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My Top 5 Places To Stay In Champagne

The hardest thing about writing about my top 5 places to stay in Champagne was narrowing it down to just 5 places.

Champagne is one of the most beautiful regions in the world, and even if you don’t love champagne like I do, it’s hard not to fall in love with the region.

I have stayed at all these places… and more that didn’t make the list.

What these places all have in common is they are all in fabulous locations for exploring Champagne and they are run or staffed by the most lovely, friendly, helpful locals who made me feel so very welcome.

Three of them are connected to champagne houses, the only one that is a hotel has a fab champagne bar, and the final one overlooks the Ave de Champagne (and one of Epernay’s best restaurants).

There is a range of budget options… but even the fancy places are affordable treats. I don’t have a rich partner/parents, a massive trust fund or a lotto win to live off. I am just an everyday working chick who saves up for my holidays… so if I can afford these places, you probably can too!

I have lots more tips for travel in Champagne and some great local contacts so PLEASE DM or email me [email protected] if you want help planning your trip to Champagne.

And merci beaucoup to all my friends at La loge de Jo’ Domaine du Chalet Best Western Premier Hôtel de la Paix and Champagne de Venoge for your kind and warm hospitality!

Let’s take a look inside the places I stayed and LOVED!

My top 5 places to stay in Champagne

1. Domaine du Chalet 

Chigny-les-Roses, Montagne de Reims

Domaine du Chalet was built in 1860 in the village of Chigny-les-Roses, and is steeped in champagne history. It was recently bought by champagne house Palmer & Co, but was once the hunting lodge of Madame Pommery, of Pommery Champagne fame. 

The chalet is run by a lovely, friendly couple Cécile Jacquier & Damien Litaudon. Damien is the chef and prepares divine feasts (only available for house guests), matched with Palmer & Co wines. We enjoyed a degustation with him on our first night which was divine and so much fun. There are only five rooms so just a small number of guests… when we where there we all got talking during dinner and ended up retiring to the living room afterwards for more champagne and chatting.

He also prepares your morning breakfasts of fresh baked croissants, eggs, bread… heaven!

Not only are the grounds spectacular, the accommodation is everything you could want from a historic French chalet. Cécile and Damien are warm and friendly and it really felt like being at home. (Especially when half the guests were Australians!)

There are SO many champagne houses to visit just in Chigny and Rilly you really don’t need to (or probably want to!) travel very far.

Read more about that in my full post about just Domaine du Chalet here.

Would I stay here again… YES. In a heartbeat. Take me back now. Service, style, space, comfort, history, gastronomy, and champagne options ALL 5/5.

Occasion…. ROMANCE! Even though I stayed here with my friend and travel buddy, Shannon, it was still incredible. We both like a bit of luxury in our lives. But it did scream ROMANCE. Honeymoon, anniversary, lovers’ getaway, milestone birthday with your lover… you get my vibe. I actually said to Shannon, if I ever get married, I’d 100% elope and do it at Domaine du Chalet. There are five rooms and you can book them all out exclusively.

Price bracket – This is the most $ I spent in Champagne and we paid about AUD$450 a night, or AUD$230 (in 2018) each but it was a two bedroom apartment and worth every cent.

HOT TIP – BOOK WELL IN ADVANCE for your stay – I mean 6 months or more before your trip. This chalet is hot property and only a few rooms so it is in serious demand in peak summer season!

Find out more on the Domaine du Chalet website and you can book on Booking.com

2. Les Suites Du 33 (Epernay, Ave de Champagne)

When you stay in Epernay, there is only one place to do it… on the Ave de Champagne. Les Suites Du 33 are at 33 the Ave de Champagne and are part of the offering from Champagne De Venoge. The suites sit alongside the historic L’Hotel de Venoge which was finished in 1900.

Entrance from the Ave de Champagne to 
L’Hotel de Venoge

Offering four deluxe rooms and an apartment, Shannon and I stayed in the room with its own private courtyard.

It’s the perfect location for exploring the houses and bars along the Ave de Champagne. And a good spot for my morning run along the Ave and up into the hills overlooking Epernay, which I finished off with a walk around the immaculate gardens of L’Hotel de Venoge.

The rooms were stylish (but small) and offered a modern twist on French chic with a refined sense of luxury. The courtyard was a real treat for my coffee and croissant at breakfast time and of course my evening glass of champagne before dinner.

