New Lists
The Top Ten Sleeping With Royalty
Laurie Werner
Mi castle, su castle
The 18th-century castle has a dining room that could easily seat 80, a choice of 20 bedrooms with vintage Oriental carpets and four-poster beds, and a corridor lined with portraits of the current occupant’s ancestors. After exploring the royal residence, you head outside to stroll the formal gardens, try a little clay shooting, and walk several acres with the owner’s dogs. Upon your return, afternoon tea awaits in the drawing room, served on the family’s heirloom silver and brought to you by … what’s this? … a lord?!
| # | Hotel | Location | Rooms | For more information | |
| 1. | Chateau de la Barre | Conflans Sur Anille, France | When Comte Guy de Vanssay inherited this 14th/18th century castle in 2002, he and the Comtesse, Marnie, decided to leave their jobs in Paris and move to the 100-acre estate two hours southwest of the city. They became the 20th generation of the family to live here but, thinking the house felt too empty, opened five bedrooms filled with exquisite fabrics and family antiques. They happily escort guests to the grand chateaux of the nearby Loire Valley, share rare bottles of wine with them at dinner and hold an occasional French language immersion course. “People think they’re coming to see the Comte and Comtesse,” said the Comtesse, “but we’re just Guy and Marnie.” | $173-$293 | www.chateaudelabarre.com |
| 2. | Swinton Park, Masham | North Yorkshire, England | The oldest part of this castle dates from the late 1600s and became the ancestral home of the Cunliffe-Lister family two centuries later. The original owner’s great-great-great-grandson Mark and his wife, Felicity, turned the estate — including the 30-bedroom castle and 200-acre grounds — into a hotel in 2001. The renovation retained the original grandeur while giving it a fresh appeal, with walls painted teal and raspberry and accented by restored gold leaf, along with distinguished fabrics on the beds and windows. Noted chef Rosemary Shrager runs the kitchen, while an experienced staff operates the estate; the Cunliffe-Listers turn up several times a week to share castle and family history with guests. | $296-$690 | www.swintonpark.com |
| 3. | Glin Castle | County Limerick, Ireland | This 17th/18th century castle, set on 500 acres fronting the River Shannon, sits on land the FitzGerald family has owned for eight centuries. The current Knight of Glin, the charming Desmond FitzGerald and his equally charming wife, Olda, preside over their realm with its immense oil portraits of the previous knights; elaborate, carved-wood dining chairs; canopied beds and Persian carpets in the bedrooms; and family antiques and silver everywhere. The 15 bedrooms can be rented individually from March to November. | $406-$648 | www.glincastle.com |
| 4. | Umaid Bhawan Palace | Jodhpur, India | Maharaja Umaid Singh built this majestic 347-room palace, one of the world's largest, in an Art Deco/Rajput grandeur in 1943. Today, his grandson, the current Maharaja, lives in the West Wing with his family, but the rest of the lavish palace, including 64 rooms and suites, is available to guests (and is a part of the Taj Hotels group). Sashay down the sweeping marble sweeping staircases of the Entrance Hall and marvel at the carved ceiling of the footfall field-sized Marwar Hall. (Bedrooms are furnished in a more contemporary style.) Guests can request a meeting with the Maharaja, and the luckiest may even be invited to one of his private festival celebrations. | $260-$4,000 | www.tajhotels.com |
| 5. | Castle Stuart | Inverness, Scotland | This tower house, completed in 1625, is an ancestral home of the once-ruling Stuart family, originally owned by the half-brother of Mary Queen of Scots. Family descendant Charles Stuart and his wife, Elizabeth, restored the house, adding family paintings, antiques and a Central Casting suit of armor to the décor. (Descendants of Scottish clans may want to choose their room by clan affiliations, since they’re decorated with specific tartans.) According to family lore, the atmospheric castle, site of various murders and attacks, also has a few uninvited guests — ghosts. | $780 per night; entire house is $5,822 per night | www.castlestuart.com |
| 6. | Lismore Castle | County Waterford, Ireland | This castle has a distinguished list of past owners: Britain’s Prince (later King) John, who was the original owner back in the 12th century; Sir Walter Raleigh; and Richard Boyle, the first Earl of Cork. The current owner, the 12th Duke of Devonshire, renovated the 12 bedrooms with draped canopies and Persian carpets, along with the family’s paintings, ceramics and silver, and opened the castle for rent when he’s not in residence. Recently, though, the Duke’s son William created an art gallery in the castle’s West Wing and has been spending more time interacting with guests at the castle. | In summer, 7-day minimum for up to 12 guests, $5,979 per night; at other times, two-night rentals, $6,643 per night | www.lismorecastle.com |
| 7. | La Residenza Napoleone III | Rome, Italy | This magnificent suite was previously a part of Prince Pietro and Princess Letizia Ruspoli’s apartment in the 16th-century Palazzo Ruspoli at the end of Via Condotti. Composed of a huge bedroom and two salons, each more than 2,100 square feet, it has been restored to look the way it did when Napoleon III lived there with his mother in the 1830s. With Baroque and Renaissance antiques, paintings and 16th-century tapestries, the princess created a lavish apartment complete with air-conditioning and satellite plasma TV. Also part of the stay: the family butler, to serve breakfast on the family silver; and the charming princess herself, to offer advice and act as concierge. | $1,593 per night | www.residenzanapoleone.com |
| 8. | Chateau de Brissac | Loire Valley, France | This fairytale castle, one of the most opulent in the Loire Valley, has been in the Brissac family since 1502. Today, the current Duke (the 13th in succession) and his wife, the Duchess, receive guests to whom they pass along tips of where to go in the area. Among the 200 rooms, there are four vast, ornate historic suites for guests, including the Chambre du Roi with its massive red-velvet-swathed four-poster bed fit for a king (and yes, several have slept in it). | $520 | www.chateau-brissac.fr |
| 9. | Ballywalter Park | Newtownards, Northern Ireland | This Italianate palazzo, set in the countryside 16 miles from Belfast, has all the trappings of a patrician estate: a 60-foot-long grand hall with portraits of ancestors; drawing, billiard and smoking rooms; and 12 bedrooms in vivid shades of apricot with carved-wood antique four-poster beds. The owner, Lord Brian Dunleath, has been ambitious in his plans to restore and enhance the estate for overnight guests. Today the castle serves creative meals, accompanied by wines from the 3,500-bottle cellar and pre-dinner conversation with the Lord and his wife. | Prices available by request | www.ballywalterpark.com |
| 10. | Schloss Sommersdorf | Bavaria, Germany | This picture-perfect castle, complete with moat, in the town of the same name, will be 600 years old in 2008, and the von Crailsheim family has owned it since 1551. The current baron, a retired doctor, offers six apartments and two rooms furnished with the family’s antiques within the main castle and two other buildings on the estate. The one requirement: guests must stay a minimum of three nights (though most stay at least a week). The Baron and his wife, Lilo, often have breakfast or dinner with guests, either in the castle or in a nearby restaurant. | $110 per night for a minimum stay of three nights. | www.schloss-sommersdorf.de |
[source: http://www.forbestraveler.com/resorts-hotels/castles-royal-residences-story.html ]
Not watching this list (get updates on this list).
(all people watching this list)
).
Categories for this list
Groups this list is in
None.
Comments