[MOLTIG-LES-BAINS, FRANCE] — Here’s a review of the beautiful Chateau de Riell a beautiful boutique hotel and spa in the mountains of French Catalonia and the best boutique Relais & Chateaux hotels in the region.

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So, here I was last April sitting in Skoura, an oasis town in Morocco, and I had to make a choice. Fed up with my stupid job, I’d quit and left for a little sabbatical for a month in Portugal and Morocco. My plane to the States left the next day, but I wasn’t ready to go back. So I cancelled it.

I flew back to Barcelona, walked up to the Hertz desk and asked “Can I rent a car for a long time? Like two months?” “Si!” So they hooked me up with a sweet little upgraded BMV and I headed towards the Pyrénées.

I had no plans, no goals; just no big cities, only small towns. Places I’d never been. My compass was a triangulation of Relais & Chateaux and TabletHotels, leading the way down the autoroute and AutoGrills toward whoever had open reservations.

And a nice pool.

After jumping rocks and eating lamb in the Spanish Pyrenees as I posted here,  I rode the toboggan ride road down the super steep Gorges de la Castellane into France, hooked a left at Narbonne and headed North back into the Catalan Pyrenees.

And that’s how I ended up here. With little planning and too-little of a time to stay here. I can’t wait to come back.

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The Spa Town of Moltig-les-Bains

Moltig-les-Bains, a famous Old School spa town where people have been coming to “take the waters” for generations. Driving around the gorges and canyons tucked between these gentle green mountains, you see one road sign after another leading to towns with names ending in -les-Bains.

Les bains…”The baths.”

Something’s goin’ on under these mountains… hot soothing spring waters bubbling out of every crook and crevasse in these valleys.

Chateau de Riell is located in one of those Les Bains. Moltig-les-Bains, a famous Old School spa town where raisins have been coming to “take the waters” for generations. They still do. And walking between all the old insane asylum-looking industrial-scale treatment rooms, you still see all the old people in robes and slippers taking in the waters.

The Fairytale Castle of Château de Riell

The chateau is up with the hill from the spas, built in the 1860s on top of an ancient hill fort, is a folly that mimics an old castle, but with all the modern conveniences. The inside is a riot of design, with over the top fabrics and furniture mixed with the old bones of a chateau. Every room is jaw-dropping.

The chateau has been run by the same family since after WWII and the place feels like family. Warm and lovely.

The first thing that hits you after driving through the thick stone gate is the glorious garden, tumbling down the hill like an emerald spring. As you pick your way through the dark shade and the tall trees, the path grins wide to a sunlit view over the falling valley. There’s Pic de Canigou peaking up its snowy head, a cappuccino cap worn year ’round at this high altitude, the steep hills parting their hair to open up the view of for miles.

Chateau de Riell is, as promised, a great castle on a hill. With all the gardens and grounds you’d expect for a chateau. Not the fancy sculpted formal shrubbery of Chenonceau or Villandry, but more English, natural. You just wanna touch everything…. It’s Spring in the Pyrenees.

[PLEASE NOTE: I visited here in Spring 2015. The hotel and restaurants have been updated since then. Check out their website to see the latest. Such a gorgeous place.]

The inside of the chateau is just as pretty as the outside, with sumptuous flocked wallpaper, stone arches and ten foot tall carved wooden doors.

The “Out of Africa” bar is out of a movie. Draped in old skins, horns, zebra patterned wallpaper and lush fabrics, you feel like you’re on the Oriental Express or your own murder mystery.

The Gardens of Château de Riell

It was peak-Spring the day I arrived, the sweet smells of green, pine and flowers and clear blue mountain air wafted all through the open windows of my giant room. A shimmering pool nestled under the shade of the waving trees. After racing down the steep mountain roads from Spain, walking all through the grounds was as restorative as the spa inside.

From the castle-top pool, you can see for miles.

The Rooms at Chateau de Riell

You know, you never hear the term “light-filled castle”. For a reason.

Most heavy stone castle walls were too thick to poke a hole through. Staying in old musty castles is often like staying in a halogen-lit cave dwelling, with a single slit for light and air that you can’t even stick your foot through.

But they figured it out here all right. Built as a baroque folly imitating ancient castles, big huge windows and ceilings 4 metres tall let Spring in all day long. If you come here, ask to stay in a Tower Room, that’s what you want. Fantastic. Baronial. With giant views over the trees, hills and valley below. With about the prettiest wallpaper I’ve ever seen. Feels like being a pope, or princeling.

That door over there on the right leads into the turret, where there’s a gigantor modern bathroom with a two-couple tub and nice faucets that are like having your own spa.

This room ruined me, forever. I’ve now decided I like my bathrooms in turrets. Now when booking a hotel/castle: “Ummmm, do you have a turret?”

The Restaurant at Chateau de Riell

PLEASE NOTE, THESE PICTURES ARE FROM 2015. THE HOTEL HAS DRAMATICALLY UPGRADED ALL THEIR SPACES, INCLUDING RESTAURANTS SINCE THEN, it is . CHECK OUT THEIR WEBSITE FOR THE LATEST. IT’S GORGEOUS.

Òliba has been redesigned since I was there and now focuses on a mix of Mediterranean with Catalan Pyrenean accents, with a spa-like lightness. Here’s the Michelin booking page. The hotel is right next to the national park and I read the hotel can pack your a gourmet basket to take on your hike. I wish I’d stayed here longer. I can’t wait to come back for a longer time.

One the backside of the castle tower, they’ve built a wood-grooved dacha as a breakfast room and tea spot. It’s like eating inside a violin. The leaves on the trees outside, waving at you.

Plan on three days, minimum to really sink into the mellow spring vibe. Oh, also, during the shoulder seasons, that great restaurant is only open certain days of the week, so time accordingly. Here’s a fantastic review from The Telegraph.

— Last visited May 2015 —