When champagne is good, it goes hand in hand with wellness. That’s why, Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa is a place to feel good inside and out, with a touch of indulgence thrown in for good measure. Overlooking the vineyards that stripe the hills of Champagne, France, Upscale Living checks into the golden wine-country retreat for bubbles, pampering, and acclaimed fine dining.
1. The Property: Making Champagne Pop
In the birthplace of bubbly, 45 minutes from Paris lies the five-star Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa. This is the region’s first and only luxury wellness destination, and combined with Michelin-starred restaurant Le Royal and outdoor experiences aplenty, guests enter a resort-like escape featuring luxury on-site necessities and seamless excursions for variety. Your modern retreat includes an impressive 16,000-square-foot spa stretching the building, and know that at the top of this mountain are the town’s finest vistas.
2. Rooms and Suites: Modern Tranquility
Peruse 47 luxurious rooms and suites with inspiring Champagne views, decored in contemporary style carrying notes of the region’s cultural heritage and surroundings. Each boudoir faces the vineyards, for there are no courtyard or street views here, just perfect postcard scenes. Private furnished terraces are the pièce de résistance, they’re where room service is served or at the very least, where your welcome bottle of bubbles may be consumed.
When the curtains are drawn, guests may lather in Diptyque in the deep soaking, stand-alone bathtub, and there’s no need to pop out when you’re out of grapes: a ‘Champagne Please’ button is conveniently located on all guest room phones. When ready to retire, choose to wind down in front of the large Chromecast TV, or on the sofas with a decaf from the Illy machine, before enveloping in soothing King linens. It’s a Champagne kiss goodnight.
3. Champagne: Popping the World’s Best
The property, unsurprisingly, carries a mammoth Champagne list, with a cellar to end all wine cellars. Here, you’ll select from the region’s most revered houses. Remember, it’s easy to find all the big brands back home, so enlist the support of a resident sommelier for a fine vintage, a local producer, and quite simply, a bottle that will change your life. Your bubbles can be enjoyed anywhere on the property, including in the spa area.
4. Restaurants: Gastronomy to Pair Champagne
Helmed by Chef Paolo Boscaro, the cuisine of the Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa honors French gastronomy classics and Italian specialties, using ingredients from the region. There are multiple F&B options on-site meaning each evening of a few day’s stay can be a new and exciting occasion. Le Bellevue Restaurant & Terrace is a buzzing, yet romantic, 180-degree panorama destination, overlooking the valley of Epernay and the Marne valley. This chic brasserie offering seasonal produce is illuminated by a thousand crystal pendants hanging from the ceiling that turns into luminous drops of water at nightfall. Don’t miss Le Royal, the Michelin-Starred extravaganza. The menu features an interpretation of the Champagne region, locally grown vegetables, and herbs harvested within the property’s grounds. Finally, for a casual pour, Abysse, Bar & Terrace sits adjacent to Le Bellevue, perfect for a pre or post-dinner hurrah. Room service is also available to a fine dining standard.
5. Spa: Pampering Like a Royal
An urban spa experience in a countryside setting, there’s a bubble for every trouble in the acclaimed spa. Meticulously-selected therapists are ready to soothe within nine treatment cabins; in addition, there are two swimming pools (indoor and outdoor), steam rooms, saunas, jacuzzis, a yoga studio, a fitness room, and a beauty bar. There’s no going wrong with a signature relaxing massage, which can be enjoyed in tandem as a couple, or even as a parent-child combination. Here, the team will select allergy-free natural products, specially designed and recommended for atopic and children’s skin, so the spa can be a full family affair.
6. Experiences: Discovering the Region
One of the best ways to see the famous vineyards is on two wheels. While you can book e-bikes via GetYourGuide back in Reims, the hotel also provides a seamless experiential service whereby bikes are available for pick up and drop off at the entrance. Peddle through the green, and up to the village of Hautvillers, Dom Perignon’s resting place. Other activities offered include visits to Champagne houses, such as the top family-run estate since 1818, Champagne Billecart-Salmon. With the strength of their local connections, Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa is also able to grant guests exclusive access to closed-to-public properties for a true VIP experience. Other excursion options include quad or buggy rental, boat trips on the Marne River, and gentle hot air balloon drifts across Montagne de Reims and its surroundings.
For more information visit royalchampagne.com
All images courtesy Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa