Unique Retreat: Château de Chailly in Burgundy

Slap bang in the middle of Burgundy, flanked by a pastoral patchwork of yellow and green, the Château de Chailly blends into the local landscape like an oil painting. Not all too surprising, when you consider it was built back in the 16th century! Today, shouldering the hefty status of ‘monument historique‘, it has been transformed into an oasis for leisure seekers as a luxury hotel and golf resort.

The award-winning, 18-hole course is renowned for its sublime setting and design. Spread over 75 hectares, it covers large expanses of sand, water hazards, elevated
greens and hundred-year-old trees, making it as challenging as it is beautiful. Inside tip: for the snap-happy, the money shot is at hole 11 (it’s here you’ll catch the château in the background)!

Even if you’re not a golfer, there are plenty of other reasons to visit. On-site gourmet restaurant L’Armançon is the perfect excuse for any gourmand worth his salt (or butter, cream, chocolate…) to loosen the belt and indulge. On the menu are such extravagances as lobster, snail cannelloni and roast pigeon; pan-friend scallops with bacon and banana; sticky crêpes Suzette and vanilla soufflé – washed down with complementary wine recommended by the experts.

If you can still move after all that, a spa awaits on the ground floor, complete with a jacuzzi, hammam and sauna. If you really need unknotting, there’s also a massage parlour in the inner courtyard, and an outdoor heated pool from May until October to ease the muscles. The bedrooms, meanwhile, range from chambres de prestige to family rooms and castle suites split across the château’s wings, for a royally sound night’s sleep.

Château de Chailly, Allée du Château, 21320 Chailly-sur-Armançon. www.chailly.com

From France Today magazine