How Two Friends Turned Abandoned CASTLE into a 4☆HOTEL | by

If it is possble for a building to have a soul, this building has had it's soul ripped away. the work is excellent but now it looks like a fake reproduction castle at Disneyland. The contemporary changes have ruined what could have been an amazing experiance. There is nothing inside this build that sets it apart from any newly built modern hotel.

architectural vandalism, this is not a castle now it is a modern building made from plywood, plasterboard. stainless steel and glass, things you don't find in real castles, this is a marketing video put together to drum up trade for people who have been to a real castle, Americans, Australians, people form the new world. .

bravo pour le boulot extraordinaire , le style du restaurant !! c'est votre choix , dommage
vos liens ne fonctionnent pas ???
www.youtube.com/@chateaudutheil/videos

The lesson of this awefull project : Tthe concrete can even kill the soul of 12 century castel ...

Bien rénové mais trop moderne. Pas assez authentique. On aurait pu voir 1 vieux miroir 2 ou 3 tableaux anciens, 1 tapisserie, le bar en pierre etc...

They DEMOLISHED an historic treasure, they restored very little.

Just what i was thinking

the grey laminate floors was the cherry on the top. what were they thinking:

Erst Mal besser machen‼️‼️‼️
Hinterher herum maulen, dass kann jeder‼️‼️‼️
Es gibt ja genug Objekte die auch restauriert werden sollten➡️➡️➡️ kauft die und macht es besser‼️‼️‼️

@@LaizyDaisy Das ganze wäre in ein paar Jahren zu Staub zerfallen 🤔🤔🤔
So wurde das Schlösschen wenigstens erhalten und durch das Bettreiben eines Hotels auf Dauer finanziert 👍👍👍
Die Besitzer hätten das niemals selbst gestemmt und von staatlicher Seite wird da nicht viel Unterstützung kommen🤔🤔
Denk auch einmal daran

Two friends with no prior experience... and 200 people with expert-level experience.

You mean those people up on the roof doing the slate work themselves? Oh no - that's the boys... maybe the people rebuilding the ancient stone wall - no, them too. And really, who couldn't teach themselves the work of a specialty mason, if one *really* put their mind to it...🙄

@@Sqlutwell, 10 people but hey, I'm sure you've DIY'd a gazillion lifts to carry guests up three floors...

@@Sqlut and spending just more than 2000000 ...wtf minimum 20 times more...

...with no construction experience and no appreciation for history.

i totally agree, it is too modern for a castle and for my taste.

oh please, i bet you will never stay at a hotel that has a traditional look. you mfs always nitpick on the most dumbest things when you dont even like traditional anyway

@@DianAsterEllis If you have no money and no taste better not start renovating anything !!!

couch quarter backs who probably couldn't switch a fuse

@@solangelauthier2381 why don't you put your own money where your mouth is. they have done good renovation to their best.

They did what they wanted as they paid for it !!🎉❤😂

Most of us agree castle 🏰 then inside is a white concrete, modern contemporary, boring lack of life and looks like some kind of bad medical building. Just weird.

@@yazminelle8331 Oh do hush up! At every similar comment there's always one of you demented libtra$h!

Yes, where?

@@tessatiley2608 Replicating an IKEA store by the looks of it.

for real! where's the charm?? :,)

It's horrible

Suburb-o-castle

Absolutely.

trust me I am european and extremely frustrated by this. Not all europeans do this shit, hopefully not even majority. If I had resources I would transform it differently. Somehow people who do have resources often lack taste

@@Account-br9kc And some people who do not have resources have taste and manage to restore while keeping the soul of a house/manor house/castle. Many examples in Europe. The castle shown in this video is a rare example of bad taste and lack of respect.

yea, modern architecture is EXTREMELY boring

@@tacgenesis2356 Modern architecture is not always boring - even if it is not my personal taste. But it has nothing to do in/with a medieval castle.

You beat me to it. The interiors look like IKEA tied up with Stevie Wonder.

It no longer looks like a castle inside, it lost all personality 😢

It’s questionable how many details they could have saved given what shape the building was in. But agreed. The whole selling point of the property is it’s a castle! It would have been nice if they had decor that reminded the guests of that once they were inside.

