A beautiful chateau

Advantages: Beautiful, amazing History
Disadvantages: Pricey

...When Mr Tart and I went to the Loire Valley castle hunting I knew that I definitely wanted to visit Chenonceau. It's one of the castles that really said Loire to me as it seems to be one that's often used to illustrate the area. SOME HISTORY: Chateau de Chenonceau was originally a fortified castle built in the 1430s. In the early 1500s the castle was purchased by Thomas Bohier who demolished the fortified castle (apart from one tower) and began the building we see today. Unfortunately for Bohier his castle was seized by Francois I after Bohier's son failed to pay a debt. Francois's son Henry II then gave the castle to his mistress, Diane de Poitiers. Diane extended the castle to include an arched bridge across the river. When Henry II died (a splinter from a joust went into his eye and he died from the infection - yuk!) his wife...

tartlette83 22.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of Chateau de Chenonceau

Chateau Cockroach

Advantages: Inexpensive, amazing sea views, walking distance into town
Disadvantages: Scruffy and run down, little atmosphere, very quiet

...As many of you will know from my epic review on Belize published last week, I recently spent 2 weeks in Belize City. The hotel we stayed in was called 'The Chateau Caribbean' I promised a longer, fuller review on this venue so here goes. How did I find out about the Chateau? ****************************************** When we decided on Belize as our honeymoon destination I took a quick look through my existing guide book, which was the Rough Guides 2003 Belize guide. I always prefer to look for independent or boutique hotels, so I quickly discounted the various Hiltons, Marriott's etc. An entry which caught my eye was on 'The Chateau Caribbean'. This was described as a colonial style establishment, right on the sea front, with 30 rooms. The guide said the hotel had actually featured in several films over the years, including...

Shoka 25.10.2006 · Read review
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Review of Chateau Carribean

My night in a Chateau

Advantages: Beautiful setting, lots of restaurants
Disadvantages: Very large and busy hotel and expensive

...A chateau conjures up all sorts of pictures in my mind and Fairmont Chateau at Lake Louise looked stunning on the website, with the Lake right on its doorstep. The history of this hotel is fascinating, starting with a two bedroomed cabin, but far too long for my review, if you want to read all about it the look at http://www.fairmont.com/ENFA/Property/CLL/AboutUs/HotelHistory.htm because this explains why a Canadian hotel has a Swiss flavour! We arrived at midday and had already been informed that it was unlikely that our rooms would be ready until later, one of the staff came onto the coach and told us a few details, including that the hotel was extremely busy with over 1100 guests so we would be advised to reserve a table for dinner as soon as possible. We were directed into a large area away from the main reception and were...

jo145 28.08.2008 · Read review
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Review of The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada

A CHATEAU I LOVE.

Advantages: A calm day out with loads to take in.
Disadvantages: None.

...The chateau of Treverez has become part of my life, in that it is situated not far from where I live, and I visit regularly. First let's tell you something about it's checkered history, though to me, the importance of Treverez lies in today and the way in which it enriches the visitor at various times of the year. The idea of the chateau was conceived in 1894, and the ideals and visions of the owner was to integrate many of the architectural features that were commonplace at the turn of the century, and he achieved that, although it is difficult to say which countries his ideas were taken from. Looking at the chateau and comparing with other buildings of a similar time frame, it is actually unusual for brick to have been used and although many of the styles used are typically french, the use of brick in this area of France is not...

thingywhatsit 19.08.2005 (20.08.2005) · Read review
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Review of Chateau de Trevarez

The last time I was at the chateau...

Advantages: Elegant, strong, keeps getting better
Disadvantages: None

...The last time I was at the Chateau (I make regular pilgrimages across France looking for good wines -- fewer now, admittedly, being in seminary and having lost much of my income!) was in 1996; the 1993 wines were just beginning to become worthy of sampling, and during a dinner at the estate (something I've been fortunate enough to be invited to several times; but then, working in the British Parliament afforded one certain perks) we were treated to some of the newest products, as well as some of the greater treasures in the cellars. I actually consider it almost a crime to drink a wine before its time (hmmm, whose voice do I hear in the background?), and mostly vintages of Margaux from the 1990s should still be sitting on the shelves gathering greatness; the latest 'greatest' Margaux I've had was a 1988 first growth (which I shall...

frkurt 19.05.2004 · Read review
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Review of Chateau Margaux Pavillon Rouge

Powderhorn Chateau- five star hotel in Tongariro National Park,NZ

Advantages: Luxury, friendly atmosphere
Disadvantages: Middle of nowhere if you aren't skiing or hiking

