural gems strike at every corner from frescoes and gothic fireplaces to cruciform arrow holes. Read expert review From £215 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com