Chteau Sainte Sabine

Chteau Sainte Sabine

At Château Sainte Sabine, the eight-hectare park opens out before a sixteenth-century façade, its beehives and French-style garden giving way to donkeys, fallow deer and jackrabbits that share the grounds with guests who wander toward the former stables at dusk. Sainte-Sabine sits near Châteauneuf-en-Auxois, ranked among France's most beautiful villages, and several of the twenty-two rooms face straight across the park toward it. The front desk is not staffed around the clock, so anyone arriving after eleven at night needs to give advance notice, a rhythm that suits travelers who plan their evenings rather than roll in unannounced. What no comparable Burgundy address can match is the kitchen: the gastronomic restaurant Lassey is led by Chef Alexandre Ziane, who cooked in Michelin-starred houses including Le Corot and Alain Ducasse's Le Grand Contrôle at the Château de Versailles before taking the helm here, building his menus around Burgundy's terroir and the herbs from the château's own kitchen garden. Days settle around the outdoor pool, the library, hiking trails through the grounds, and a picnic area with a sun deck for slower afternoons. Families are well looked after, with a playroom, babysitting on request, and rooms built for extra beds; drivers get free on-site parking and an electric car charging point, and pets are welcome too. This is not a hotel for anyone wanting a big spa menu or a lobby full of activity; it rewards those who want a historic Burgundian estate with a serious table and quiet grounds, and few twenty-two-room addresses anywhere can put a chef with this pedigree behind the stove. Come for the beehives at dawn, the view of Châteauneuf-en-Auxois, and dinner at Lassey. A sixteenth-century château on an eight-hectare park near Châteauneuf-en-Auxois, with just twenty-two rooms and a restaurant, Lassey, run by a chef who trained under Alain Ducasse. The front desk keeps limited hours, so late arrivals need to call ahead. Come for the beehives, the park, and dinner at Lassey.