It’s no accident that Château La Chenevière’s guests hail mainly from North America. This magical hotel is only a few minutes’ drive away from Omaha Beach and its cemetery. After major overhauls during the 18th and 19th centuries, the chateau was turned into a hotel-restaurant in 1988 by Mr and Mrs Dicker, its present owners. Occupied successively by the German armies during the Second World War then the English officers of the Royal Army Service Corps at the Liberation, the hotel, steeped in history, is situated at the heart of a park that stretches for twelve hectares and is planted with century-old trees. Member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World, Châteaux et Hôtels de France, Condé Nast Johansens and Châteaux et Manoirs en Normandie chains, Château La Chenevière is a 4-star hotel with 29 rooms (two of which are accessible to handicapped people) including 3 suites that combine luxury, comfort and modernity.
Each room – standard, deluxe or junior suite – is uniquely decorated and furnished, alternating neutral and warm colours, delicate moulding, four-poster beds, marble fireplaces, paintings by Winston Branch, and Japanese-influenced toile de Jouy. Certain rooms on the ground floor have a patio and even a private gardenand are particularly recommended for families or people with domestic pets. The conference room is decorated with a tapestry (Bayeux is not far) and is an ideal place for organising events such as press conferences, incentive trips, study days and product launches, etc.
Many activities are offered both in the hotel and outdoors. Château La Chenevière has a heated swimming-pool (open from May to September), tennis courts, a VTT hire service for exploring the leafy green countryside of Normandy, a jogging circuit, and a croquet lawn; all surrounded by an orangery, rose walks and a kitchen garden. Other sporting activities are avail-able nearby, including riding, trekking in jeeps, quad bikes and buggies, microlight plane flights, sand yachts and catamarans.
Many tourist sites, museums and historic monuments are just a few minutes’ drive away. For those who enjoy sports, the Omaha Beach international 27-hole golf course is magnificently situated with a view over Port-en-Bessin. The American cemetery and Omaha Beach memorial are not the only historic landing sites near La Chenevière, however. Tourists can also visit the Pointe du Hoc and its monument to the memory of the Rangers, Sainte-Mère-L’Eglise, the Museum commemorating the Battle of Normandy in Bayeux, the Utah Beach monument, the Caen Memorial and the British and German cemeteries.
Designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO last year, the Bayeux Tapestry also attracts many visitors as does the Baron Gérard Museum, the Claude Monet Foundation at Giverny, Mont-Saint-Michel and the island of Jersey. Back at La Chenevière, the dining-room decorated with sparkling mirrors and gleaming woodwork welcomes guests in an elegant, sophisticated setting. Didier Robin, chef at La Chenevière for almost eight years, prepares meals that make use of all the region’s specialities from both land and sea. Scallops, lobsters, foie gras, the twenty-five-cheese board, squabs, beef, lamb and veal are often prepared using typical Norman products such as cider, Camembert, Livarot and calvados. This refined cuisine is naturally accompanied by a selection of vintage wines chosen by an expert wine-waiter from the château’s well-stocked cellar. To prolong these moments of hedonism, the Zanzibar (in the basement) invites its patrons to take a musical journey in an intimate atmosphere amidst a typically Anglo-Saxon decor. Lastly, the hotel’s salons are all equipped with Internet, Wi-Fi and fax machines provided free of charge. The reception desk is open 24 hours a day all year-round except January when La Chenevière is closed. n
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