Château de Mesnières

Conferences of up to 550 people, seminars, weddings and residential group stays can be organised at the Château de Mesnières, a Renaissance château at Mesnières-en-Bray in Seine-Maritime, between Neufchâtel-en-Bray and Dieppe. The château runs its own catering and can house up to 500 people on site, so a large group can stay several days without leaving the estate.

Seminars and company events

The château takes company seminars, meetings, conferences and forums. Rooms are modular and connected to the internet, and further equipment is supplied on request. During school holidays and at weekends, classrooms of the school on the estate may also be used as breakout rooms. The estate has 8.5 hectares of park and sports grounds, including an athletics track, a sports field and a sports hall with a dojo, which suits team activities. A large free car park sits at the foot of the château.

Weddings and receptions

Weddings use the Salle des Cartes for the ceremony or drinks reception and up to 90 guests at dinner, the Grande Chapelle for 250 to 550 guests, or the panoramic restaurant for 250 to 300. The Galerie des Cerfs and the Cour d'honneur take buffets and drinks receptions, and the park serves for photographs. Guests can stay for a brunch the next day or for the whole weekend.

Rooms and capacities

The Grande Chapelle, also called the Espace Michel Huet, is a renovated former chapel for conferences of 250 to 550. The Salle des Cartes, a historic room inside the château, takes 150 to 200 for a seminar. The panoramic restaurant overlooks the park and seats 250 to 300 for a banquet. The Salle Jean Eudes, next door, takes 70 in meeting layout or 100 in conference layout.

Accommodation

The château offers standard and superior rooms, dormitories, group gîtes, a family gîte and the Gîte du Moulin for five or six. The group gîte spreads across four wings with 77 single beds: Saint-Jean (16) and Saint-Pierre (17) in individual rooms, Saint-Louis (22) and Saint-Eugène (22) in double and triple rooms.

Catering

Catering is in-house, from self-service meals to set and gourmet menus, buffets, breakfasts and coffee breaks. On weekdays during school terms, groups can eat at the training restaurant of the hotel school based at the château.

History and setting

The first known lord of Mesnières, Robert, appears in a charter of 1043 countersigned by William the Conqueror. The present château is a major work of Renaissance architecture in Normandy, set on the banks of the Béthune in a bocage landscape, and is classified as a historic monument. Today it houses the Lycée and Collège Saint-Joseph and a hotel school. A fire in 2004 was followed by a long renovation.

Getting there

Rouen is 25 minutes away by the toll-free A28, Dieppe 30 minutes, Amiens 50 minutes and Paris about 1 h 50 by road.