This hotel, in Champillon, opened in 2018 and is located in the middle of the champagne region. It is the first modern 5-star hotel in this area. The website is: https://royalchampagne.com. In 2019, the hotel won the award for the Best hotel in France, awarded from the readers of Condé Nast Traveler. We stayed here with friends in April 2019. The hotel is in the higher price range, the champagne environment is of course a more expensive environment, so take into account a pricey bill. It is a very nice hotel. Our stay was perfect.

Area

The hotel is built on top of the hills overlooking the villages of Champillon and Hautvillers. In Hautvillers is the grave of Dom Perignon, one of the most famous champagne makers ever to exist. Dom Perignon invented champagne. From the hotel you can easily take a trip to the church and grave where Dom Perignon is buried. Epernay is about 15 minutes from Royal Champagne. Epernay is the center of champagne area. Most large champagne houses have a place in Epernay where you can buy champagne.

Arrival

When we arrived the valet parking assistant was waiting for us. We could get out, leave all luggage in the car and walk to the reception. There we received a short explanation about the hotel and then we went to the room. The hall looks very nice, not impressive in size but impressive in terms of cosiness, decor and appearance. A large wooden horse stands next to the reception. The horse is also part of the Royal Champagne logo, so nice to have this come back. There are large comfortable sofas next to the reception. I hear you think, a sofa next to the reception, this can not be cozy, but nothing could be further from the truth. Because it is a small-scale hotel, you have no idea that you are in the lobby of a hotel when you are on the couch. The interior is so beautiful that you have the feeling that you are sitting in a fancy living room.

The ambiance of the hotel is warm and embraces you.

Room

We stayed in a garden junior suite. All rooms have a balcony. The room is approximately 44m2. The room is decorated with light beige / yellow colors. A large bed is in the room next to a sofa, chair and desk. The bathroom is large and has Hermes products. On the balcony there are 2 chairs to look over the vineyards / to drink a good glass of champagne.

The room smells great. The cleaning uses a kind of perfume to spray the room as soon as they are finished. The interior is very beautiful, chic, classic with modern elements. The chairs are very comfortable, here you can quietly spend an afternoon in your hotel room if necessary. Of course you want to go outside, but if the weather is bad, it is wonderful to stay in the room. The interior designer of the hotel has an eye for detail.

In the bathroom, the shower and toilet are separate. In addition, there is a large bath in the bathroom. Again very nicely decorated. Very functional, but very beautiful. What I regret is that the Hermes bottles in the bathroom were not replenished.

The bed was very comfortable. We slept very well in this bed for 2 nights. In the morning, breakfast was not included in the room rate. We could not book an overnight stay including breakfast, saw that this has changed in the meantime, this is good!

Swimming pool

The pool is quite large, there is both an indoor and an outdoor pool. You cannot swim from the inside out. If you want to swim outside you will have to walk out through the doors. When we visited the hotel in April, the outside temperature was cold. The water from the outdoor pool was pleasant. There are plenty of sunbeds inside. The pool is well maintained.

I did not go to the sauna. Saw that the ceiling needed maintenance due to the moisture. Reported this to reception, expect to have it fixed as the hotel has a reputation to uphold.

Bar and restaurant

The bar is also very beautiful. The bar is one floor above the reception. Here you can choose various champagnes and of course other tasty drinks.

The restaurant is a Michelin star restaurant. Here we had a delicious meal. The great thing is that they put a different champagne house in the spotlight every month and pour matching champagnes with the dishes. No wine arrangement here, but a champagne arrangement. Very special and a must do. Book early as the restaurant fills up quickly.

Overall

A very nice hotel, not cheap, but the decoration is great. The location in the middle of the champagne region is very special. The service is good. We would like to go back to stay here again for a few days. It is not too far from the Netherlands, so you can easily stay here for a weekend. Would like to see it once in the fall, it seems nice to see when the grapes are ripe and harvested.