Chateau de l Aviette - Rancennes

Stunning château in a lovely area. So glad we found this lovely place. The owners were very well organised, super friendly and Daphne's English was superb (although I did like to inflict my ropey French on her occasionally!). We booked 2 nights ahead of our return ferry from Rotterdam as we've ridden past the amazing fort on the opposite bank of the Meuse many times but never had time to stop and visit. The property is a work in progress (in a good way), with everything is being done to really high standards and with care for the character of the historic building. Our room was very nice, excellent (well needed!) aircon, comfortable bed, coffee machine, huge bathroom with massive bath. We had a sneaky peek at one of the river view rooms & have our eye on 2 of them for our next stay but our woodland view was also very pleasant. We had a delicious evening meal on our first night which was good value, as were the bottles of wine & beers/soft drinks from the honesty bar in the comfortable lounge. Breakfasts were good - typical French continental breakfast with croissants, bread, jams, tasty lemon cake, cheese & charcuterie, cereals, yoghurts & plenty of fruit which I appreciated. It was nice chatting with a fellow Brit biker on a KTM & a lovely young French pharmaceutical rep over dinner. Access is down a long single track paved road and there is plenty of parking around a rounded flowerbed right outside the château - gravel but not too bad for even gravel-anxious motorbike riders like me!

Not a problem for us as Daphne kindly froze our ice packs, but a communal fridge or freezer would be a great addition to this fabulous place. We chatted before checking out and mentioned a place in Carcassonne where we stay that has a large hallway with small communal fridge with mini freezer & Daphne thought it was a good idea and something they could think about during their next phase of development.

Le lieu !

Rien sauf les oreillers un peu trop durs.

Location, staff, rooms and the food. Next to the meuse and cycle, path. The owner was super helpful. The dinner was on the same table which for me was great for conversion . I will be back

For me it was exactly what I wanted. For others who like to have a big menu this may not be for you. I would ask for a shower mat as it was slightly slippery if your not sure footed . If you mobility issues i don't think there was a lift but the stairs were wide and easy

Quite odd style not to say return to the sixties|seventies.

Too impersonal. Many fittings in the room were broken. No hot water, no working coffee. No table, no cupboards. I expected more from staying in a castle today.