I spent a night in a jail converted to a hotel in Switzerland, and it made me wonder if there is a real castle converted to an hotel in Europe.
And with "real" I mean the castle should have a historical past, and NOT a castle built recently or a hotel with a 'castle' look on the outside but on the inside it looks like a common hotel.
In short, I want to feel that I was brought back to the castle age if I stay in the hotel.
There are probably well over a hundred real castles converted to hotels in Europe - maintaining a castle is expensive, so most people who own one need to monetize it somehow.
Here's a German site that lists 40 castles and palaces converted into hotels in Germany alone...
The question is: how historical do you want it to be to count as "real"? Older than 200 years? Older than 500? Does it count for the age if the castle was ruined and later rebuilt, as long as some original parts remain? You can look up the history of individual castles, and maybe learning about that makes it more interesting and authentic than the age alone.
There's a hostel called Albergue Juvenil Castillo de San Servando in Toledo (Spain) which is in a castle. I have tried it and it's definitely the most beautiful hostel I've ever been to.
Photos and info:
For a medieval castle - a '10 story ominous looking castle' in Ireland, I remembered watching Alex Albrecht of Diggnation, talk about how he stayed in one (3 min in to video) he found on Celtic Castles. Note that Irish castles don't have moats. Annoyingly he doesn't say which one, but certainly the website claims to be the biggest Castle booking website in the world, so I'd hazard a guess that it'd be a solid start :)
It includes bookings for castles in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and French Châteaux.
Carbisdale Castle in the north of Scotland is actually a youth hostel.
I stayed there for a few pounds back in the 1980s and it was a cool place.
It is currently closed for refurbishment until 2012, but dorm beds in Scottish hostels are around 20 pounds.
It is not a very old, it was only built in 1907, but it looks and feels like a much older building. It has its own railway station very close by, admittedly it is a bit out of the way.
Sure, I don't imagine they're cheap though. A quick Google threw up heaps of sites. It's important to note that often stately homes or chateau are described as castles. To me a castle has a moat and a bridge such as Leeds Castle (not actually in Leeds) staying in one of these might be a little more difficult.
Here are the first three links most of them are in UK though some are in France.
Also there is the ruins of the castle in middle of lochleven which you could probably hide out in overnight without too much issue.
A castle?! Pfwah!
For $70,000 you can have a whole European country for a night!
(Though it's not clear if you get to sleep in the castle)
Another option is Oxford castle which was largely destroyed during the English Civil War, but what was left was made into a Gaol. It remained a Prison until 1996 and was subsequently converted into a luxury boutique Hotel.
I have a recollection of staying in the Grand Hotel in Brussels Belgium, that was a converted castle. (But this was decades ago.)
Most western European countries feature castles with owners that need to defray the cost of their upkeep by providing "bed and breakfast" type services to visitors. Check with local travel agents for prices and availability.
There are quite a few castles in Germany where you can stay overnight. As far as I know some castle owners rent out some of the many (converted) rooms in the castle just to cover the costs they have with maintaining such a building.
Here is a list from for hostels in a castle. Sorry, not many pictures on this page, but you can still look up the castle name on flickr or google images.
Here is a french castle hotels website. I looked around on this website, there is some Renaissance-era castles, but I didn't find any medieval-era castle at first glance. BTW, in french, castle is translated as "château", if you want to search google or something.
Yes it is possible. Especially if you are in a group. Before I had children I organized a annual board-game event in a castle with friends. We were able to rent a castle for around 1000 Euro per weekend, which with around 30 people became quite affordable. I cannot provide you with a link, because they don't have a website. But I found them by asking while walking through the Ardennes in Belgium. The location was also brilliant because of its name "Ny" (Monthy python lovers will know what I mean)
If you are not in a large group, I also know Cortils Castle, which offers self catering accommodation. If you would consider Cortils, I can recommend to arrive late on a moonless night. It gives an erie touch to your arrival.
Other castles which offer accommodation are:
We spent a week holidaying in Cawood Castle, in Yorkshire, this year.
There may only be the gatehouse, and it's domestic wing left, and the gatehouse itself may only sleep 4, but we had the whole place to ourselves, including the crenellated rooftop, with magnificent views of the Vale of York.
The castle was once a stronghold of the Archbishops of York, had significant royal links, and exchanged hands several times during the The Wars of the Roses. The gatehouse formed the private chambers of several Archbishops, and from skimming it's library, there's a lot of history wrapped up in such a small building.
It's just one of many unusual and eclectic buildings being preserved by the Landmark Trust charity and let out to fund their maintenance. They have a huge variety of converted castles, follies, mills, townhouses, cottages, halls, barns, stables, villae, lighthouses and even a few Martello towers (19th century defensive forts).
Many of these building would have been lost to history without help, and their conversion is done with care and sympathy.
Having said that, it can result in some very odd designs, such as
I love just looking through the catalogue at all of these weird, wonderful, historic buildings.
I have no relationship with the Landmark Trust, other than being a happy customer who is grateful for the magnificent preservation work they do.
I am not sure to understand what you call a castle (it was built in the middle ages? It is fortified?).
However, there is a French chain of hotels called Relais & Châteaux that is a worldwide network of so-called "charming hotels" and in particular, castles.
I could not find a way to filter the results by the type of residence, but there are not that many (still about 200 residences in Europe and from a vague scan, I would say 50 are castles).
There is another chain of the same kind called Châteaux & Hôtels Collection but it seems to have fewer castles and mostly located in France.
Awhile back I've been to Italy and stayed at:
from that time it only seem to have improved.
Durham Castle in the north of England has accommodation you can book outside university term time.
I stayed there (its a university accommodation) and if you're looking for "something that looks like a castle on the inside" this is as good as it gets. Suits of armour, long corridors, mist at the windows, vast banqueting rooms, wooden beams etc. Its also comfortable as a modern accommodation, and right in the centre of ancient Durham, adjacent to Durham Cathedral.
As far as I can see nobody has yet mentioned the Spanish chain of paradors. Some of these are described as castles (Sp=castillo) on the Wikipedia list of Paradores. The ones which have entries on Wikipedia with pictures all do look like castles, some more than others.
A bit late to the party, but I'd like to present a slightly different idea. In many European countries there are numerous ruined castles. Many of them are not staffed at all and sleeping in them is legal or at least tolerated. That of course means bringing your own food and a sleeping bag, at least! Spending a night at such a castle can be a unique experience. If I had to pick one example, it'd be the Čabraď Castle. Its extremely remote location (by Central European standards) means that one can see no villages or any modern man-made structures from it, making the visit feel like a time travel to the Middle Ages.
