Château de La Rode can host seminars, study days, board meetings, client events and weddings, with dinners of up to 270 seated guests in a marquee set in the park. The estate is hired privately, and its gîtes sleep about 50 people. It stands at the lieu-dit La Rodé in Lempaut, in the Tarn, about 20 minutes from Castres.
Seminars and company events
The estate sells one-day study sessions, multi-day working seminars, board meetings, client events and annual company gatherings. The seminar page lists meeting rooms with a projector, sound and high-speed Wi-Fi, lounges and terraces for small workshops, and the park for team-building and breaks. The same page states that the estate can receive groups from 10 to 500 people across its spaces, with the largest figure depending on the format; ask which room holds a plenary session of your size.
Meals for a seminar are prepared by partner chefs and can include coffee breaks, business lunches and gala dinners. Guests can stay in the gîtes, so a two-day program does not need a hotel in town.
Weddings and receptions
Weddings use several spaces in turn. A plane-tree avenue suits a lay ceremony. The cloister and the summer lounge host the cocktail, and the lawn in front of the château facade can hold a cocktail or a dinner. Dinner and dancing take place in the marquee, which has its own caterer's tent and a starry ceiling for the evening. The château's 19th-century staircase is a common spot for photos. The owners offer personal guidance and introductions to tested suppliers. The site gives a range of 20 to 270 guests for weddings, with more possible for a cocktail.
Rooms and capacities
The marquee covers 300 square meters on one level and seats up to 270 guests, with direct access to the park. The summer lounge, with wrought-iron grilles opening onto the park, is used for ceremonies, smaller receptions, a Sunday brunch or as a fallback in bad weather. The cloister gives shade and shelter for cocktails. A 5 by 12 meter pool sits in the park. Seated capacities for the summer lounge, the cloister and the meeting rooms are not published.
Accommodation
The estate lists six gîtes at the foot of the château plus a suite in the château itself. The Maison de Pierre covers 100 square meters on one level with two bedrooms. The Gîte de Las Cases covers 80 square meters with two bedrooms. The Gîte de l'Abbé, the Gîte des Cathares, the Gîte des Cisterciens and the Orangerie each cover 130 square meters with three bedrooms. In total the site gives about 50 beds, and 52 on the seminar page. An apartment in central Castres is also offered, away from the estate.
Catering
Catering is provided by partner chefs, with menus built for each event. The marquee has a caterer's tent for service.
History and setting
La Rode began as a grange of the Cistercian abbey of Ardorel, worked by a few monks and local farmers, and belonged to the abbey from 1258. After Protestant troops destroyed Ardorel in 1586, the surviving monks withdrew to La Rode, which remained a religious house until the French Revolution. In the 19th century most of the religious buildings were pulled down and a wing was added on the park side. The cloister, a dovecote and large outbuildings remain, in a park of old plane trees given as 11 hectares on most pages.
Getting there
The château is about 20 minutes from Castres, 30 minutes from Castelnaudary, 35 minutes from the A61 motorway and 1 hour from Carcassonne. Castres-Mazamet airport is about 20 minutes away and Toulouse-Blagnac about 50 minutes, according to the official site.
