Château du Plessis-Macé takes seminars, study days, team-building programmes and weddings for up to 200 guests, in four main rooms and six smaller meeting rooms. The fortress stands in Le Plessis-Macé, part of the commune of Longuenée-en-Anjou, about 15 minutes from Angers. It belongs to the Maine-et-Loire department, and its events and visits are run by the team of Anjou Théâtre.
Seminars and company events
The château is set up for working days as much as for parties. The Salle Du Bellay, the largest room, divides into three salons, which suits a plenary followed by workshops. The logis, the old seigneurial residence, holds six meeting rooms of about 30 people each for break-out sessions. A video projector and a sound kit for speeches are available, and rooms can be fitted with additional video, sound and lighting. Breakfast, working lunches, afternoon breaks, dinners and cocktails are arranged with caterers the château helps you choose.
Team building is a strength of the house. The programme includes a costumed murder party played by actors in the logis, an outdoor games tournament around the château for 20 to 500 participants, a giant escape game and a night-time visit led by actors. Concerts, theatrical tours and circus acts can be booked on request.
Weddings and receptions
Only one reception is held at a time, so a wedding party has the site to itself. Ceremonies can take place in the open-air green theatre facing the keep. Cocktails and dinners move between the enclosed inner courtyard, shaded by century-old chestnut trees, and the rooms. The cellars beneath the outbuildings, 260 m², can be added to a room hire for a drinks reception. You may bring the caterer of your choice; the château can suggest suppliers but does not impose them. The façades are lit in the evening.
Rooms and capacities
The Salle Du Bellay, the former guard room on the first floor of the outbuildings, covers 235 m² and takes up to 200 people. The Salle Langlois-Berthelot, 192 m² on the ground floor of the former stables, opens onto the courtyard and seats up to 170 for dinner, with space for a dance floor. The Salon de Beaumont, 162 m² under a 15th-century timber roof, seats about 140 at dinner and up to 200 in a conference layout. Furniture on site includes 20 round tables, 20 rectangular tables and 180 chairs. There is a lift, step-free access and free parking for about 200 cars.
Catering
There is no in-house restaurant. A caterers' area with an equipped kitchen and a goods lift serves the rooms, and the Salle Langlois-Berthelot sits right next to it.
History and setting
Raynaud du Plessis built a first wooden castle here in the 11th century, at the request of Foulques Nerra, Count of Anjou, to guard Angers against the Bretons. It became a stone fortress in the following century. After damage in the Hundred Years' War, Louis de Beaumont rebuilt the keep at the end of the 15th century and turned the castle into a country residence. The Du Bellay and then the Walsh de Serrant families followed. The Langlois-Berthelot family, the last private owners, gave the château to the department in 1967. It is a classified historical monument.
Getting there
The château is about 15 minutes by road from Angers, whose Saint-Laud station has direct TGV services from Paris. There is no accommodation on site, so groups staying overnight book hotels in Angers.
At a glance
What sets it apart
- 01Four rooms of 162 to 235 m², each taking up to 200 people
- 02Six meeting rooms of about 30 people in the seigneurial logis
- 03One reception at a time, ceremonies in an open-air green theatre
- 04Caterer of your choice, equipped caterers' kitchen with goods lift
- 05Team-building programmes with actors, outdoor games for up to 500
