A good chateau-hotel is hard to find, but the Sancerre, in France’s Loire Valley, recently unveiled a modern classic. An 18th-century structure built in the 13th-century style, Château de Thauvenay has emerged from a two-year renovation with warm woods and spare furnishings that bring it into the 21st century.

The stately drawing rooms, broad corridors and elegant ensuite bedrooms capture the grandeur of chateau life, yet pristine bathrooms and shiny, new European furnishings lend the interiors an edge. Rooms start at €5,000 a night through the villa rental platform Boutique Homes with 24 bedrooms sleeping up to 47 guests.

Outside, a pond-sized saltwater swimming pool fills a clearing and a wood-fired outdoor spa and Nordic bath hide in a lush cloak of greenery. The grounds beyond are lined with scenic pathways and 200-year-old oaks and pines.

The French chateau is less than two hours by train or car from Paris. The château has its own Sauvignon Blanc vintage from neighbouring vines, and visitors can venture beyond by food or bicycle into the vineyards of the Sancerre region, which dates back to Roman times.

A 12th-century cathedral is located minutes away in the village of La Charité-sur-Loire, and the nearby town of Apremont-sur-Allier has been designated one of France’s Most Beautiful Villages. The Loire’s famous canals lead to Briare, with its small boating port and historic bridge.

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