@@VSE4me1 You are right - it’s possible that there weren’t many details worth preserving, but then details could have been added through new production. Of course, new production is not the same as authentic, but in the absence of anything better, it too could have created a castle-like atmosphere. Even just period correct wallpapers or art objects here and there alone would have steered the ambiance in the right direction.

not even a suit of armor on display! lol.
i'm just taking a wild guess and saying these guys have zero talent with design, so they relied on 'experts' with no particular vision, college eDuCaTeD people who designed interiors that are above average at first blush, but also very generic.
a missed opportunity is what it is.

A historic...collapsing in on itself..building...lol

yeah.. and Im not a fan of the concrete floors as well. I deserved to be heavy wooden beams and wood floors, walls and ceilings.

Chateau 'Motel 6'

I was rather surprised that they didn't try to reuse any of stones from the chapel's facade. At least use it on the side of the restaurant that was the front of the hotel. It also would have been free building material, so I would've used it somehow to save some money.

i guess the upside is, at least they did something with the building and its not sittig and rotting

Разрушенное строение , по вашему мнению , лучше, чем восстановленное, но с плохим интерьером. Пусть лучше бы все рухнуло через пару лет правда? Вы прям гений среди удобрений

Perhabs that was their exact vision? Or from the investors maybe..

Then go buy it and make the way you want!

definately, inside, it looks like many many other hotel rooms from some chains somewhere, a big pity. but also outside, I think it's overrenovated and lost its charme

@@Swissadonis Yes both outside and inside have been ruined by this « renovation », which is in fact an architectural murder

Was thinking similarly. It would be cooler if the interior was more rustic and simple, more old-castle-like. Keep all the modern essential stuff in the background but make it feel old and grand. Yes, you have A/C and insulation and plumbing, but it still feels like slipping back in time.

@@muhmmadzaidqasim1978They did not have to turn it into a medieval castle again (medieval castles were barely furnished anyway and comfortable chairs had not yet been invented, it came centuries later). Any castle évolves with time, castles are furnished with furniture brought by the various générations who inhabited it. It is THAT history that should have been reflected. A sense of the past.

Folk , do you know how expensive it is to restore old stuff ?? Thanks god they just saved a curb appeal

@ Don.t you think committing this architectural murder was expensive ?

Exactement, mon ami!

YES, exactly :(

Not sure I'd go that far. I can't imagine a credible travel based company rating it 4 stars. It is quite likely that there simply were no funds to do it 4-star justice. I have undertaken a virtual teardown and rebuild of a house, with considerable design changes, both floorplan and styling. I felt for them as they undertook the task. And wondered how in the world they could finance it all, recalling my journey. I was done in by the housing crash in the U.S., like being on the beach exposed fully when a tsunami strikes. I can't imagine how they managed such a monstrous financial committment, even with 'angel' investors.
Also, I was surprised that they didn't leave more rustic surfaces exposed on the interior. People expect some measure of authenticity when they book a 'supposed' original chateau.

@@aldinlee8528 i doubt we're the only two who thinks it's been overly 'modernized.' because i'm insane to a certain degree, i probably would have left part of the chapel ruins up, and i certainly would have been more creative with the interior -- i want a medieval fuckin' castle, not drywall and hotel supply furniture. that's just me.
i wonder about the finances, too, particularly in a high-risk business owned by two guys with no experience in running hospitality and restaurants. one has a 'business background,' but that's pretty vague. i used to own a small convenience store, do i have a 'business background,' too? someone can have a 'business background' without having owned a business.

They should have made the walls like the outside so it has that authentic feel waking up to a castle rather than waking up to a hotel from the city, it's disappointing the potential the inside rooms could have had. The restaurant is also too modern, they could have gone with a medieval theme at least, what a let down

👍🏼🤢

No, not just you 😢

@@paulhernandez-r2w A mess, Indeed

100%

No your glasses see it right

And all the stone work that they re-pointed. You *do* get that squatters don't tend to put down a security deposit when they move in, and they came after a pretty impressive scrimmage across France between 1939 and 1945...

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

What about that monstrous restaurant glommed onto it?

​@@LeafBurrower I was trying to be nice but as you asked, Hideous is the only word that comes to mind 🤷‍♂- Quantum Tech HD tried to be upbeat, but over all they were Polishing A Turd ( UK Expression ) - took something with character and made it Sub-Par They may as well knocked it down and did a Disney reenactment of a French Chateau !!!

