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Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (EUR172.48), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
Style
Treehouses and terroir
Setting
Bordeaux winelands
Explore
A short drive south of Bordeaux in the acclaimed Pessac-Léognan appellation, Château de Léognan sits on a vast estate, with treehouses on stilts and fairy-tale forests. In keeping with its serious wine creds, the food is fittingly fancy. The 70 acres are also home to a soothing spa, but with wine this fine, hangovers *should* be minimal.
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A bottle of wine
17, including three suites.
Noon. Earliest check-in, 4pm.
Rates don’t usually include breakfast (€25 a head for adults and over-12s; €15 for children aged two to 12; and free for under-twos).
Château de Léognan has an accessible room for guests with mobility issues and the communal areas are all accessible, too.
Free WiFi throughout, tennis court, chapel, 70-acre grounds, gym with a view of the parkland, bicycles, wine tastings (subject to availability). In rooms: free minibar, Lavazza coffee machine, TV and free bottled water.
If you want to really let down your hair during a stay early next year, book the room in the turret and go full Rapunzel; or if treehouses are more your youth-reliving style, go for one of the lodges on stilts secluded in the forest.
The spa (which can be accessed through the reservation of treatments only) invites little Smiths along for tailor-made treatments by Parisian brand Nougatine. Meanwhile, the grown-ups can enjoy face and body rituals with organic thalassic ingredients from Cap Ferret and already-soothing names such as ‘Head in the Clouds’ or ‘Sweet Dream’. Guests receive 15% off treatments and those staying in Lodge Intemporel, Lodge Merveilleux, Suite Cocon or Suite Merveilleuse get 90 minutes of free access to the wellness area (sauna, hammam, nordic bath) upon reservation.
An empty suitcase (or, even better, boot) to stockpile the appellation’s finest red and white wares.
There’s a programme of events held every summer, which includes live singers and bands to accompany cocktail nights, and pop-up guinguettes to give guests a less-bawdy taste of 17th-century Paris.
One pet is allowed for bookings in the lodges or the Millésime room (€15 a night). See more pet-friendly hotels in Bordeaux.
Château de Léognan accepts children of all ages. Some rooms have a sofa-bed, and cots and baby bath tubs can be added on request. The spa offers tween-friendly treatments, too, and a petting farm and kids’ club are in the works.
The staff can get creative with dinners in the vineyards, suppers in a salon or tea-time in the grounds.
Fine vintage.
Le Manège's chef trained in the kitchens of George V in Paris. Sensibly, the appellation’s produce is put to use in his dishes, which might include verbena from the garden served in a trout tartare, beef fillet smoked with estate vines and hake steamed with saffron from Gironde. Breakfast is served either in the castle or in your room.
Drinks are served throughout the estate, including in the assorted tea rooms (where you can of course order something harder).
Le Manège is open for lunch (noon to 1.45pm) and dinner (7pm to 9.30pm). Breakfast is served in the various salons from 7.30am to 11.30am, but since staff want you to feel at home, technically it’s served whenever you want it.
Breakfast can be served in-room on request.
Château de Léognan is in the Pessac-Léognan appellation, a short drive south of the centre of Bordeaux.
Bordeaux airport is around a half hour’s drive from the domaine – the hotel can book taxis (around €60).
You can ride the Eurostar all the way south to Bordeaux from London (journey time: just under six hours). The drive to the château from Gare de Bordeaux-Saint-Jean should take around 30 minutes; the hotel can organise taxis from this transport hub, too. Incoming guests can also hop on the TGV at Paris or Lille.
There are various ways to tour the estate and surrounding vineyards, including, if you’re feeling analogue, by horse-drawn carriage, but a plain old car will do, too – there’s free valet parking and plenty of spaces at the hotel.
The Aérodrome de Bordeaux-Léognan-Saucats aerodrome is eight minutes away.
