The Twin Room
From€270 a night · room and breakfast
Two gilded beds beneath an old tapestry, in the Chambre Jeanne d’Arc. Once half of a much larger room, it was divided in 2021 and laid with old wooden floorboards.
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Six Chambres · Ariège
Stay the Night
The walls as the centuries left them, the rooms furnished from the brocantes, old pieces beside new.
Six guest rooms, each brought back from ruin, in an eighteenth-century château in the Pyrénées. A stay is your room, breakfast and the lounge, with the pool, tennis and the grounds outside.
It is a restoration, not a renovation. The walls stay as they are, by law, while the beds and the bathrooms are new: the comforts on which nothing has been compromised. Every stay helps bring the château back to life.
Une nuit au château A night at the château
Your Stay
A Night at Gudanes
You come through the gates and up the drive, and the château rises at the end of it. Your room is up the original staircase, or on the ground floor (still reached by stairs): antiques from the brocantes beside new pieces, walls the centuries left as they are, and a bathroom of your own on the ground floor.
The morning begins with breakfast. The day is yours: the pool, the tennis court, the grounds, or the valley below, and the lounge to come back to. In the evening the château goes quiet.
Les chambres The rooms
The Rooms
Six Rooms, Each Its Own
Each room is different, because the château is: its own shape, its own light, its own view of the valley and the mountains. All six share what matters most: antiques from the brocantes beside new pieces, a bathroom of your own on the ground floor, and walls left as the centuries made them.
The Twin Room (Ground Floor)
From€270 a night · room and breakfast
A queen bed and a double bed, with a private bathroom of its own next door. On the ground floor, though still reached by stairs.
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The King Room
From€270 a night · room and breakfast
A king bed in the Chambre Olympe de Gouges, one of the few rooms whose floor and ceiling survived. Before the restoration its hallway had caved in and the room could not be reached; its original slate floor was lifted and kept safe.
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The King Suite
From€350 a night · room and breakfast
A king bed beneath a four-poster canopy, with a bath and a basin in the room itself.
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The Marquis Suite
From€440 a night · room and breakfast
A gilded four-poster with an emperor bed, and armchairs by the fireplace, within walls left as they were found.
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The Family Suite
From€580 a night · room and breakfast
Two bedrooms for a family, the Chambre Bleue and the Chambre des Fleurs. In one of them the original wallpaper has been printed anew by the company that first made it, from its original templates. Children of eight and over are welcome.
Book this roomFinding Your Room
Answer Two Questions
Two questions. The differences that matter are not in the names.
Most likely
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Une nuit ici A night here
Your Room, Breakfast and the Lounge
Six guest rooms, breakfast in the morning, and the lounge to come back to.
The Marquis Suite 
A chair by the window, the mountains beyond 
A bathroom of your own 
Its dressing room 
The claw-foot bath 
A hand-painted basin 
The grand vestibule, as you arrive 
Breakfast 
The lounge
Le domaine The grounds
A Château Park to Explore
A night here comes with the château’s park to explore: the pool, the formal garden and the lawns, and the mountains all around.
The château, the formal garden and the pool 
The château over its garden, the mountains beyond 
Late-summer flowers around an old urn 
Sofas on the lawn, facing the mountains 
The château from the garden 
The château above the roses 
Down the drive to the château 
Across the far lawn 
The park, running to the mountains in the mist
Dîner à côté Dinner nearby
Dinner Nearby
A night’s stay includes breakfast at the château. For dinner, Les Cabannes lies just down the hill, about 500 metres away, with a table for every kind of evening.
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Maison Beaucoup
Les Cabannes · 73 rue Principale, beside the church
The finer table. Franck, who ran Beaucoup in Toulouse for eighteen years, and his partner Luc have turned a nineteenth-century presbytery into three intimate dining rooms, where the menu follows the seasons and changes every week.
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La Maison Lacube
Les Cabannes · 3 place des Platanes
Much loved, and known for its grills. A farming family cooks their own Gascon black beef and pork in their home on the square, with the produce of some forty Ariège farms. Recommended by the Routard, the Petit Futé and Gault & Millau.
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Le Petit En Cas
Les Cabannes · 12 place des Platanes
A small, family-run pizzeria on the village square, for an easy evening.
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The local bar
Les Cabannes
A glass before dinner, among the people of the valley.
The village also has a small supermarket and a tabac, for anything forgotten.
Sorties Days out
Days Out
The valley around the château is one of the quietest corners of France, with a great deal within half an hour.
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The thermal baths
Ax-les-Thermes · about twenty minutes · all year
Les Bains du Couloubret: Roman-style baths fed by the hottest springs in the Pyrénées, with pools inside and out, hammam, sauna and massages.
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On the river
Sinsat · about ten minutes · May to October
Canoe, kayak or paddle-board down the Ariège with Waterploof, guided or on your own, with a minibus back.
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Painted caves
Niaux and Tarascon · about twenty minutes
The prehistoric paintings of Niaux, among the few originals still open to visitors, and the Parc de la Préhistoire.
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Market day at Mirepoix
Mirepoix · just under an hour · Monday mornings
One of the finest markets in the region, under the timbered arcades of a medieval square, with brocantes all around.
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Snow
Plateau de Beille and Ax 3 Domaines · December to March
Cross-country skiing, snowshoes and sled dogs on the Plateau de Beille, at the top of the château’s road, and downhill skiing at Ax 3 Domaines.
