During a Paris getaway with my grandniece, Lyndsey, I proposed a four-day road trip through the Loire Valley to indulge in its finest hotel spas. Having shared past travels and experienced luxurious spas together, we were eager to discover the region’s finest.
I scheduled our spa treatments for late afternoons at five p.m. and planned a daily itinerary filled with history, wine, and local delicacies—exploring grand châteaux like my favorite, Château de Chenonceau, which spans the River Cher sipping Vouvray, savoring Loire macarons, and sampling regional cheese and black truffles.
With high-speed Rail Europe tickets in hand, we reached the Loire in just 68 minutes via a Trains à Grande Vitesse (TGV). After picking up our Citroën rental, we set off to explore Château Royal d’Amboise and Château Clos Lucé, where Leonardo da Vinci spent his final years, before checking into our first spa hotel.
Les Sources de Cheverny
The tranquil pool at Accueil Spa by Caudalie, nestled within Les Sources de Cheverny
We gasped with pleasure as the graceful chateau at Les Sources de Cheverny came into view at the end of a long tree-lined path through the forest, which Alice and Jerome Tourbier launched as the five-star sister spa to the fabulous Les Sources de Caudalie. Among the 49 rooms in the five-star property, some are in the castle, where the ground floor is an expansive group of lounges and game rooms, and most are in recycled wood framed cottages built to resemble those in the region. After checking in at the newly built reception building with its glass walls, we were escorted past a pond, gardens, former bee hives, and a tower called Le Baron Perché—which houses a suite with its own private Nordic bath—to our hameau, where the room extended to a terrace through glass sliding doors that led to a bucolic view of horses grazing in the pasture.
At the Spa by Caudalie, we relaxed in the hammam and on chaise lounges beneath the vaulted ceiling by the indoor pool. The vinotherapy menu featured treatments like Marc de Raisin baths and Merlot body wraps, but after a week of Parisian gastronomy, I opted for a detoxifying Vinotherapist massage. Lyndsey chose a Vinosculpt treatment, and we enjoyed our services side by side in a lovely couple’s suite. Both incorporated Caudalie’s grape seed extract products, known for their antioxidant and anti-aging properties.
The spa offers some unique experiences, including Sophrology, a mind-body technique that combines breathing exercises, meditation, visualization, and gentle movement to improve relaxation and wellbeing. There are two-to-four-day packages, activities galore, including yoga, bicycles, tennis, and forest walks.
Michelin-starred Chef Frédéric Calmels oversees Le Favori, but we dined at L’Auberge, housed in a beautifully transformed farm building. We savored local Cheverny wine alongside a special Steak Frites: wood-fired filet mignon with crisp fries. Healthier options are readily available.
Christophe Hay & Fleur de Loire
A couple’s suite at Fleur de Loire’s Sisley Spa
From Christophe Hay’s Fleur de Loire, we could see Château Royal de Blois, where King François I held court. This 44-room Relais & Châteaux property, opened in mid-2022 by Gault & Millau’s “Chef of the Year 2021,” occupies a transformed riverfront hospice. Hay, a Michelin two-star chef who trained with Paul Bocuse, operates two restaurants here. The eco-dedicated chef is devoted to farm-fresh food from his own acres, fish from the Loire, local black truffles, regional specialties, such as Caviar Impérial de Sologne, and his own wine label.
We celebrated a gastronomic Thanksgiving dinner at his namesake restaurant Christophe Hay—one of Les Grandes Tables du Monde—complete with four signature dishes: including Carpe à la Chambord studded with truffles, steak from his Wagyu cattle farm with sweet potato from his garden. Amour Blanc, Hay’s more casual venue, is housed in a newly built stone and glass building overlooking the Loire and serves as a breakfast room, boutique, tearoom, and gourmet restaurant.
The spacious and serenely decorated 5,000-square foot multi-level Sisley Spa is located in the right wing of the building—boasting both an interior and a riverfront pool—and can be reached by the public directly from the courtyard. Sisley Spa uses the best of essential oils and natural plant extracts for exceptional wellbeing treatments, beauty rituals, and massages. And Christophe Hay’s partnership with the brand Sisley is as natural as his relationships with local food partners, because Sisley’s production center has been based in Blois for many years. My exclusive 60-minute Spa Sisley Phyto-Aromatic facial focused on hydrating my skin and was a relaxing, end-of-day delight.
No car is needed, here, as the hotel is a short walk across the Loire into the center of Blois, with its shopping streets, royal castle, Saint Louis Cathedral and the train station.
Relais de Chambord
Our light-filled corner room within the castle’s former stables at Relais de Chambord overlooked the exquisite Château de Chambord where the amazing intertwining double helix staircase is attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. Much to Lyndsey’s delight, when she soaked in the barrel-shaped hot tub on the terrace outside the ground floor spa facility, the jacuzzi was positioned to enjoy the same stunning scenery!
The recently upgraded venue is affiliated with Small Luxury Hotels of the World and its collection of rooms each have a mural of the castle, the forest, or park behind the bed. There’s a cozy bar and lounge with seats by the fire where we sipped Chateau de Chambord wine before a Loire Valley vegetarian supper with squash soup and a truffled pasta.
Château de Chambord
The inviting Spa du Relais features products by Anne Semonin, a luxury Parisian beauty line, and provides two treatment rooms, a steam room and sauna, a vestiare or dressing room, and relaxation space. We both appreciated our massages. A massage may be the most ordinary of selections and the most popular, and for good reason—when done well, as it is here—it’s a gift to the body. Outside, Château de Chambord awaits; it’s the largest enclosed nature reserve in Europe, with gorgeous gardens, walking and biking trails through the park and along the Cosson river, where the Relais has converted a barge into a comfortable private suite for its guests.
On our final day, we dined at an elegant Sunday brunch at the majestic Château d’Artigny, the former country estate of famed perfumer François Coty, which I had last visited almost 50 years ago with my late husband during our first Loire Valley rendezvous. The hotel will close at the end of this year for a head-to-toe renovation, which will include a luxe new, stand-alone spa in an existing separate structure. It’s planned to open in 2027, and I hope to be able to tell you about my experiences there.
Hours later, we rode the TGV directly to CDG airport where the station is linked by elevator to the Sheraton Paris Airport Hotel, where we overnighted before exiting the hotel’s front door into Terminal 2 and flying home.
Irvina Lew
Irvina Lew is an award-winning freelance contributor to a variety of travel books, lifestyle magazines, and websites. As a dedicated spa aficionado, the Long Island, New York native has been introducing readers to the world’s best spa venues and experiences for decades. Readers can find many of her published pieces posted on her website: irvinalew.com and by following @sipsupstayspa. Her newest book, Forays in France: A Flavorful Memoir features alluring spas in France and Monaco; some are described at foraysinfrance.com.