...The Powderhorn Chateau is a luxury hotel located on the outskirts of a small skiing town called Ohakune, about half a day?s drive north of Wellington. If you are driving through the area, I strongly recommend it as a place to stay. We came here in April 2009, which is Autumn in New Zealand and not ski season. The price Surprisingly for a luxury hotel, the price is affordable by UK standards even given the current terrible exchange rates, but New Zealand is generally a lot cheaper. Prices are currently around NZD$200 (about £90) per room per night in the summer and NZD$230 (about £100) in the winter. If you can?t afford this for your whole trip, I can recommend a camp site half a mile further down the road for you instead for $6 a night where you can stay for the rest of your holiday! The area It is located...

beckyXX 12.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Powderhorn Chateau Mount Ruapehu, Ohakune

A thing of beauty

Advantages: Beautiful building, beautiful setting
Disadvantages: None

...I've always found the phrase "Châteaux de la Loire" a bit of a misnomer. You could pick any stretch of tens of miles between Orléans and Saumur, tool along by car or in a boat, and be forgiven for saying at the end of it, "So where are all the châteaux?". The Loire at this stage of its journey is wide and shallow - sand and mudbanks appear in summer - and the banks are low; not ideal territory for building an imposing château to impress your peers. Many of the most famous ones are actually on tributaries, the Cher, the Indre, the Vienne. Then again, the châteaux are not a homogeneous collection of pleasure palaces. Many were built as, and remained, châteaux-forts (what we would call a proper castle, for defence), some started as châteaux-forts and were converted, and some were constructed in the renaissance style we associate...

Chouchinciao 10.10.2006 · Read review
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Review of Chateau de Chenonceau

Second to none

Advantages: A stunning wine
Disadvantages: -

...You know that a wine is a good one when you have to watch carefully for the label, as others are 'borrowing' the name. There are many wines from France (and, increasingly, elsewhere) that have the word Latour or words La Tour on them, in combination with other words. But, do not be deceived -- there is only one true great wine to the name Chateau Latour, the one with the tower on the label (La Tour - get it?) - Grand Vin de Chateau Latour. This is a premier grand cru classe, the highest of the best designations. Chateau Latour has been so designated as a great wine since the grand classification system in France was implemented in 1855, and share the spotlight with the likes of Chateau Margaux, Chateau Lafite and Chateau Mouton Rothschild. The vineyards of Chateau Latour are in the Pauillac commune (the home of several...

frkurt 17.05.2004 · Read review
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Review of Pauillac Chateau Latour

A Weekend In The Country

Advantages: Beautiful Scenery, Amazing Hotel, Good Staff
Disadvantages: A Little Out Of The Way, A Bit Far Outside Paris

...I took The Blonde (If you haven't read many of my reviews, it's my beautiful girlfriend Helen) here for a romantic weekend in June. I wanted somewhere outside of Paris that was high quality and high class. I got just that. We travelled into Gard Du Nor on the Eurostar and then hunted around for a connection in the maze that is Gar Du Nor for the connection out to Chateau Montvillargene since we discovered that it wasn't actually on the Metro network. You need to purchase an SNCF travel card for the length of the stay. It works out far cheaper than buying tickets every day. That is my only complaint about the hotel's location. It is a good 20 minute journey outside Paris on the train, it's not on the Metro network and it is still a good taxi journey from the station in Chantilly. Chantilly itself is a beautiful little...

beevorm 06.11.2006 · Read review
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Review of Chateau de Montvillargenne, Chantilly

A classic from another era

Advantages: Quality of music, lyrics & production
Disadvantages: Cover

...you include the soundtrack to the film Friends or five if you live in the U.S.A.). Up to this point in time Elton & his lyricist Bernie Taupin had enjoyed huge album & single sales in the U.S. but his only chart topping single has been ?Your Song? in the U.K. in early 1971. This album entitled Honky Château would change all that, when it was released in 1972 it reached number one in the U.S. & number two in the U.K. Although it spent 23 weeks in the British album charts the American charts recorded a 61 week spell. The album was recorded at the Strawberry Studios just outside Paris, France. This is where the Rolling Stones had recorded one of their albums & the place allegedly was haunted. All the lyrics had been written by Bernie Taupin prior to going to France & as ever Elton prepared nothing. He would at breakfast time sit...

ScottishWestie 18.05.2009 · Read review
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Review of Honky Chateau [Remastered] - Elton John