Directly across the road from the Château de Chambord, François I's most extravagant act of architectural ego, sits a modest two-storey manor whose creamy rendered facade and slate mansard roof make it look, by comparison, almost apologetic. The Relais de Chambord was carved from this former post house and hunting lodge — a building that has served travellers pausing before the château since the eighteenth century — and reopened in 2018 after a thorough renovation that brought Christophe Tollemer's interior design sensibility to bear on its 55 rooms. His approach holds genuine tension in check: the building's classical bones are preserved while the interiors push toward a contemporary sharpness, the orange-lacquered window frames visible from the garden terrace announcing that no attempt at period pastiche will be made. Inside, that clarity of intent carries through every room. Large-format photographic wallpapers — a Gothic spire fragment in the attic rooms, bare winter trees in the lower floors — serve as headboards, grounding beds dressed in crimson velvet throws against otherwise spare white walls and wide-plank oak floors. The bar's original oak boiserie panelling, dark and deeply gridded, absorbs low lamp light, while the restaurant pivots toward something brighter: houndstooth barrel chairs surrounding white-clothed tables beneath a branching Heracleum chandelier by Moooi. The Loire Valley outside provides the finest produce on the plate; the building handles everything else.

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Relais de Chambord is an exclusive hotel set opposite the majestic Château de Chambord — a contemporary retreat where history, landscape and elegance meet. Located within the Domaine National de Chambord, in the heart of the Loire Valley, the hotel offers a unique experience between heritage and nature. Its architecture has been reinterpreted by Jean-Michel Wilmotte, blending contemporary lines with the spirit of the Renaissance. The rooms and suites enjoy views of the château, the Cosson River, or the forest that surrounds the estate. The Le Grand Saint-Michel restaurant offers cuisine inspired by the terroir of the Loire Valley, while the spa invites guests to relax with a sauna, hammam and a range of treatments. A stay at Relais de Chambord is an invitation to discover history, nature and the French art of living.