Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa is the most romantic place to sleep in Champagne. It sits on the hillside at Champillon, between Épernay and Reims and all 47 rooms look straight out over the vineyards of the Marne valley, with balconies where you can open a bottle as the light goes gold over the slopes. Forbes Travel Guide rates it Five-Star.
The hotel opened in 2018 in a converted 19th-century coaching stop, with a curved modern wing designed by architect Giovanni Pace. Inside, you get Le Royal, a gastronomic restaurant led by chef Christophe Raoux, a Meilleur Ouvrier de France; Le Bellevue, a more relaxed bistro; the Abysse bar; and a cellar with more than 400 Champagnes. The spa is one of the largest in the region, with an indoor pool open all year and an outdoor pool in the warmer months.
It suits couples who love wine and food and want a short, luxurious stay, often added to a few days in Paris. It suits less well if you want a lively town on your doorstep, since evenings here are about the view, dinner and the spa.
Highlights at a glance
- All 47 rooms and suites face the Marne valley vineyards
- Le Royal gastronomic restaurant with chef Christophe Raoux
- Cellar of more than 400 Champagnes and a champagne concierge
- 16,000-square-foot spa with indoor and outdoor heated pools
- Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star rating
Why Couples Love Royal Champagne
The view is extraordinary and constant. The hotel is built along the slope so that every room faces the vines, the villages and the river valley below. Mornings bring mist over the rows; evenings bring long sunsets that turn the whole landscape amber.
Champagne is a region where most of the drama is underground, in chalk cellars and famous houses, so having a hotel that sits on top of the vineyards changes the experience. You are inside the UNESCO-listed landscape of Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars rather than visiting it from a city.
Couples in reviews praise the calm, the attentive staff and the champagne concierge, who can arrange tastings and visits, including at houses not normally open to the public. Small luxuries add up: daily-refilled minibars with complimentary soft drinks, e-bikes to borrow and a helipad if you really want to make an entrance.
Rooms and Suites to Book
All 47 rooms and suites have vineyard views, so there is no bad outlook. The difference between categories lies in size, layout and outdoor space.
For a honeymoon, consider the Josephine Suite, the hotel's most requested suite, which sits on a corner and has a balcony running the full length of its living room. It gives you space to spread out and a wide, uninterrupted view of the slopes. If budget matters, an entry room with a balcony still gives you the vineyard panorama and a private spot for an evening glass.
Ask for a room on a higher level of the slope for the broadest outlook and mention your honeymoon when booking. The hotel is pet friendly, which some couples love and others prefer to know in advance. Weekends from late spring through harvest fill up early, so book well ahead for September.
Le Royal, Le Bellevue and the Cellar
Food and wine are the center of a stay here. Le Royal is the gastronomic restaurant, led by chef Christophe Raoux and serves one seating a night for a small number of guests. Expect a long, elegant tasting menu built around regional produce and paired with grower and house Champagnes. Book it for at least one evening.
Le Bellevue is a relaxed à la carte bistro with the same view, good for lunch or a lighter dinner. The Abysse bar pours a rotating list of five Champagnes by the glass, which is an easy way to taste your way through styles before choosing a bottle.
The cellar holds more than 400 Champagnes and around 1,000 wines, including rare bottles from small producers. The sommeliers are generous with explanations, so tell them what you like and let them steer. Dress smart casual for Le Royal; there is no strict jacket rule, but most guests make an effort.
Why guests fall for it
The Spa
The spa covers about 16,000 square feet, which is very large for a 47-room hotel. It has an indoor heated pool open all year, an outdoor heated pool from spring to fall, Jacuzzis, a steam room, a sauna, a yoga studio and a nail and beauty salon. The outdoor pool, with vineyards dropping away below it, is the hotel's most photographed spot.
Treatments use Biologique Recherche and other French brands, with massages and facials designed to undo a day of tastings. A couples massage followed by a swim at sunset is one of the best afternoons you can have in the region.
Yoga and Pilates sessions and private coaching are also available. On a rainy day in Champagne, which is common, the spa alone justifies staying put.
Things to Do in Champagne
Épernay is about 10 minutes away. Walk the Avenue de Champagne, lined with grand houses and book a cellar tour and tasting at one or two of them. Reims, a short drive away, has its Gothic cathedral with Chagall windows and Roman-era chalk pits beneath houses such as Ruinart, Pommery and Veuve Clicquot.
Hautvillers, the hilltop village where the monk Dom Pérignon worked, is close by and lovely at sunset. In the Côte des Blancs, south of Épernay, small growers in villages such as Avize, Cramant and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger welcome visitors for tastings, often in their own kitchens or cellars. The champagne concierge can set up visits.
Borrow the hotel's e-bikes for a ride through the vineyards along quiet back roads. Do not drink and drive: hire a driver or guide for tasting days, since Champagne's roads are narrow and police checks are frequent.
Getting There and Is It Worth It?
From Paris, the TGV runs from Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) or Paris Est to Champagne-Ardenne station near Reims in well under an hour and the hotel is a short drive from there. Driving from CDG takes about 1.5 to 2 hours. The hotel can arrange transfers.
Is it worth it? Yes, for couples who want the best of Champagne in one place. Entry rooms start at roughly $1,000 a night (approximate) and a dinner at Le Royal with wine adds substantially. In return you get a Forbes Five-Star hotel, vineyard views from every room, one of the region's top restaurants and a spa large enough to fill an afternoon.
Pick elsewhere if you want to walk to bars and restaurants at night; Domaine Les Crayères in Reims puts you in the city. Couples on a tighter budget can stay at a grower's guesthouse in Avize or Hautvillers and book a single dinner at Le Royal.
Insider tips
- Book the Josephine Suite for a corner balcony that runs the length of the living room.
- Ask the champagne concierge to arrange a grower visit in the Côte des Blancs rather than only the big houses.
- Reserve Le Royal when you book your room, since it serves a single seating for a small number of guests.
- Try the five rotating Champagnes by the glass at Abysse before choosing a bottle for dinner.