Would I stay here again… Yes… but because I like to explore and try different things, until I have stayed in every hotel and B&B along the 
Ave de Champagne, I will be honest and say I probably won’t return to Les Suites Du 33. But not because it wasn’t amazing, and I am recommending it for you… as long as you are prepared for the small lodgings.

Occasion…. A luxe base for the fancy traveller. Les Suites manages to feel extremely grand (overlooking L’Hotel) but still has the personal touch and an intimate feel with warm, friendly staff who take good care of the guests in their five rooms.

Price bracket – We paid about AUD$350 a night (in 2018), or AUD$175 each. You can book on Booking.com

Find out more at on the Champagne De Venoge website and you can book on Booking.com

HOT TIP – BOOK WELL IN ADVANCE for your stay – I mean 6 months or more before your trip. The suites are in hot property and only a few rooms so it is in serious demand in peak summer season!

3. Best Western Premier Hôtel de la Paix (Reims) 

There are some very fancy accommodation options in Reims… the best known would be the Relais & Châteaux L’Assiette Champenoise and 
Domaine Les Crayères but I just loved my stay at the Hôtel de la Paix.

The room was huge! And the only time I really felt like I might have been in a Best Western was when I was in the room. And the only time I was in my room was to shower, change and sleep because I was in Reims! So who cares!

The highlights of the Hotel were its courtyard and bar (which was very well stocked with champagne!).

Behind the Best Western facade sits the most beautiful, sunny courtyard where you can hear the church bells from the nearby Cathedral

And the staff were SO helpful and nice. There was one extra lovely guy on reception who gave us all his local tips and booked us taxis and tables… including a table for dinner at his fave restaurant (Le Crypto, fabulous!). The day before we left, he confessed he had a crush on one of the waitresses who also worked at Hôtel de la Paix (who was possibly the happiest, prettiest girl I met in all of France)… I want to go back and check if they are married!

Would I stay here again… Yes… because I need to find out if they got together, but also because the location of Hôtel de la Paix was so central… less than a 5 minute walk to the train station and just off the main restaurant and tourist area (Place D’Erlon), and a 5 minute stroll to where the locals wine and dine, Place du Forum. It represented the best value of all my stays. I stayed in an Airbnb for my second stop in Reims so I know the value of a hotel concierge to book your taxi – taxis in Reims are a nightmare!

Occasion…. This is the perfect base for exploring Reims or Champagne. I do love me some luxury but I also like to balance that with practicality and value which Hôtel de la Paix delivers in spades… WITH charm and modern conveniences (air conditioning was a gift in summer and lifts were a luxury after lugging my heavy suitcase up narrow stairs everywhere else I stayed!) Don’t get me wrong, this is not a budget low-star option… it’s actually the most highly rated hotel in Reims after Relais & Châteaux L’Assiette Champenoise and Domaine Les Crayères.

Price bracket – We paid about AUD$25 a night (in 2018), or AUD$127 each. You can book on Booking.com but you will want to book well in advance – it is a very popular hotel!

Find out more on the Hôtel de la Paix website and you can book on Booking.com

4. La Loge de Jo (Hautvillers)

My room at Sabine and Matthias’ in Hautvillers was the perfect place to start my five-week trip. It’s linked to Matthias’ champagne house, 
Champagne Joseph Desruets, and sits in the stunning and peaceful village of Hautvillers.

I found it on Airbnb but they have their own website now. I stayed in “Le clos de Renée”, which is the largest of the three rooms… it was spacious and quiet, I had my own little kitchen and sitting room – a perfect base for the seven nights I spent there. And VERY affordable.

When I stayed Sabine had just had a baby – I mean like two weeks before I arrived! – so I didn’t see her much, but she was so responsive on email or text if I needed anything (which I really didn’t except I couldn’t work the cooktop lol – cooking is not my thing!). This was the one week I was by myself, so seeing their gorgeous dog every morning on my way out made me feel at home (and miss my Dukey less!).

There are plenty of champagne tasting options in Hautvillers – you don’t actually need to travel for a few days if you don’t want it. My visit to Champagne Joseph Desruets was of course just downstairs and I can also highly recommend a visit to Champagne Fedyk… it has the most beautiful courtyard and view, lovely champagnes (the best value by the glass for my entire trip) and again lovely, friendly, warn staff. And Hautvilers’ Au 36 is one of the best champagne bars in the region with incredible champagne tasting options and amazing food.

