Chais Monnet

While some of France’s wine-producing regions are home to extraordinarily luxurious hotels, the town of Cognac has hitherto been underserved by high-end hoteliers. With the advent of the Hôtel Chais Monnet, however, you can consider that situation rectified. In fact, to call Chais Monnet a high-end hotel is to undersell it significantly — architect Didier Poignant has transformed what was once the Monnet Cognac distillery into a uniquely memorable hybrid of 19th-century atmosphere and contemporary luxury hospitality.

It’s located close to the center of town, but the size of the compound, as well as its situation on the bank of the Charente River, affords it a generous measure of seclusion. The rooms blend a bit of French country-mansion style with, in the main building, remnants of the underlying heritage industrial architecture — this having been essentially a warehouse, after all — and a full complement of high-tech modern comforts as well.

An expansive spa, fitness, and pool complex occupy the lower level of the modern addition, while some of the most impressive spaces in the heritage structures are given over to the restaurants and bars — the old cooperage, where the barrels were constructed, is now a jazz bar with a thorough Cognac selection, while the Distillery, with its timbered ceilings, is now a brasserie, and Les Foudres, the fine-dining restaurant, is lined with ancient barrels.