Château Grand Arnaud hosts study days, residential seminars, team building, company parties, product launches and weddings for up to 180 guests at a cocktail or 130 seated, and the whole estate is booked by one group at a time. The château stands at 17 chemin de Vignac in Carignan-de-Bordeaux, in the Gironde, about 20 minutes by car from central Bordeaux and Bordeaux Saint-Jean station. It hosts more than 40 events a year, and one contact follows each project from first request to the day itself.
Seminars and company events
The château publishes its formats with group sizes. A study day runs from 9 a.m. to 5 or 6 p.m. for 15 to 60 people, with a coffee break in the library, a plenary in the great hall and lunch in the orangery. A one-day company seminar takes 20 to 80 people with breakout workshops. A two-day residential seminar takes 20 to 60, with the 9 bedrooms on site. Team building runs for 15 to 100 people in the park and around the pool. Company evenings and product launches take 50 to 180, with drinks on the terrace and dinner under a glass roof.
Two smaller salons, Carignan and the Library, suit executive committees of 12 to 25. Fiber Wi-Fi covers the site, and the ground floor, meeting rooms and toilets are accessible to guests with reduced mobility.
Weddings and receptions
Weddings are offered for 80 to 180 guests, over 24 hours or a full weekend, with the estate booked in full. Civil ceremonies take place in the park, where a ceremony arch is provided. Drinks are served in the patio or under the trees, dinner in the great hall, and the party continues with sound and lighting. The day after, guests gather around the heated pool or in the summer dining room. The Honey Moon suite is set aside for the couple.
Rooms and capacities
The great hall covers 190 square meters, with large openings, sound, lighting and a video projector. It seats 130 for dinner and holds 180 standing. For a seated plenary, the main page lists 80 people and the seminar page up to 150 in the great hall. The château also has a kitchen with its own dining room, several salons and living rooms, a library and a cinema room. Outside are a patio with a fountain and exposed stone, a one-hectare park, a pool heated to 28°C from April to October with a hot tub, a pétanque court and mölkky.
Accommodation
Nine renovated bedrooms and suites, each with a private bathroom, sleep 18 to 20 people in single and twin layouts. Each has its own name and theme: Curiosités, Aliénor, Rosa Bonheur, Montesquieu, Panache, Saint-James, Île aux oiseaux, Bayonne and Honey Moon. Breakfast is served in the patio. For larger groups, the team proposes partner hotels nearby. Massages, yoga and sophrology sessions can be booked.
Catering
The château does not impose a caterer. Clients bring their own caterer, event agency, DJ or set designer, and the team opens the spaces around their program.
History and setting
Records trace the estate back to the Middle Ages. In the 1540s it is described as a manor house with a garden, vines and meadows. In the 19th century it produced up to 500 hectoliters of wine a year until phylloxera. Victor Tandonnet took over in 1870 and improved the buildings. Wine growing then declined, and the last vines were pulled up in 1950.
Getting there
Bordeaux Saint-Jean station is about 20 minutes away by car, and about 2 hours from Paris Montparnasse by high-speed train. Bordeaux-Mérignac airport is 23 to 35 minutes away depending on traffic. A private enclosed car park holds about 40 cars, and shuttles can be arranged.
