A few years ago I stayed at the "Mercure Cathédrale" in Reims. Easy to find if you are driving, walking distance to the cathedrale, close to the big houses of Champagne and their caves. About 12 miles from Epernay.
Posts: 42 | Location: Montréal | Registered: May 04, 2002
My husband, my father and I took a long weekend trip to the Champagne region last July. (Mr. frogoutofwater and I live in Paris. My dad was visiting us.) When I researched hotel options in the region, I didn't find a lot of good reviews on tripadvisor.com or elsewhere for Epernay. It seemed that prices were quite high relative to value offered. We ended up spending one night in Troyes (in a good value Logis de France hotel - the Hotel Royal) and one night in Reims (Hotel de la Paix). These would be good moderately priced options. (Otherwise the Relais sound much lovelier.) The other advantages with the hotels we stayed at were that: a) they were easy to book (and to cancel, had we needed to) online - making them a good back-up option when you're planning; and b) they had air conditioning (not important in March but nice in the summer).
To be honest, we also weren't terribly impressed with Epernay (although we only spent part of a day there). By contrast, we found Troyes fascinating (the half-timbered houses, the Museum of Tools) and Reims' architecture (the Art Deco buildings) and history (Museum of Surrender, where the Germans surrendered in WWII; Chagall stained glass windows in the cathedral) were worth the time spent. We're planning to go back to the region, and will probably stay in Reims again.
