First look: Inside the brand new floating boutique lodge taking wine lovers to Bordeaux vineyards

On the lookout for an intimate and stylish place to remain within the coronary heart of France’s Bordeaux wine area? There is a new possibility as of this week — one with a twist.

Avalon Artistry II is a 64-room boutique property and river ship that may transfer with you as you tour the world’s many famed wineries, often known as “chateaux,” and historic websites.

Operated by well-known river cruise firm Avalon Waterways, the small vessel might be primarily based alongside the riverfront of town of Bordeaux beginning Tuesday for weeklong voyages on the Garonne and Dordogne rivers.

The dual waterways meander by the core of the vineyard-lined Bordeaux area, providing quick access to a few of the world’s best-known wineries and wine cities, together with Saint-Emilion — the UNESCO World Heritage Website-listed medieval village on the middle of the Bordeaux area’s Saint-Emilion wine space.

Initially designed to sail on Europe’s Rhine River, Avalon Artistry II is not newly constructed. It was launched on the Rhine in 2013 and sailed in Central Europe for the previous 12 years. But it surely’s new to the Bordeaux area as of this month, and it underwent a significant makeover prematurely of its redeployment.

TPG obtained a sneak peek at this makeover throughout a preview crusing for media and journey brokers. Here’s a first have a look at the vessel’s new design and what you may count on on board if you happen to e book a keep.

Trendy lounges

As is typical for small river ships that sail in Europe, Avalon Artistry II has only a handful of public areas — almost all of which had been revamped in an enormous means throughout the ship’s makeover.

The ship’s principal lounge (known as the Panorama Lounge) on the entrance of the vessel has at all times been a spacious, light-filled house with partitions of glass that provide gorgeous views of the passing surroundings. However now it options all-new decor with trendy up to date furnishings and flooring.

Serving as the principle gathering spot for passengers on the ship throughout the day and into the evening (you may simply name it the ship’s front room), the Panorama Lounge is lined on its proper facet (when dealing with the entrance of the ship) with cozy seating clusters, excellent for a predinner drink with new buddies.

On the left facet of the room, a semicircular bar and teams of tables and chairs provide extra seating, with a small dance flooring between the 2 areas that may come alive at evening.

The Panorama Lounge typically hosts stay music at evening, and there is a devoted house for performers with a completely positioned piano and soundboard simply off the dance flooring.

There are extra lounge chairs towards the entrance of the room, and there is an space of tables and chairs that morphs into an off-the-cuff secondary eatery known as the Panorama Bistro for lunch and dinner. (See beneath for extra info on the ship’s principal eatery.)

Notably, there’s sufficient seating within the Panorama Lounge to carry all Avalon Artistry II passengers without delay, even when each room on the ship is full — one thing that is not true for all river ships.

Simply in entrance of the Panorama Lounge, on the very entrance of the ship, is a forward-facing outside seating space with among the best views on the ship. As a part of the ship’s makeover, it obtained new table-and-chair units the place passengers can take their bistro lunch open air on sunny days.

Additionally getting an overhaul throughout the ship’s makeover was the back-of-the-vessel Membership Lounge, a smaller lounge house with a 24-hour self-serve beverage station providing complimentary espresso drinks, scorching chocolate and teas. Cookies and different snacks additionally can be found all through the day.

If the Panorama Lounge is the ship’s front room, the Membership Lounge is its household room — a laid-back and normally quiet house the place you will discover a small library of books and video games for group play, equivalent to Apples to Apples and Scattergories.

Eateries

As famous above, a small secondary eatery known as the Panorama Bistro opens throughout lunchtime and dinnertime within the ship’s principal lounge. However the principle eatery on the ship, the place passengers go for many meals, is the Panorama Eating Room on the entrance of the ship beneath the Panorama Lounge.

The restaurant is stuffed with mild because of partitions of home windows alongside its sides. It affords buffet breakfasts and lunches augmented with table-served choices (you may order eggs Benedict within the morning, for example, and burgers at lunchtime out of your waiter). There is a extra formal, four-course, table-served dinner each evening.

