A two-and-a-half-hour drive from Paris, in the vineyard-covered Loire Valley, the village of Sancerre is a go-to destination for French gourmands and oenophiles looking for a countryside escape. Renowned for white wines made from sauvignon blanc grapes, the hilltop town is now adding another reason to visit. Les Hauts de Sancerre is opening on July 1, 2025, and will be the first luxury hotel in the village, with rates between $275 and $385 per night. The new property stands out not only for its elegant interiors, but also for its home in a 12th-century castle with medieval history.
That castle is Château de Sancerre, an icon of the region crowning the very top of the town’s hill. You may recognize the building’s silhouette—especially its distinctive tower—which is on the label of plenty of bottles of wine here. Monks started cultivating vineyards in this area around the same time the castle was constructed. The edifice was partly destroyed (along with five other long-gone towers) in 1621 to squash any resistance following some religious wars. Visiting “allows guests to literally live a part of Sancerre’s history,” says Mathias Lucien Rapeaud, managing director of the Grand Sancerrois Tourist Office. “Walking the grounds, sleeping in centuries-old spaces, and dining with sweeping views of the Loire Valley—it’s truly a breathtaking experience.”
For the past 150 years, the property was privately owned by the Marnier-Lapostolle family and has been closed off to public access. Husband and wife David Chicard and Audrey Dumont bought the castle in 2022. The timing couldn’t have been more serendipitous, according to Chicard, who was born a 20-minute drive from Sancerre. The couple inquired about the property just as the owners were looking to sell. “It was really by luck,” Chicard says. “It took us three or four days before having an agreement.”
Les Hauts de Sancerre invites guests to the The Loire Valley region, home to Sancerre wine, a delightful goat cheese called Crottin de Chavignol, and two Michelin-starred restaurants.
Courtesy of Les Hauts de Sancerre
Since then, Chicard and Dumont have transformed the property into an eight-room hotel with the help of a Brussels-based interior designer Jérôme Lescrenier. According to Dumont, Lescrenier made sure to honor the original details of the château, including its asymmetrical layout and neo-Gothic exterior, while adding contemporary touches such as midcentury modern furniture and a nature-inspired color palette: beige, white, and brown, with hints of green.
“What we wanted to do was contrast the exterior with the interior,” Dumont says. “When you come in, it’s this breath of fresh air. We’ve opened a lot of spaces, so it’s very airy, very bright. It’s also much more contemporary.”
In addition to the eight rooms, Les Hauts de Sancerre will offer a wine library in the château’s 12th-century cellar, a wellness center featuring a treatment room and fitness space, and a 16-seat pop-up restaurant helmed by 21-year-old chef Arnaud Munster, who was the youngest contestant on Season 15 of Top Chef; reservations will be available on the website on June 11.
The hotel will also place a major emphasis on art. “Last year, we had a huge exhibition of Vasarely before the opening,” Dumont says. That was in 2024, long before the hotel was near completion, when Dumont and Chicard partnered with the French museum Vasarely Foundation and used some of the castle’s 135-acre property to host an outdoor exhibition. “This year we will present an artist in the park [on the property], also two artists inside [the hotel]. We have this link between art and nature.”
Curating the artwork is Stanislas de Poucques, former head of the Brussels Museum of Contemporary Art. The first two artists to be featured inside the hotel will be Belgian textile artist Emma Terweduwe and Dutch painter Roan van Oort.
The 2025 opening is just the beginning of Les Hauts de Sancerre. In 2026, the couple plans to add eight more rooms, a permanent on-site restaurant called L’Atelier des Cèdres, a permaculture garden, and a landscaped pool. By 2027, there will be an additional 10 to 15 accommodations throughout the forest surrounding the castle.
Rapeaud hopes the luxury hotel will help boost the local economy. “The opening of a luxury hotel in the region is obviously excellent news, because it’s something that’s been missing,” he says. “The hotel’s emphasis on art and culture, including plans for exhibitions and visits in the Tour des Fiefs, will enhance Sancerre’s cultural offerings.”
