Within the sweeping panorama of the north Georgia foothills, just 40 minutes north of Atlanta but a world away from the bustling city is Château Élan Winery & Resort. Here on 3,500 acres, French provincial and Southern hospitality combine to produce a superb leisure resort and conference destination.
We were there in late April, 2008 for a Rotary Conference and thoroughly enjoyed our stay. The hotel is in excellent shape and easily had room for the 250 attendees. The buffet breakfast was always good with a large selection. The restaurant service was lacking either because the meal was prepaid or because they were under staffed. To get more coffee, you had to flag down a passing server.
We stayed in a golf villa that was typical of a place suitable for golfers. The furnishing were not luxurious but were clean with spacious rooms. A full kitchen and a washer and dryer were included as well as free wireless internet service. Chateau Élan has three golf courses. Two are part of the hotel and the other is supposedly private but hotel guests may play there as well. The cost for golf at the private course, The Legends was $155. Homes around the course were huge and cost upwards of $3,000,000. A problem for non-members is that the tee's are not marked as to the hole number and the directions from one tee to the next are non-existence. As no one was in front of us, we had to find our way as best we could. That didn;t last long though as we caught up with the group in front of us and had to wait on every hole.
The next day, we played on the Chateau course. This course was not as nice as the Legends course but was still in good shape. The cost to play at this course was $90. From the 1st hole, we had to wait for each shot and ended up taking over four hours and thirty minutes to play.
We found a local bar and grill (Jacks) on the other side of Interstate 85 that served very good sandwiches and very cold beer. Just what you need after a round of golf in the heat and humidity.
Overall, we had an enjoyable experience and would rate Chateau Élan as a great place to have a conference.

Chateau Élan
Braselton (Atlanta) Georgia

Vacation Reviews