@@LeafBurrower to be honest, as an architect, it looks cheap aswell and it does not fit the genius loci of the existing building. I think though after watching that, they had no architect or had several architects and noone that respected the building enough and had the project under controll? how is that possible to destroy such a castle in france? is there no historic preservation office? didn't they like tear down a whole part of the castle?

@@im11yearsold63 I wrote above somewhere that it looked a) like it had been lifted wholesale out of a Napa Valley winery, or b) that maybe one of the backers told the developers that they "have a nephew who's done some cool projects"...
I don't know how old the building is, maybe mid C19th?

​12th century@@LeafBurrower

Coincido contigo, un castillo es un castillo por dentro y por fuera ,por lo menos deve dar esa sensación.

not sure If i need to see suits of armor etc, but, yeah, this is not really a resurrection of a castle, it is building a modern building where a castle used to be... Not a interested for the most part.

It’s not a castle though, it’s a chateau, that’s now been repurposed to a hotel. I don’t think many want the authentic chateau experience. Warmth and comfort in a historic building sells way more to the masses.

They have done a fantastic job but itś just like any modern newly built hotel on the inside. Wish they would have had a different touch to the interior decoration, it´ s not what I would enjoy as it´ s not true to the chateaus former history.

Talk about being picky get a grip I for one would happily stay there and probably will let me know how your project is going? Oh right you haven’t got a project why? Oh because you wouldn’t have a bloody clue Green with envy not a good look I will review my stay just for you miserable lot 🇬🇧

If they were serious about learning the history they would have used metal detectors.

Yep. Right down to the "authentic" AI voice. Still the old place was in such poor shape, was there any other choice.
You knew they were going to wreck the joint when you heard the word, "sustainability."

How do you strip the charm of a pile of trash?
You at least must know the story of the building, but they didn't and of course you too, so to me it's a bunch of trash that got stripped from its trash status.

@ It was hardly more than a heap of stones indeed. But the renovation could have been charming and hint at the history of the castle through the centuries.

😂😂😂😂🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

I wouldn’t consider that a castle

Then wth do you call it? A garage with a attached tiny home?? I’m so confused 😐

@@calibleu7532 a big house that vaguely resembles a castle

@@calibleu7532 I consider a castle to be medieval and have battlements, fortifications and maybe a moat or on top of a hill. I’m from the UK and there are a lot of castles lol. This looks more of a sturdy Manor House/ chateau don’t think your going to hold up against a siege in this. I will have to watch again but, I’m fairly sure the walls aren’t thick enough. Looks an old building but, probably not medieval by the looks of it. It’s more of a mock castle like something the victorians did lol. Look up Warwick castle, bamburgh castle, Edinburgh castle, Conwy castle and tell me that thing is a castle! Lmao

@@calibleu7532 A hotel.

Yes. And I believe the Hilton is 5 star😂

Pff why always complain….

@nicolecourt7829 because they put the video on for opinions, good or bad. I 'd like to see an update and it' s vacation site ratings. I bet they're not good.

@Lilitherficul but… there was nothing worth left inside … only the walls..

@Lilitherficul 🤢

Me too!

Permission, from the regulatory authorities, probably demanded up to date construction and fixout !

This is mostly a marketing vid. No real vintage or historic content.

architectural vandalism is the term you're looking for . .

@@linmal2242 Interior furnishing, lights, bed linen and aesthetic would not be subject to regulation, other than fire rating and electrical safety.

@@DIYDaveT You have not seen much in the world…

The concrete could have been beautiful on the main floor if they had had it stamped with a large stone pattern and then polished.

i wondered if the concrete was necessary. i mean, didn't the original wood construction stand for centuries, and even then only mostly went to rot from complete neglect.

@@ryanbarker5217 Yep you got to wonder how the old walls will handle that additional 100 tons of weight over time.

@@wesdering2151 Quite agree, and there s no allowance for movement with concrete - the whole thing will not last as long as it did before 'renovation'.

Then don’t. You won’t be able to afford it either.

@@Tita-k6sSays who … you … 🤷 … cheap comment.

