Chateau de Fere Hotel and Spa

My wife and I have been fortunate enough to have stayed at several Small Luxury Hotels (SLH) of the World in recent years. Upon arrival at Chateau De Fere, we realized that by comparison, it had not yet reached its 5 star status. However, it seems they are working on it, and once it is completely renovated, it will definitely merit a 5 star. The property is absolutely gorgeous, with its surrounding rolling hills and vineyards. It even has the ruins of an old castle, which you can visit. As far as location, you are less than 50 minutes from the major cities and towns in the area and just an hour away from the CDG Airport in Paris. As for the Chateau itself, you will be taken back to that time period as the decor provokes an old world feeling. If you like that old castle charm and look, then you will feel right at home. The staff was very friendly, kind, and always eager to help with restaurants, nearby places to visit, and Champagne tour reservations. When we arrived, we were upgraded to a higher category room. This room, which was on the 3rd floor was clean and appeared to have been recently updated with regards to wallpapers and curtains. However, the rugs in the rooms, stairwell, and common areas seem to be pending an update. Once that part of the refurbishing is done, it will definitely enhance the overall look and atmosphere of the rooms and hotel in general. The bathroom in our room was very clean and spacious, yet the fixtures were also dated, thus in need of changing to complete the room renovations. It’s important to note that the rooms, at least those in the castle, do not have air conditioning. For us, that was not an issue since we were there in early spring when the temperatures were quite cold, so it was comfortable indoors without AC. Not sure how that would play out during the summer months. On the main floor they have a bar, two large sitting areas and a very formal dinning room serving as a restaurant for both breakfast and dinner. The dinning as well as other common sitting areas are all furnished with antiques, and have bold dark colors and wood tones giving it a very sophisticated, old world ambiance. As for the food, we did not have an opportunity to eat there as we were leaving early in the mornings and coming back late in the evenings. We will definitely return to Château Fere in the future as it has the potential to be quite a jewel.