Abbaye des Vaux de Cernay, France: Paris’s impossibly glamorous answer to Soho Farmhouse

Up until fairly recently, there were surprisingly few options for Parisians looking for a chic weekend retreat within striking distance of the French capital. But that’s all changed with the recent revamp of L’Abbaye des Vaux de Cernay, a former 12th-century Cistercian abbey that’s been transformed by hospitality company Paris Society, the group behind many of Paris’s hottest hangouts.

Dubbed the Soho Farmhouse of Paris, the sprawling estate is now home to a range of glamorous bedrooms and suites, a slew of buzzy restaurants and bars, a luxurious spa and the smartest kids’ club around, making it a true haven for well-heeled families. And though there’s no doubt it appeals most to those looking to make the short trip down from Paris, it’s more than worth travelling for from further afield too. Once you’re there you’ll find absolutely no need to leave.

Here’s everything you need to know about France’s most talked about new hotel.

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Located around a 45-minute drive southwest from Paris and just over a half hour’s drive from Versailles, L’Abbaye is true a bucolic paradise set on a private 185-acre estate. While there’s not much to explore in the immediate vicinity, you won’t mind when you realise just how much there is to enjoy on-site, from an enchanting lake for boating on to miles of gorgeous parkland for frolicking in.

It's the ideal place to decamp to after a few days of shopping, scoffing and sightseeing in the City of Lights, though equally it’s more than worth a visit in its own right if Paris doesn’t appeal. I drove there from London via the Eurotunnel with my husband and our four-year-old daughter and the trip couldn’t have been easier. It also meant we had our car with us, so we could easily strike out to explore the towns of Rambouillet (around a 20-minute drive away) and Chartres (50 minutes by car). That being said, there’s so much to do here you could easily spend several days on the estate without ever leaving.

If fairytale grandeur is your thing, you’ll be in heaven here. With its honey-stoned towers and crumbling cloisters L’Abbaye’s exterior is suitably romantic, while inside the interiors have been luxuriously updated while remaining sensitive to the building’s fascinating history (after the abbey closed it was rescued in the 1870s by Baroness Charlotte de Rothschild).

Owner Laurent de Gourcuff brought in Cordelia de Castellane, artistic director of Dior Maison and Baby Dior, to handle the interiors, and she’s given the hotel a distinctly maximalist, hedonistic vibe, with patterned William Morris wallpapers, leopard print carpets and tartan lampshades. There’s also more than a whiff of the eclectic British country house estate to the revamp, which becomes less surprising once you learn that Ennismore, the group behind the inspired reinvention of Gleneagles, were also involved.

The joyfully riotous interiors are offset by the building’s jaw-dropping Neo-Gothic French architecture, with rooms topped by vaulted ceilings and stone arches. There are several deeply cossetting salons to choose from, all of which come with roaring fires, while certain suites feature Baroque mouldings and intricate wood panelling.

Choose from 146 meticulously designed rooms and suites, ranging from intimate spaces tucked away in the eaves to suitably grand signature suites. The Prestige room I stayed in came with a wooden four-poster bed, floral wallpaper and a sleek marble bathroom with a standalone tub for wallowing in. If you’re really splashing out, go for one of the signature suites. The Suite de la Baronne, which been designed as a tribute to Charlotte de Rothschild, offers 180-degree views over the grounds, while La Pagode, a crimson-red standalone pagoda down by the lake, blends French and Japanese touches.

For something a little more low-key and family-oriented, book into the hotel’s latest addition, La Ferme, which opened in September. Located a few minutes’ drive down the road (or a short bike ride along a private woodland path), it’s set across a lovely old farmhouse where guests are invited to feed and pet the resident donkeys, goats, rabbits and chickens. The rooms here are more rustic-chic, with wooden beamed ceilings and pretty quilts on the bed.

The group behind the hotel are responsible for some of Paris’s buzziest spots, including Maxim’s, Gigi and Raspoutine, so the food and drink offering here is a lot livelier than you might expect from a country escape. Evenings at L’Auberge, set in a renovated outbuilding by the lake, are a real scene, with homemade foie gras and roast chicken and chips accompanied by live music. L’Abbaye’s other restaurant, Les Chasses, is a more sedate and sophisticated affair that specialises in French fine dining.

For a casual bite to eat you can pop into James’ Bar, housed in one of the hotel’s many salons, which is also where the hotel’s decadent (and complimentary) afternoon tea is held each day. Over at La Ferme, you can order wood-fired pizzas, bowls of pasta and homemade tiramisu at La Trattoria. But for me, the most memorable dining option is Le Réfectoire des Moines, the ancient monks’ refectory where breakfast is served. It’s an extraordinary place to feast on crepes and croissants, under the ancient stone arches.

There’s so much to do here, it would almost be easier to list the facilities the hotel doesn’t have. There’s a gorgeous circular outdoor pool set amidst the greenery that was just made for social media snaps, as well as a well-equipped gym and a beautifully appointed spa with spoiling treatments by premium skincare brand Tata Harper. The picturesque lake can be explored via pedalos or rowing boat, and there are also tennis courts, a croquet lawn and a playground complete with trampolines and giant inflatable slides.

Indoor pursuits are taken care of too, with a 47-seat cinema showing multiple films a day (and where free popcorn is served around-the-clock), a brilliant gaming arcade and a karaoke room. Little ones, meanwhile, can sign up for the chicest kids’ club I’ve ever come across, created in partnership with luxury French kidswear brand Tartine et Chocolat. You can either play with your little ones in there for free, as we did, or leave them with the highly capable childcare staff (for a fee), where they’ll enjoy arts and crafts sessions and trips to the farm.

As mentioned, with so much to do on-site – and the majority of it included in your room price — there’s little need to venture away from the estate. Though if you did want to explore the local area, the hotel offers some suitably luxurious ways to do just that — such as organising a helicopter tour over the scenic Vallée de Chevreuse. You can sign up for clay pigeon shooting, archery and horseback riding in the extensive grounds, while the hotel also runs regular holistic workshops and sound baths.

If money was no object, I’d book the La Pagode suite, which is set by the lake and away from the hotel’s other buildings. Offering complete privacy, the French-Japanese interiors are to die for, and it even comes with its own private terrace right on the water.

The whole estate is an Instagram lover’s dream, from the sumptuous, magazine-worthy interiors and romantic exterior to the bucolic surroundings. But if I had to pick just one place to capture it would be the Harry Potter-esque Le Réfectoire des Moines, with its candlelit tables and soaring arced ceiling.

A luxurious family getaway to remember, that will please the grown-ups just as much as the little ones.

Rooms start from £249 on a B&B basis; for more information and to book.abbayedesvauxdecernay.com