Château de Pray

A fortress has stood on the site of Château de Pray since the 6th century. The current 13th-century structure, later remodeled during the Renaissance, takes its name from Geoffroy de Pray. The château was long tied to families connected to the French royal court at nearby Château d'Amboise.

It became one of the first Loire châteaux to open as a hotel, in 1955. Today its 19 rooms are spread across the main château and its outbuildings, set in 5 hectares of wooded parkland with formal gardens, terraces, a vegetable garden and a heated pool. Interiors mix four-poster beds, antique furniture and period stained glass.

The château's 6th-century origins as a fortress site, well before the surviving 13th-century structure was built, point to a long continuity of habitation and defense on this position overlooking the Loire, common among the valley's oldest château sites.

Pray's ties to families connected to the royal court at Château d'Amboise situate this smaller château within the broader network of aristocratic residences that clustered around the more prominent royal seats of the Loire Valley.

As one of the very first Loire châteaux converted into a hotel, in 1955, Pray represents an early instance of a hospitality trend that would only become common decades later across the region's historic properties.

The château's immediate proximity to Château d'Amboise and Clos Lucé, Leonardo da Vinci's last home, gives guests staying at Pray direct access to two of the Loire Valley's most historically significant royal and Renaissance sites.