​@@Tita-k6s🤣 testy🤣

@@Tita-k6s your buddy obviously love Hampton or Holiday Inn's. don't you?

Зроби реновацію своєї ізби, в своєму усть - жопінську.

yes, they ruined history and character. All original charm is gone, just ordinary for profit outfit. Shame for spending so much money on destroying beautiful castle. Disneyland indeed.

Regardez bien les premières vidéos montrant l’existant en ruine : il n’y a avait pas grand chose d’un château tel que dans l’imaginaire commun…

@@romain.ballais ben justement c'etait le moment ...

Oui,je partage moi aussi cet avis mais en même temps,cela a permis à ce superbe château de reprendre vie au lieu de continuer de tomber en ruine et de disparaître complètement...

@@esperluette8292 Il n a pas « repris vie », il est MORT

@@esperluette8292 oui mais ils ont reussit a le restaurer d"origine et apres mettre pleins de materiaux moderne sur ses jolies pierre c dommage

@@OneTequilaTwoTequila And parquet has nothing to do in a médiéval building anyway !!!

@@kindaclassykindacholaTotally run of the mill chateau for French circumstances. But could have been made charming by skilled architects and interior decorators. Plenty of examples in France and in Europe.

The Interior is just a great shit!!!

so true , I m as gutted as this hotel , at this so called restoration.....

Bro this guys spend over 4 million usd if they had decided to retain the original look it would had cost more its just business.

I agree. It just looks like a castle from the outside. It’s modern. Sniff.

@@Knightmare919 Absolutely not, Restoring thé place in a respectful way would not have cost more

Ce qui est incompréhensible c’est surtout comment, avec autant de financement, le resultat de l’aménagement final peut il être aussi pauvre et sans âme. Quels sont les architectes, architectes d’intérieur et designers qui ont pu produire un résultat d’aussi mauvais goût et sans aucun lien avec le bâtiment original. Aucun des matériaux choisis ne colle à l’ensemble. La réception est digne d’un hôtel de seconde zone. Le béton ciré de l’accueil n’apporte aucune profondeur à l’intérieur et lisse complètement les volumes. Il aurait mérité d’être remplacé par de la pierre naturelle qui aurait donné du cachet au lieu. Qui a choisi le tapis des couloir ? Comment peut on choisir un tel motif en 2024 ? Ça donne l’impression d’être dans un hôtel des années 90. Les impressions dans les chambres font kitsch au possible. Le travail accompli par ces 2 jeunes est immense et chapeau à eux pour ça. Le résultat final est malheureusement bien pauvre par manque de goût, par le très mauvais choix des collaborateurs cruciaux de ce projet, l’équipe de décorateurs d’intérieur et d’architectes. Même l’espace extérieur avec la terrasse est absolument déconnecté du reste par un piètre choix des matériaux qui auraient normalement dus renvoyer à la magnifique façade du château. Ce projet devrait être utilisé comme contre exemple de TOUT ce qu’il ne faut pas faire en terme de rénovation (car je sais qu’il ne s’agit pas d’une restauration) de bâtiment historique. Comme quoi l’expertise et le savoir faire ne s’improvisent pas simplement grâce à une forte motivation et de l’huile de coude.

@@Zezeguizee pas d'accord, mais les gouts et les couleurs ca reste très subjectif! comme quoi tous les avis sont possible ! 😁😄
le travail est gigantesque et ca peut ne pas plaire a tous, ils ont recherché a restaurer en conservant une démarche ecolo ( le plus possible)
associer moderne et ancien se conçoit même chez les grands archis. c'est souvent un savant mixage des 2.
Chacun peut avoir un avis, par exemple je trouve que l'agencement des pièces en cloisons sur profilés et placo n'est pas idéale, même si les grands carreaux donnent un certain cachet, la surface des pièces aussi n'est pas délirante pour un 4 étoiles mais impossible de pousser les murs!
il y a a n'en point douter des impératifs de budget qui ont surement guidé certains choix ! quoiqu'il en soit l’hôtel et opérationnel et il conserve son histoire
souhaitons lui une belle réussite et longue vie. 😌😏