One notable characteristic of the Panorama Eating Room is that it affords many two-person tables, so single vacationers and {couples} by no means have to take a seat with strangers if they do not need to — one thing that is not at all times the case on river ships. That mentioned, the seating is organized in a means that permits for these tables of two to be pushed collectively into greater models to permit for bigger teams.

There are also set tables for 4 and 6 within the room.

With its transfer to the Bordeaux area, Avalon Artistry II can even provide extra mild alfresco lunches on its high deck, often known as the Sky Deck, the place a brand new Sky Bistro space has been configured simply behind the vessel’s bridge.

The Sky Deck additionally includes a new seating space at its entrance, which was initially used to retailer bicycles for passenger use. An all-new fleet of bikes now sits in an space farther again on the highest deck.

Cabins and suites

Cabins and suites on Avalon Artistry II obtained a light-weight refresh prematurely of the ship’s transfer to Bordeaux, together with all-new mattresses.

Just like the cabins and suites on all 16 vessels at the moment within the Avalon fleet, these rooms had been already among the many highest-rated in river cruising. In truth, TPG has known as Avalon’s customary cabin one of the best in river cruising.

Avalon Artistry II is a part of Avalon’s Suite Class of ships — recognized for his or her massive variety of extra-wide cabins known as Panorama Suites. These suites present a extra panoramic view of passing surroundings than the usual rooms you will discover on many different river ships.

Avalon Artistry II has 50 of those Panorama Suites, which supply 200 sq. toes of residing house. That is about 30% extra sq. footage than the usual river ship cabin.

The suites make up almost 80% of the cabins on the ship and have a number of uncommon options. Amongst them are floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall panoramic home windows that stretch 11 toes broad and open up 7 toes broad.

Two even bigger suites on the vessel, known as Royal Suites, are 50% greater than the ship’s Panorama Suites at 300 sq. toes, they usually boast a good wider wall of glass.

Maybe probably the most notable characteristic of all these suites is that the beds are configured to face the view — one thing that’s uncommon in river cruising. Most river ship cabins are designed with sideways beds dealing with an inside wall.

All of the Panorama and Royal suites even have small seating areas subsequent to the partitions of glass. Whenever you slide the glass wall open and chill out within the seating space on the fringe of the now-open wall, you get the sensation of being on a balcony.

It is an “open-air balcony,” as Avalon calls it.

One other standout characteristic: The ship’s Panorama Suite cabins have larger-than-normal showers. The scale is made attainable by a slight outward angling of one of many partitions of the toilet, simply sufficient to create a wider house for the bathe.

The wall angled outward is shared with the bed room space, and it cuts into the house out there on the facet of the mattress within the bed room space farthest from the door. But it surely’s a reallocation of house that actually is not noticeable to somebody on the bed room facet of the wall.

An up to date health room

Along with different revamped areas, vacationers reserving a visit on Avalon Artistry II this 12 months will discover an up to date health room.

The largest change to the small house, which has a working machine and sit-down bicycle, is the addition of a Speediance Fitness center Monster, an all-in-one coaching machine that permits customers to do a variety of workouts.

Backside line

The river ship Avalon Artistry II is the latest possibility for a multiday keep in France’s Bordeaux wine area. It affords all of the onboard comforts of a small boutique lodge whereas shifting you from place to position when you sleep.

Whereas not newly constructed, the 64-room vessel — the primary that Avalon has primarily based within the Bordeaux area — underwent a significant overhaul earlier than its redeployment to the world from Central Europe, which has left it trying virtually like new.

As is at all times the case for vacationers who e book journeys with Avalon Waterways, a keep on Avalon Artistry II comes with extra than simply your lodging. Bought as seven-night journeys, the Bordeaux voyages that Avalon is launching this week additionally embody all meals, most drinks and, maybe most notably, a variety of guided tour choices for every single day you are on board. All of that is included within the fare.

For somebody searching for an intimate and stylish possibility for a weeklong keep within the Bordeaux area that features visits to the world’s famed wineries and different websites, it is an important new selection.

Planning a cruise? Begin with these tales: