Château de Courcelles

Château de Courcelles was built between 1690 and 1694 by Baron Jacques de la Grange, an advisor to Louis XIV. Jean-Jacques Rousseau strolled its French garden; Racine, La Fontaine and Dumas stayed here; and Napoleon met Marie-Louise at the château ahead of their marriage.

The château was restored from 1988 by Bernard Anthonioz into a 4-star hotel, joining Relais & Châteaux in 1992. It earned a Michelin star in 2024. Today its 20 rooms and suites sit within 25 hectares of formal French gardens with centuries-old plane trees. The Marie Louise Suite occupies the former Orangery ("Beauregard"); a separate, newly built orangerie hosts events for 200+ guests but is not a guest-room building.

The documented visits of Rousseau, Racine, La Fontaine and Dumas give Courcelles a genuine literary pedigree spanning multiple centuries of French cultural history, from the Enlightenment through Romanticism.

Napoleon's meeting with Marie-Louise at the château, ahead of their 1810 marriage, ties Courcelles to a pivotal moment in the Napoleonic dynasty's efforts to secure an imperial succession through marriage alliance.

The 2024 Michelin star, arriving more than three decades after the château joined Relais & Châteaux, marks a relatively recent culinary elevation for an already well-established historic hotel.

The surrounding Champagne region, with Reims' cathedral and its famous Champagne houses about 30 minutes away, gives guests staying at Courcelles easy access to one of France's most internationally recognized wine destinations.