@@Zezeguizee Excellente analyse,l'excroissance ou la verrue rapportée est une aberration architecturale,on peut d'ailleurs se demander si reellement un architecte specialiste du patrimoine a pu les conseiller......je n'ai jamais pu obtenir une reponse!!!!Malheureusement la finalité aboutie a un hotel de type mercure,qui n'a plus aucune personnalité et dont la perenité financiere restera alleatoire compte tenu du cout colossal des travaux,financement familial et bancaire.......Qui a fait l'etude de faisabilité d'un tel projet dont l'echec commercial est facile à prevoir?Meme pour des grands chefs l'hotellerie restauration n'est pas un long fleuve tranquille,j'ai le souvenir du chef de la tour d'argent à Paris qui avait ouvert à grand frais ''( ) une belle demeure en campagne ,revendue apres faillite le quart de sa valeur,ou un richissime irlandais ayant investi des dizaines de ME dans un chateau hotel,bradé apres liquidation 1ME......!

@@yvesgruson8189 Aucun architecte du patrimoine n est intervenu, le château était pas classé (trop ordinaire pour cela), les propriétaires ont fait ce qu’ils ont voulu - c est à dire n importe quoi !

@@Zezeguizee Ils ont choisi un mauvais décorateur, très mauvais,… ou ont décoré eux mêmes !!!

I cringed when I saw that! Yes, they lied.

If you visit, don't expect "4 star" accommodation's. Its only $100 a night, and the governing body in France that hands out stars, Atout France, has never heard of this place.

Thanks for the information, I’ll definitely keep that in mind !

@@pc7082 Why go all the way there to find the atmosphere of a Holiday Inn ?

​@@solangelauthier2381because he can afford it. With all your negative comments you just look and sound so bitter due to the fact that you will never get close to affording or completing a project like this.Everyone feels sorry for your bitter little life.🤣🤣🤣

Agreed. It looks a bit of a dog's dinner inside.

@@gatodelluvia4735 Absolutely. Those who like modern hotels can go to modern hotels, plenty of them. Each its own. No need to kill a castle. When you book a room in a castle you want to feel in a castle, which by far does not mean to give up comfort - and even less charm. They promised a castle and delivered an ordinary Holiday Inn in a Disneyland shell.

@@solangelauthier2381 couldn't have said it better. Really sad story, shame for wasting so much money on distraction of history.

@@gatodelluvia4735 Silhouette

@@samhurton9308 Yes, with the same money - or less, 19th century gothic style antiques would have been cheaper in France than this airport lounge furniture - they could have done something charming. They just had no taste - and maybe no marketing sense ?

They"paved paradise and put up a parking lot" comes to mind

They McMansioned it!

Exactly, the amount of mortar between the stones shouldnt have needed to be more than say 1/2" thick, 1/4" even had they been cut at the correct angles.

That wasn't an "original" arch. It's probably just a dream project that will be covered up by canes of roses or ivy growing over & hide it. Or, maybe the owner means to bring critics to stand underneath & cast aspersions from there, & kept out of the bar/restaurant

I noticed that, too. It was a fake stone arch, it was a cement arch. Even one of the stones is TOO SMALL instead of equal size as the other stones!

The Interior is just a great shit!!!

Heartbreaking finish. I loved visiting old buildings in Europe many years ago, it drove me to restore US historical buildings. This was NOT a 'restoration' it is a modernization to ape the worst of modern hotels.

This is not a renovation, it is a demolition and a castle and replacing it with post-modernist crap. It's like restoring a painting by ripping out the canvas with the painting and smearing shit into the frame.

Would prefer more rich dreamers who try and restore buildings like this to at least match the original look and charm of how it was.

Is it true that the charm of the ruins that existed before the renovation has been erased...the ruins that existed before were beautiful...They committed a crime with this renovation...this is terrible to see 😆😆😆

Oga you go take an easy

Very sad

La jalousie de la perfide Albion a parlé. .... 😩

@@denzMg Yes, it is an architectural murder

I agree

The Interior is just a great shit!!!

Budget

@@rundepanien862Bot

@@bumetyanuba4231 With the same budget they could have done much better - with taste and a sense of history. And when you have only a modest budget you do not embark on a 4* hotel, you do a 2* B&B ! (Some of them are charming, much better than this monstruosity).

why dont you go repair your own chateau and show them the proper way to do it.

@davidanalyst671 you have no sense of historical preservation and must love Trump's bordello sense of design

@@davidanalyst671 As soon as i find a small loan of 4 milion dollars and a castle for sale i will !

