Champagne gets its first contemporary luxury hotel

Hoping to attract well-heeled travellers to the region, Champagne’s first contemporary luxury hotel – the Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa – opened this week.

‘Champagne’ rooms start at £489.92 per night

Entry-level ‘Champagne’ rooms start at £489.92 per night and feature a king sized bed and private terrace.

The top tier ‘Josephine’ suite meanwhile, will set you back £1,068.71 a night and boasts a sitting room and balcony overlooking vineyards.

Each of the 49 rooms in the 16,000 square foot space features Hermès bath products.

Set amid a patchwork quilt of vineyards in the heart of Epernay, hotel guests will be given exclusive access to Champagne houses that are normally closed to the public and can curate their own Champagne tastings and grape picking sessions.

Michelin-starred chef Jean-Denis Rieubland is in charge of the food

Having been closed for refurbishment for the last four years, the space has been given a modern makeover by Reims-based architect Giovanni Pace, who designed the property in the style of a contemporary amphitheatre.

The building features the original 19^th century post house where King Charles X of France stopped over before heading to Reims for his coronation.

In 2014 the hotel was acquired by the Boston-based Champagne Hospitality group, which owns a collection of boutique luxury hotels including Le Barthelemy Hotel & Spa in St. Barths.

The spa features nine treatment rooms, an indoor and outdoor pool, a wood-lined yoga studio; a eucalyptus-infused sauna, and a mosaic-tiled hammam.

Michelin-starred chef Jean-Denis Rieubland has been appointed executive chef and will oversee the hotel’s food offering at the fine dining Le Royal restaurant and the more casual all-day space, Bellevue.

Rieubland will work with local seasonal ingredients and plans to develop a vegetable and herb garden on the hotel’s terrace.

Visitor numbers to Champagne are expected to rise after UNESCO granted the sparkling wine region’s vineyards World Heritage status in 2015.