Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Chateau Élan (Part II)


The word 'élan' is synonymous with...flair, style, confidence, and elegance.
At Chateau Elan in Braselton, that's exactly what I found. And, it starts when you turn into the driveway featuring views that are expansive and welcoming.
From the team of valets at the front door of the Chateau, all the way up in the form of CEO and President Henk Evers who waited to greet the Georgia Traveler team personally.
Nearly everyone at Chateau Élan is international. We met staff from The Netherlands , Ireland , Germany , and Turkey . There’s also a great group of locals who work there.
We were shown a corner suite. Wowza, wowza, wowza! The bathroom … to die for, including a snowy white bathrobe that is a serious snuggle draw. The bed … a decadent treat for body and mind. Both suite and bath were festooned with red and white rose petals, a special package for couples.
Anyway, enough of this drooling. You simply must visit this place for yourself. While there, check out Paddy’s. It’s an Irish Pub built in Ireland , disassembled and rebuilt in Braselton. Even the staff is Irish.
And, don’t forget The Spa at Chateau Élan for relaxing and unwinding. It even smells good in The Spa, which has its own kitchen. Oh yeah … the menu at The Spa features the carb count of your favorite foods!
International award winning chef Marc Suennemann made lunch for us, featuring seared sea scallops, white asparagus, truffles, fingerling potatoes and pork tenderloin. Chef Marc was kind enough to make my appetizer and lunch diet friendly. Desert was chocolate molten cake a la mode. (Okay, I had one bite. Who could resist?) A white chocolate cigarillo accompanied this homemade confection. UMMMM! BTW: Chef Marc is a dream to work with and his team offers cooking classes.
If there’s one drawback to this place, it’s that the gift shops stock too many gorgeous little things, which beg you to ‘pick me, pick me.’ As a self-confessed shop-a-holic, it was all too much for me to resist. But, then whoever said shopping is a bad thing?