​@@GeraldMiller-mp8fc
¿ Y que tiene que ver Trump y donde esta ese burdel ?

​@@davidanalyst671
¿ Por que no respetas la opinión? Si me hubieran prestado todo ese dinero hubiera hecho algo mejor, no le hubiera quitado en ningún lado el aire o la ilusion de castillo por ningún lado.

@@marybloom6210 Too perfect ? It is in very bad taste, on the contrary

Another piece of Disneyland in France, shame for totally ruining history and old charm of the castle.

@@samhurton9308 Thank you for saying it. Yet you can see from the comments that a lot of Americans love it, find it « beautiful ». Their bad taste and lack of culture is a problem. The castle did not have much old charm left, but compétent architects and interior decorators know how to re-create the patina that is gone. These owners did not hire the right person - or gave the wrong brief - or decorated themselves !!!!

Und das ist auch gut so. Denn du glaubst ja nicht, was für Ideen manche haben. Bei uns in Norddeutschland hat eine Frau alle original Vertäfelungen rausgerissen, inklusive der Stuckarbeiten in den Sälen. Alles aus dem 16.Jahundert wurde entfernt. Bis eine Frau aus der Nachbarschaft den Denkmalschutz angerufen hat.

Der Innenbereich ist einfach die letzte hypermoderne Scheisse. Passt nicht zum eigentlich alten Chateau. Arbeit für die Tonne oder ein weiteres Holiday Inn à la Hollywood Fakt!

In Frankreich auch. Aber nur wenn dass Schloss unter Denkmalschutz steht. Was nicht der Fall war. War zu ordinär dafür.

They were not preserving the castle rather making it modern and liveable and they succeeded in the task, if it was about preserving the castle the approach and budget would’ve been different

They were not preserving the castle rather making it modern and liveable hotel and they succeeded in the task, if it was about preserving the castle the approach and budget would’ve been different

@@ZainAfd And that's ok, but why make it so damn ugly?

@ according to who ?

@@ZainAfd People with taste.

You could do your own castle if this is not to your satisfaction

@@Radianxe Agree. Awful renovation.

And exterior too.

The Interior is just a great shit!!!

Trust me people aka the guest wont even care as long as a business bring what the customer desire everything is fine.

@@Knightmare919 Precisely, thé customer who choses to spend the night in a castle wants a castle atmosphère, not a Holiday Inn atmosphère…

@@rundepanien862 Maybe they had sponsors for the plumbing and other details...if not - WHY?????

They will probably go bankrupt.

Y tu pones el culo en tu comentario ,cada cual opina según como piensa ,desear que les vaya bien es una cosa y otra cosa que no preserven realmente lo que es historicamente un castillo por dentro y por fuera porque de eso se trata ser lo más creativo posible y luego de sobre 4 millones invertidos .

@@shereemorgan1430 The history of the place is dead and buried

В начале вроде же сказали, что 2млн бюджет был, а в итоге он вырос многократно.

да? О, я тоже хочу, чтобы у меня БЫЛ изначальный бюджет 2млн и чтобы он многократно вырос :)))

@@jwserge Ну там сказано, что к проекту проявили интерес люди из 26 стран это так называемые "донаты", а еще 2 человек вложили инвестиции и стали со-владельцами....как-то так.

Можешь точно перевести? - понимаешь ли, что означает:
The two friends *took on personal debts to secure the purchase.* Once *they were all in,* a thrilling journey began.

@@jwserge ""Двое друзей взяли собственные сбережения для безопасного приобретения , однажды они вложились (можно и так "вложили все что есть"), и увлекательное путешествие началось.""

Better than crumbs and mold..

How? There was nothing 😂 Now at least, it exist. That's the new era of that castle. Change is what make the castle to exist.

​@@nancycampuzano7266👍

@@Osythh No, better have it tumbling down than turning it into an airport lounge

@@nancycampuzano7266 Oh yes, change there is. Now it looks like an airport lounge.

Why ?

@heptagrammar21 we call that remuddled. If you need an explanation... when someone takes an old historic design and changes it to a new design but leaves some part of the old, it is a remuddle.

@@carolmyers6678 ok, I understand 👍🏼