The enchanting charm of L’Abbaye des Vaux de Cernay: A four-star luxury hotel just outside of Paris, steeped in history, arts, and culture.
On a recent trip to France, the hospitality brand Paris Society invited me to stay at L’Abbaye des Vaux de Cernay, a charming four-star hotel nestled in the French countryside.
Photographed by Shawn Williams
This property is a former Cistercian monastery located about 45 minutes outside of Paris. Founded by monks in 1118, it thrived as an abbey during its heyday but was completely abandoned during the French Revolution. Nearly a century later, along came socialite Baroness Charlotte de Rothschild to rescue the property from ruin. An eccentric visionary, she hired architect Félix Langlais to meticulously restore each building and add new structures, shaping the estate as we know it today. As an art lover, painter, and musician herself, she hosted the artistic elite, including Gioacchino Rossini, Frédéric Chopin, Honoré de Balzac, Eugène Delacroix, and Heinrich Heine. During World War II, the abbey sheltered statues from the Palace of Versailles before it was seized by the Nazis, marking the end of the Rothschild era. The property was auctioned in 1945 and purchased by an industrialist. It changed hands several times and eventually became a center for agricultural studies before being converted into a three-star hotel in the 1980s.
That said, you don’t need to know its history or the illustrious figures who have walked its halls to feel the gravitas of the estate upon arrival. The picturesque approach follows a winding road, leading past a lake lined with rowboats and pastoral grounds where alpacas and herons roam about before the hotel comes into view. When I got out of the car, I stood for a moment to take it all in. The massive gray stone manor exudes exquisite craftsmanship, and a gravel path leads to its iron-gated entrance.
Photographed by Shawn Williams
Photographed by Shawn Williams
L’Abbaye des Vaux de Cernay offers all the expected amenities, including magnificent restaurants (note the custom-designed plates and linens), several cocktail bars (which, in my opinion, serve the best margaritas in all of France), a spa, tennis courts, a theater, an arcade room, and more. However, it was the design details that set it apart for me.
This latest incarnation of the abbey is the result of another passion project, spearheaded by Laurent de Gourcuff of Paris Society. Gourcuff and his team spent more than four years infusing the luxury hotel with their unique vision of hospitality. They brought in Cordélia de Castellane, artistic director of Dior Maison and Baby Dior, to create the stunning interiors. She added warmth with layers of textures and rich colors, beautifully embracing the original crumbling stonework and antiquities found on the property. Cozy spaces, from salons to guest rooms, are adorned with textile walls, original millwork, and marble fireplaces. Anything newly added feels as though it was selected by Rothschild herself.
Photographed by Shawn Williams
This is a place to be experienced, not just read about. I will be back. Bravo to everyone involved for restoring the Abbaye to its former glory.
Accor
Photographs courtesy L’Abbaye des Vaux-de-Cernay unless otherwise noted.