Château D'hassonville

“A fairy tale in a magical setting.....”

On a recent trip to my homeland, my wife and I decided to experience the warmth and mystical discovery of a one overnight adventure in this beautiful castle. Located in the Ardennes, a favorite place of mine, le Chateau d'Hassonville is the place to visit. Tucked away from "civilization" on a remo… lisää

On a recent trip to my homeland, my wife and I decided to experience the warmth and mystical discovery of a one overnight adventure in this beautiful castle. Located in the Ardennes, a favorite place of mine, le Chateau d'Hassonville is the place to visit. Tucked away from "civilization" on a remote road, you drive on a path thru the wood only to discover this magnificent castle appearing after the end of a curvy road in all of his splendor. Greeting us and directing us to the court yard temporary parking was Alexander our host. After a warm welcome and helping us out with the luggage, we were shown our quarter on the second floor overlooking the medieval court yard. Our room was pristine, well decorated, cozy and our bathroom upgraded with a very large bath tub. We stay in " le Chapau" bedroom, as all of the other bedroom are also named. As requested, I moved our rental vehicle to the over night parking area and my wife and I decided to walk the ground as the sun would set in a couple hours from now. Several trails of different km are available and did explore around. We found some of the trees near the lake being hit by beavers and some already toppled down with utmost precision to form a dam. We were followed by the owner most friendly's dog from beginning to the end as a layer of comfort. As we ended our wooded adventure with the discovery of the outside sauna and hot tub, the smell of wood smoke was present and Alexander invited the both of us for a "Peket de Houyeu" around an outside bon fire. As the November temperature night dropped, it was time to take refuge in our room and get ready for the aperitif set for 7.00 pm. Greeted by friendly staff, our gastronomical experience was set to start in an fairy tale setting. From the appetizer, the 3 meal course, the 3 glasses of wine and the exquisite dessert, we discovered what a creation, passion et savoir faire is in the world of gastronome. We never had the chance to meet our chef and that was the low point of our visit as we wanted to meet the creator of an incredible journey of taste and presentations...... The next morning, we meet Martine, our host for breakfast. Set in a veranda, buffet style, complimentary local meat and cheese was available among great coffee , juices, fresh fruits and homemade baked goods. As the old saying said, nothing last for ever and soon it was time to say goodbye. Becky and I just wanted to thanks all of the peoples involved in our stay and who made it a magical moment. The Vanderheijden's

vähemmän

“Beautiful place, in need of some renovations.”

The positive: The castle and the grounds are gorgeous. (55 hectares of land / woods!) Breakfast or drinks on the pretty terrace or winter garden are thoroughly enjoyable. The service is very friendly. I particularly appreciated the 24 hours reception service, as the 1st night we stayed there, mosq… lisää

The positive: The castle and the grounds are gorgeous. (55 hectares of land / woods!) Breakfast or drinks on the pretty terrace or winter garden are thoroughly enjoyable. The service is very friendly. I particularly appreciated the 24 hours reception service, as the 1st night we stayed there, mosquitoes made it impossible for me to sleep, until I called reception in the middle of the night in desperation and they gave me an anti-mosquito machine. Phew! Beds were good, room was spacious and pleasant, with lovely view on the gardens. Nice touch to make a ping-pong table + snooker available to guests. Some disappointing elements: the rooms are in serious need of renovations, as it seems the wall-to-wall carpet has been in place for the last 30 years... The bathroom was also in serious need of a makeover, since the furniture was bad quality and peeling. No air conditioning in the rooms, and it was VERY hot, which made it difficult to sleep. I understand it may be extra difficult to install modern amenities in an old castle, but how about providing guests with a fan, at least? There was a plastic protective sheet on the mattress which was so disagreeable (kept bunching up beneath the sheet, super hot / uncomfortable) that we took it off in the middle of the night. (Are they afraid their guests are incontinent??) Breakfast was rich and varied, but they insisted on cutting everything up beforehand, so that the bread was already stale / hard by the time we came down for breakfast. Also, they served Lipton instead of real tea, which for a place of that caliber / price I found extremely disappointing. (Granted, I'm a tea fanatic.) We were disappointed by the restaurant as well, since we'd heard wonders about it, but during the one evening we ate there at least, all our dishes were extremely bland. Maybe we were unlucky and it was the normal chef's day off? Finally, it's a pity the sauna / jacuzzi are extra (50 euros for 3 hours!). For the price of the room, they could have included a couple of hours for free.

vähemmän

“Nice setting but needs renovation”

The outside of the castle is magnificent. Beautiful garden, beautiful setting in a harvest of peace and tranquility. The inside is a bit old (of course you may say as it's a castle) dating I would guess of the 80s. Probably you need to renovate it in order to keep it up to date still maintaining t… lisää

The outside of the castle is magnificent. Beautiful garden, beautiful setting in a harvest of peace and tranquility. The inside is a bit old (of course you may say as it's a castle) dating I would guess of the 80s. Probably you need to renovate it in order to keep it up to date still maintaining the antique atmosphere. Just to give an example : we stayed in the main castle in a room overlooking the garden. The bathtub had no curtain, no glass, just a plain bathtub. You could easily recreate a walk in shower or closed cabin for the shower. The furniture was an undefined mixture of styles and not too well getting along. All in all calm and charming outside, nice drinks in the evening but a bit disappointed by the rooms.

vähemmän