HOT TIP 1 – It is good to have somewhere to eat because there is not much in Hautvillers in the way of grocery… not even a convenience store. You can’t even buy a bottle of water after the boulangerie has closed. You do really need a car when you’re staying in Hautvillers, even just so you can get food. I didn’t have a car for my stay so I ate a lot from the boulangerie… which was French perfection but not exactly healthy!

HOT TIP 2 – I do love to walk and run everywhere but the roads between villages don’t have footpaths and are quite narrow so it wasn’t the best idea to walk. (And the French think you are mad for walking everywhere lol). The upside was I become GREAT friends with Sofien and his team of awesome drivers from ABC TAXI Epernay. I had him on speed dial and they picked me up and dropped me off anywhere, anytime… they may even have picked us up from the Garden Party at Bollinger at 10.30pm one night and drove us (via the Maccas drive through) all the way home to Chingney-Les-Roses #soaussie. When my friends joined me at different parts of the trip they were amazed by how brilliant the taxi service was!

Would I stay here again… Yes. Traveling on my own I will gladly base myself at La Loge de Jo again… I actually would move in and live here forever if they’d let me! It’s important to me to support local, small businesses who are the backbone of places like Hautvillers, which is just so picturesque but remarkably quiet for such a stunning village.

Occasion… For me it was the perfect quiet spot for a writing retreat. If you are traveling solo or a quiet couple looking for a clean, friendly, affordable, spacious base to explore one of the most beautiful parts of the world, I highly recommend it.

Price bracket – I paid just over $100 a night for my 7 night stay. Such great value and such an authentic experience!

Find out more on the the La Loge de Jo website and you can book on Airbnb.com

5. Le Champagne Banque (Epernay, Ave de Champagne)

I actually stayed here with a group of friends on my first trip to Champagne.

This. Apartment. Is. Epic.

It sits above the old bank in Epernay, the ground floor is one of the most highly regarded restaurants in Epernay now (Brasseries La Banque) and the upper floor is an apartment.

Five HUGE bedrooms, all with their own bathroom, a banquet hall (they call it a dining room, I think my description is more accurate) and TWO living areas – one formal and one casual. The master room overlooks the rond point (roundabout in French) in the centre of town and you look straight down the Ave de Champagne.

When I first opened the door, I was impresses by the massive long hallway – I thought it was perfect for sprint training (I have a two track mind – champagne and exercise!).

One of the couples in our little travel group was in France on their honeymoon and had elected to stay on their own, at another 5-star B&B (fair enough, honeymoon and all) although we had invited them to stay with us. They came over for dinner and drinks on our first night and were so wowed by our pad, they wanted to check in with us instead of their honeymoon room at their 5-star retreat!

Would I stay here again… HELL YES! I actually want to travel to Champagne with a big group just to stay here (email me if you’re keen)! I might get my wish in 2021, when we have a trip planned for a friend’s 40th birthday.

The occasion... this is the perfect pad for a trip with a big group of friends. I stayed here for my 40th in 2015 and my BFF wants a group trip for her 40th so I have already sent her this link and told here this is our pad!

The budget – it is embarrassingly affordable when you fill 5 rooms with 5 couples. From $315 a night depending on the time of year. That’s for the WHOLE apartment, not per person our couple. I told you it was 
embarrassingly affordable and if you have read all the way to the end of my very long blog post, you deserve this as your bonus surprise for reading the WHOLE THING! xx

You can find the apartment on Airbnb or Gites de France.

That’s it!

I am working on the top 5 places I WANT to stay on my next trip to Champagne… I will share that soon.

I have lots more tips for travel and accommodation and booking tastings and tours in Champagne and some great local contacts so PLEASE DM or email me [email protected] if you want help planning your trip to Champagne.

Check out my other Champagne travel tips below.

Do you have a place to stay in Champagne? Don’t forget to tell me about it in comments below or post a pic and tag @bubbleandflute #bubbleandflute #happychampers on Facebook and Instagram.

Bubble & Flute promotes the responsible consumption of alcohol for individuals of legal drinking age in their country.

Currency

AUD: Australian dollar (AUD$)