From the welcoming glass of Vouvray and cakes served upon arrival to the in-room macarons and recently cut blooms, service is spoiling and lavish. Leisure facilities include a fitness centre and heated outdoor pool, table-tennis table, tennis court, lake fishing, French boules and croquet, and three marked forest walking or biking trails (the hotel lends guests bicycles). There is a L’Arts des Mets cookery school, helipad and the hotel can organise hot-air balloon rides.

Thirty-one rooms are designed between the historic hunting lodge and a newer period-styled building known as the Carriage House. Ground-floor rooms have their own bijou terrace garden.

Two-starred Michelin chef Rémy Giraud creates an excellent cuisine from seasonal herbs and products, veggies and edible flowers. Pan-sautéed eel from the Loire River and autumnal game are specialities. Gastronomic menus start at 138$ and the eight-course tasting menu 193$ is memorable. When the desire for casual hits, reserve a table at the Bistro, a rustic-chic space in an restored outbuilding behind the Carriage House.