Luxury hotel holiday Chateau de Riell Molitg-les-Bains, French Catalonia

The Chateau de Riell is a boutique, 5-star hotel and member of Relais & Chateaux, with just 14 rooms and 3 suites situated in the village of Molitg-les-Bains. The village enjoys an exceptional location, surrounded by orchards and pastures, on a sunny plateau, facing Mount Canigou, a sacred mountain for the Catalan people. Molitg is famous for its thermal springs and baths, and also many marked hiking trails. The hotel occupies a tall, castellated chateau, restored in a traditionally elegant French style with cosy lounges, restaurant and bar. The gourmet restaurant has a hacienda-like feel with its open-fireplace as welcoming in cooler months as is the outdoor dining terrace in warmer months. The gardens burst with pines, cypress, oleander, palms of varying shades of green and enjoy panoramic views of the tree-clad foothills of the Pyrenees. Bedrooms vary in size and decoration. Each is unique in style with hand-made furnishings, wooden floor, and rich and colourful Pierre Frey fabrics. The rooms face the gardens, forest or Pyrenees. Four cottage garden rooms are positioned near the pool and have a terrace or loggia. A highlight of the Chateau de Riell are its thermal spa facilities with 1500 sqm of thermal baths, a pool with underwater jets, a white clay bath, 20 marble bath cabins and a beauty salon. The thermal water at Molitg is drilled from 150 metres under the surface and its remarkable properties have been feted for thousands of years. A stay here is a wonderful opportunity to de-stress in the air of the Pyrenees, explore the local countryside on foot along the miles of hiking trails and to relax in the thermal baths. The hotel has a sister hotel with a bistro-style restaurant too, just a short walk away.