Unsurprisingly for a stay within one of the world’s finest wine regions, grape-based activities are high on the agenda at Château de Léognan. Oenophile-pleasing pastimes include wine tours, workshops and tastings, horse-drawn-carriage or helicopter rides across the domaine, The 70-acre estate is also home to various jogging and strolling paths; there are mountain bikes to borrow; and the pastry chefs, sommeliers and mixologists are more than happy to impart their wisdom. Guests can also book the use of a Triumph car, until the end of October (subject to availability and for an additional cost).
The centre of Bordeaux is only half an hour away should the bright city lights (and fine-dining) call. Nearer to the domaine at the edge of the city limits, Pessac is where you’ll find Le Cohé, a classic French bistro serving dishes from both mer and terre. Or try Le Serpolet, also in Pessac, for more ‘bistronomic’ favourites, such as confit salmon, beef carpaccio and burrata with heirloom tomatoes.
I have rarely been as enchanted with a hotel as I was with Château Léognan. From its vineyard setting to its fairy-tale towers, refined period interiors and elegant French gardens, this castle really is rather magical.
Looking for a weekend getaway with an 18-month-old is slightly more complex than it used to be. Is it actually child-friendly? Will the travel be easy or will we return back to Battersea more tired than when we left? But the food and wine of France beckoned and we were ready to take the risk. An hour flight from London, a short car ride, and I can confirm it was worth every minute.
Set among the manicured vines of a 70-acre estate, in the very heart of the famous Pessac-Léognan vineyards, Château Léognan basks in a blissfully rural setting, but is in fact just 30 minutes’ drive from the centre of Bordeaux, and from the airport.
There’s an elevated elegance in the design of the rooms and suites; no garish colours, just beautiful textures and a calming palette. Antique furniture and the naturally grand proportions of a castle create a truly aesthetically pleasing experience. What sets it apart from other hotels in the region is the incredible variety of accommodation on offer, from beautiful hotel rooms in the main château, to a unique glamping experience with luxurious tents and even treehouses.
It is impossible to say which of the 17 rooms is the loveliest, but I would argue that ours takes the biscuit. A vast space with French doors off both the bedroom and ensuite bathroom made for a truly luxurious few days (no squeezing round the bed or tripping over suitcases here). But the best part was the secret staircase through a hidden door, to a second bathroom and a charming bunk-bed room up in the turret. It was set up for us with a cot (and all the other baby accoutrements we could have wanted), providing the perfect balance of family-friendly by day, and romantic and relaxing by night.
The overwhelming passion, dedication and enthusiasm of the staff cannot be missed. In an age where service can slip, it’s a delight to be hosted by such an engaged team. (Special mention must go to Giles, who went above and beyond for us at every turn.) The team are happy to book you trips to nearby Bordeaux or Saint-Emilion, point you in the right direction for a local market, and suggest lunch bookings at the nearby hot spots.
You may, however, prefer to stay put. There’s plenty to do here, from wine tasting to exploring the exceptional spa. There are bikes to tour the estate on, woods to hike or jog in, and very friendly ponies to enchant visiting Little Smiths. Portions of the grounds are still a work in progress; a swimming pool, more rooms and a tea room are all to come. You can see that a great deal of effort is going into the area around the castle, and it’s exciting to speculate on what the team will do as they continue to expand and grow.
The location is ideal for wine lovers, as it's in close proximity to many of the main châteaux in the region, including Carbonnieux and Smith Haut Lafitte. With the help of the electric bicycles, it was easy for us to explore the best of Bordeaux’s wine offerings.
South-west France’s food is taken as seriously as fine wine here. Organic vegetables are home grown, and fish, seafood, meat and cheese all sourced from trusted local producers. We dined on perfectly pink beef, paired with the hotel’s own wine — followed by local cheeses, and another gulp of wine or two. It's hard not to give the food five stars. The breakfast buffet, laid out in the high-ceilinged dining room, with the sunlight streaming in, is a full European spread: fresh bread and croissants, and all manner of charcuterie and cheese. Nothing was too much for the baby either; yoghurts and warm milk provided with a smile and no extra charge — they know how to keep a mother happy.
And perhaps that’s the summary of our stay here. The staff know exactly how to keep their guests happy — and what could be better than that?
Price per night from $183.83
Price from (inc. taxes and fees) $512.31
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