Les équipements The facilities
Your Stay
What Is Included
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Le petit-déjeuner
Breakfast
Every morning, included
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La chambre
Your room
A comfortable bed among brocante antiques, reading lamps and power points
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La salle de bains
A private bathroom
Your own, on the ground floor
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Le salon
The lounge
Books and board games for the evenings
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La soirée cinéma
Film night
A projector, set up on request
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Le Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi
In a common area of the château
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La piscine
The pool
Yours to use while you stay
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Le court de tennis
The tennis court
Racquets for tennis and pickleball
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Le ping-pong
Table tennis
For a friendly match
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Les jardins
The gardens
Ten acres of gardens and grounds
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Les terrasses
The terraces and barbecue
A glass of local wine, and long summer evenings
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La buanderie
Laundry and ironing
Facilities for guests
Not included in a stay: lunch, dinner and drinks.
Two ways to stay
A Night, or the Full Experience
Stay the Night
Room and breakfast
- Your room, and breakfast each morning
- The pool, the tennis court and the gardens, table tennis, the lounge and board games, the terraces and a barbecue area
- At extra cost, if you wish: an airport transfer from Toulouse
One night or more, from €270 a night
A Workshop
The full experience
- Every meal, with drinks throughout
- The activities: cooking classes, the brocantes, yoga, kayaking and hiking
- The château opened to you, and a formal dinner in the Salon de Musique
Three to seven nights, per person, all meals and drinks included
En plus To add
Extras
Add to Your Stay
These can be added when you book.
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A tour of the château
A guided tour of the house and its restoration, on a day of your stay you choose. One price for the booking, however many of you there are.
€50
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Crémant & charcuterie board
A bottle of local sparkling wine, crémant, with a board of charcuterie, ready on arrival or on a day of your stay you choose.
€80
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Airport Transfer (Toulouse, up to 3 guests)
€250
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What’s On in the Ariège
Walks, riding, skiing, kayaking and the brocantes, a short drive away.
Go exploring
Prochaines dates libres The next dates available
Without Guessing
What Is Open Next
The next dates with a room available, and how many nights in a row you could stay.
- 27 October The Family Suite Up to 2 nights available from €580 Check this date
- 27 October The King Room Up to 2 nights available from €270 Check this date
- 27 October The King Suite Up to 1 night available from €350 Check this date
- 27 October The Marquis Suite Up to 2 nights available from €440 Check this date
- 27 October The Twin Room Up to 2 nights available from €270 Check this date
- 27 October The Twin Room (Ground Floor) Up to 2 nights available from €270 Check this date
At the château 9°C overcast
What Guests Say
Each morning I woke up worried that it was only a dream.
Spacious rooms with private, well-equipped bathrooms
After years of careful restoration, the owners brought it back from a ruin. The atmosphere is warm and not spooky at all.
Worth Knowing
What to Expect
A few things worth knowing before you come.
- A château, not a hotel
- There is no reception desk and no lift
- A restoration, not a renovation
- The walls stay as the centuries left them, by law
- Warm rooms in the cooler months
- Every room has an electric blanket and a space heater
- Children of eight and over
- Are welcome
- Wi-Fi in a common area
- The rooms are for switching off
- A home, not a set
- Photographs are yours to take and keep. For brand or content shoots, see Photoshoots at the château
If that sounds right, you will love it here.
Before You Book
The Questions That Come Up
Are meals and drinks included?
Breakfast is. Lunch, dinner and drinks are not part of a stay; Les Cabannes, just down the hill, has good places to eat.
When do I pay?
When you book. Your room is confirmed as soon as the payment goes through.
Is there a lift?
No. Every bedroom is reached by stairs, so pack lightly.
Can I bring children?
Children of eight and over are welcome.
Can I bring my dog?
No. Bruce, a French bulldog, and four cats live here.
Is there Wi-Fi?
Yes, in a common area of the château.
What is a Historic Monument?
A building protected by French law for its history or its art. Gudanes is classé, the higher of the two levels, so every intervention is approved by the state, and the walls stay as they are.
What can I use while I stay?
The pool, the tennis court, table tennis, the lounge and board games, the terraces, the barbecue area and the grounds, with breakfast every morning and Wi-Fi in a common area.
Is the château heated?
Every bedroom has an electric blanket and a space heater for the cooler months.
What about the tourist tax?
The taxe de séjour is added to the bill.
The Journal
Follow the Restoration
What comes out from under the plaster, which room opens next, and when the workshop dates are released. Sent when there is something worth sending.
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Practical
Key Information
Address
2 Route de Beille
Château-Verdun, Ariège 09310
France
Getting here
Toulouse-Blagnac is an hour and three quarters away; the station at Les Cabannes, three minutes by car. Skiing at Ax 3 Domaines is about half an hour; Andorra, about an hour
The stairs
No lift: every bedroom is reached by stairs, the one on the ground floor included. Pack lightly
Children
Eight and over
Animals
No dogs. Bruce, a French bulldog, and four cats live here
Heating
An electric blanket and a space heater in every room
Tourist tax
The taxe de séjour is added to the bill
Also in residence
Bruce
The château’s French bulldog, who goes wherever he likes and is usually first to say hello. Four cats live here too, mostly out of doors.
Before you book If anyone in your party has an animal allergy, tell us when you book.
Take a room
Breakfast is included, and your dates are confirmed the moment you book.
Monument Historique · Classé A Class I Historic Monument, restored under French heritage law since 2013