France, Champillon: The Champagne region has a new star hotel attraction

Among the many quotable quotes about champagne, Napoleon Bonaparte's – "In victory, you deserve champagne; in defeat, you need it' – is one most of us would concur with. The famed emperor is said to have embraced this maxim during his frequent stopovers in the French region of Champagne on his way to battle or coronations.

At that time, his favourite place to bed down was a coach inn, which offered magical views of the vineyards that produced the sparkling drop he quaffed. Centuries on, the historical landmark is a grand luxury hotel, whose aim is to treat guests like the royalty who came before them.

While few remnants of the property's previous life remain, there are small nods to its bygone days, including a bust of Bonaparte, and restaurant dinner plates inscribed with love letters the renowned womaniser wrote to his mistresses.

New owners of the Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa spent four years and a reported €30 million ($48 million) overhauling it, demolishing the entire structure, bar two walls. The refurbishment is spectacular. The hotel has 47 rooms and suites as well as a spa, indoor and outdoor lap pools, two restaurants, a terrace bar, champagne tasting room and library.

Before the hotel's rebirth, the region of Champagne, which is 35 minutes from Paris by train, lacked a contemporary-designed luxury hotel. Bed and breakfasts are aplenty and there are a few five-star traditional hotels, but they brought a stuffy formality, with floral bedspreads and chintzy wallpaper from an era long gone.

Our room, aptly named the Champagne Room, is anything but. Contemporary and sophisticated with a champagne-and-gold colour scheme on the walls, it has a lovely view of the verdant countryside. We feel cocooned in luxury: the free mini-bar, organic cotton sheets, luscious bath robes (in two sizes) and Ily espresso machine help. The bathroom has a double shower, freestanding bath and Hermes products.

Much like a good bottle of champagne, the rooms are refined and uplifting, but what tempted us was the hotel's piece de resistance: the same view once enjoyed by Bonaparte and other French kings. It sits on a hilltop in Champillon, a five-minute drive to Epernay, which has plenty of restaurants, bars and shops. But it's hard to leave the hotel, especially after an aperitif at the spacious terrace bar overlooking the World Heritage-listed site.

With champagne in hand and the sun setting, we take in the view: workers in the vineyards, then Epernay (where Moet & Chandon has its cellars) and further on to Hautvillers, the resting place of the French Benedictine monk Dom Perignon.