The Best Hotels Near La Forge, by the Record
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A former abbey tucked beside the Prés Fichaux Garden, this hotel trades on centuries of stonework outside and entirely contemporary rooms within. The bar, Le 62, leans into whiskey, wine, and Champagne, and the bistro handles dinner without fuss. The old town center is a short walk south, the rail station just across the river. It carries the Michelin Guide selection and, by local standards, the address to match.
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A 19th-century mansion on the quiet north side of Bourges, close to the station, with an original oak staircase and stained glass that the twenty rooms and single suite quietly ignore in favor of contemporary furnishings and modern comforts. It's a small, calm hotel that reads more like a private house than a hospitality operation. The old city and the UNESCO-listed cathedral are an easy walk, and the bar serves drinks and a light menu all day.
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An 18th-century château a few minutes outside Bourges, with original woodwork still in the rooms, a swimming pool in the gardens, and a dining room under old timber beams serving food sourced nearby. Rooms split between those with period details intact and those where antique-style furnishings dress up newer construction, which is a distinction worth noting when you book. The Berry countryside is very quiet, and that's rather the point.
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Half-timbered walls and seven guest rooms in the heart of the Sologne, where the forest and Loire châteaux form the scenery and nobody is in much of a hurry. This old coaching inn runs small on purpose: floral wallpapers, dark vintage wood, rustic beams in the dining room, and a garden terrace that earns its keep in summer. The kitchen leans into local Sologne produce and Loire wines, which is exactly what you'd want here.
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Eight rooms perched above Sancerre's famous vineyards, with views that make it clear why this particular slope has been argued over for centuries. It's a small, quietly elegant rural hotel with a spa, bikes on offer, and a restaurant that cooks to the season and leans hard into the local terroir. The wine list, unsurprisingly, skews local, and the team can arrange tastings with nearby producers for guests who want to go deeper into the obsession.
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The hand-painted murals and grand fireplaces in this 17th-century Loire Valley château are original, and the current owners had the sense not to touch them. It's a country estate hotel where no two rooms look alike, some paneled in dark wood, others in florals, all with serious bathrooms and antique furniture that doesn't feel like a museum. A spa, two pools, and tennis courts designed by Guy Forget round out the property without turning it into a resort cartoon.