Château des Briottières can be hired exclusively for weddings, residential seminars, birthdays, photo shoots and filming, with an Orangerie seating 180 guests and about 40 beds across the estate. Hotel rooms number 17, in the château, a cottage and a lodge, and a dormitory adds 12 beds. The château stands at Champigné, in Anjou, 35 minutes north of Angers, in a 50-hectare English-style park, and has been in the same family for seven generations.
Seminars and company events
The château takes residential seminars, with an equipped meeting room and the option of keeping the whole estate for the group. Lunch is not served to individual guests but can be arranged for groups of ten or more on request. Between sessions, teams use the heated outdoor pool in season, the tennis court, bikes, ping-pong, badminton, croquet and the walks of the park. The hotel opens from late March to early November, and opening outside the season can be arranged for groups and private events.
Weddings and receptions
Weddings are held at certain times of the year, with formulas that combine exclusive hire of the estate, accommodation and the reception. The Orangerie is the reception hall, seating 180 guests, with a caterer's kitchen, an Italian-style courtyard, dedicated parking and tables and chairs included. The family and their team follow each event from the first visit to the day itself.
Rooms and capacities
The Orangerie seats 180 and comes with a kitchen for caterers and a 12-bed dormitory. The full-hire package adds the château and its salons, the Fruitier cottage, the lodge in the woods, the kitchens, the park, the tennis court and the heated pool. The meeting room for seminars is mentioned without a published capacity.
Accommodation
The estate offers 17 rooms in three places: 10 in the 18th-century château, 6 in the Fruitier, a renovated outbuilding in a country style, and the Cabane Lodge in the park, with its own sauna. With the dormitory, the estate sleeps about 40. All rooms have private bathrooms; the château rooms have no lift, while two rooms in the Fruitier are at garden level and accessible. Wi-Fi covers the whole estate and parking is free.
Catering
Breakfast is served as a homemade continental buffet in the château dining room or on the terrace. Each evening, a candlelit dinner with a single seasonal menu of starter, main course and dessert is served on reservation, with local produce. For weddings and large receptions, the Orangerie has a kitchen built for caterers.
History and setting
The estate dates back to the 15th century. Its chapel of Saint-Bonaventure was built in 1528, and the château was rebuilt in the 18th century as three pavilions. Alfred de Mieulle bought it in the 19th century, and his descendants still own it. François and Hedwige de Valbray opened it as a château hotel from 1979, and Arnaud and Madeleine de Valbray run it today. Madame de Staël, George Sand and Chopin stayed here, and the film Impromptu, with Hugh Grant, was shot on the estate. The landscape designer Châtelain drew the park, later reworked by the Bühler brothers.
Getting there
By car, the château is 35 minutes from Angers and about 2 hours 30 minutes from Paris. Angers TGV station is about 1 hour 30 minutes from Paris by train. Nantes airport is about 1 hour 30 minutes away, Paris-Charles de Gaulle about 2 hours 30 minutes.
