One must be immersed in magic and the closest you will come to spending a night in a royal chateau is to check into the Château d’Artigny. This special hotel stands on the banks of the River Indre - a tributary of the Loire - just south of the city of Tours. The titantic, former home of the perfumer François Coty - it was begun in the year 1912 - stands amidst a splendid forest in a 50-acre park. The vast, manicured, formal garden hints at the promise to come.

We parked our hired car and swept in through the elegant floor to ceiling, French windows – trying to look as though we belonged to the silver Rolls-Royce parked nearby – and came to an admiring full stop on the threshold. Before us stretched an expanse of white, polished Lens stone adorned with inlaid gold, and carpeted in red velvet. We had stepped into a gleaming, white foyer running the entire length of the grand château. An immense, sweeping staircase curves graciously up to the floors above.

Huge bowls of flowers gave the scene an added fragrance. The perfume king who created this sumptuous residence placed his kitchens high above the living rooms – to avoid any smell of cooking! Where else will you find a white marble, domed kitchen incorporated into a luxury bedroom (number 30) and a pink, Russian marble, pastry kitchen as part of an unusual suite (number 31)? We verified their existence by seeking a chambermaid and persuading her to unlock the doors.

Dinner in the superb, circular dining-room, under crystal chandeliers is a gala experience. The walls are a shade of antique turquoise and the painted, domed, Renaissance ceiling is supported by gold Corinthian columns. (Remember to try the famous Vouvray wines of the region.)

Before slipping upstairs to bed, select an early edition of Voltaire, Balzac or Molière from the well-stocked shelves in one of the drawing-rooms and you hardly need stir – let alone go in search of further grandeur!

We stayed here September 17th and 18th. We booked through Small Luxury Hotels of the World and received a room upgrade. The Chateau is charming, the public rooms, restaurant, bar etc are beautiful. Our room was a duplex in the Spa building, very comfortable, But the place does need to be refurbished. The chairs in the bar and the rooms have long lost their comfort,
We had dinner at the restaurant, while it was a bit formal, the dishes were wonderfully prepared but small portions. So the value was not great. (We do enjoy restaurants coming from NYC and usually dine at Chateau and Relais properties). However, their breakfast was the best we had during their stay, although they ran out of bread one morning and it took them a half hour to finf or go out and buy additional baggettes.

To put that in perspective, we cruise on the the silver sea, this trip is first class around the word and our income is in the top 1% but we always look for value.
Nothing amuses me more than travelers who complain about their accommodation and when you ask where do you normally sleep it is in a pretty normal 2 bathroom house with furniture from IKEA ( I do like some of their stuff) We liked the hotel, it's age is part of it's charm, the toilet and showers work! I have a masters degree in building services) The breakfast was good and also the dinner, very nice views out of our 3 windows and the staff, especially Maeva was outstanding. We staid in some soul less hotels around the world, the Hilton feels the same in Instantinopal( remember) and in new York . Get over it and stop grumbling we will stay here again next year on ou next first class trip around the world , now I have to go to argintinia. Regards.

First off all, the castles exterieur is obviously good looking. We went for a weekend for a wedding at the chateau. The chateau is also beautiful inside, with high cealings. But the hotel has not been renoveted for ages, the rooms are outdated as well as the bathrooms. This is NOT an luxury in any way - nothing is included (you wold expect so with the price of the room) and the staff is really rude. The "Spa"; old and you have to pay for entrance. This is not worth paying for ; really just a lage hottub and a sauna. And you would not be able to use the fitness room - it is really as hot as the sauna! All of the staff is really rude. I know that you have be really polite to get good service in some places in France, and I really acted that way. But nothing helped - EVERYONE that I met at this place did nothing to make may stay enjoyable. When you asked for something with a smile - like simple things like butter or some more wine, they did`nt come back. And it is really RUDE to overprice everything that they do - if you buy a Coke the price is almost TWICE the price than posh places in St.Tropez (Nikki Beach) Cannes, etc.. And the food is overpriced AND bad. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. Not quality-food at all. You would expect them to serve local wine - but they didn`t! I really can not understand why there is positive comments here on tripadv. about this place - maybe the hotel has hired someone to write positive comments? --`cuse we where a party of 60 people and during the weekend there where a lot of comments on the lack of service.