Domaine Sainte-Raphine hosts seminars, team days, business lunches and dinners, company parties and weddings for up to 150 seated guests. The estate combines a reception hall, two restaurants, five bedrooms and wooded grounds. It is in Fargues-Saint-Hilaire, on the right bank of Bordeaux, about 15 minutes from the city and 5 minutes from exit 24 of the ring road. Groups can privatize part of the estate or the whole site.
Seminars and company events
The estate offers modular rooms that can be fully privatized for seminars, training sessions, team meetings and manager weekends. Meeting rooms have a screen with an HDMI connection and high-speed internet over fiber. The restaurant on site serves business lunches and dinners, so a working day can run from welcome coffee to a seated meal without leaving the estate.
Team building activities can be organized on the grounds, including formats with an environmental angle in the forest setting. The estate also hosts company dinners, cocktails, start-of-year and back-to-work seminars, and end-of-year meals. Ample free parking on site makes arrivals by car simple for teams coming from Bordeaux and the surrounding towns.
Weddings and receptions
Weddings are a major part of the estate's business. The cocktail can be held outdoors in the wooded park, around the fountain or under the century-old trees, or indoors in bad weather. A secular ceremony can take place in the forest setting. The estate suggests a full wedding weekend: guests arrive on Friday, stay in the rooms and dine at the restaurants on site, have breakfast on Saturday, then gather for the ceremony, the cocktail and the dinner. Christenings, birthdays, anniversaries and themed evenings are also hosted, each with the dedicated space privatized.
Rooms and capacities
The main reception hall seats up to 150 guests. It has high ceilings, stone walls, exposed beams and a large bay window that lets in plenty of daylight, and it can be laid out for a formal dinner or a more relaxed reception. The hall has direct access to professional kitchens built for caterers. Several buildings allow separate areas for the reception, the cocktail and the meal, and the green spaces can be set up for outdoor ceremonies. An avenue of century-old plane trees leads to the entrance.
Accommodation
The estate has five bedrooms, available on weekdays and weekends: four double rooms of 19 to 23 square meters with king-size beds, and a suite of 55 square meters with a lounge and a dressing room. Most look out over the forest. For a larger group, the estate's rooms will need to be completed with hotels nearby.
Catering
Two restaurants operate on the estate. Côté Maison serves lunch every day and dinner from Wednesday to Saturday, with a seasonal market menu. Côté Piscine runs by the heated pool in summer. For weddings, the estate works with selected partner caterers, who use the professional kitchens next to the hall.
History and setting
The estate presents itself as dating back to the 12th century. Long kept private, the property has been opened to the public as a place combining restaurants, reception rooms, events and a small hotel. It covers 62 hectares in the countryside of the Entre-deux-Mers, at the edge of a forest of pines and old trees.
Getting there
The estate is in Fargues-Saint-Hilaire, 15 to 20 minutes from central Bordeaux and 5 minutes from exit 24 of the Bordeaux ring road on the right bank. Latresne, Créon and Bouliac are close by. Parking is available on site.
