Introduction

Along with the Essencia and Bonaire YanuYanu, the 1980s themed Le Chateau Motel and Resort is the latest in a group of more established hotels and resorts that’s undergone a refit.  As a result, Aria and I went along to take a look.

In summary, the whole experience has been moved onto one sim, reducing lag and making everything feel much more joined up.  

However, it retains its fun, imaginative, colourful character and has a really nice community feel about it with a regular series of events.

It remains one of our favourite places in Second Life, and one which we highly recommend.

(All pictures by Aria Christen, rights reserved)

What do to at Le Chateau

First time visitor? Here are some things to do:

1 - Relax around the Motel pool area which has loungers and a nice bar.  Also be sure to check out the small ‘Babylon’ bar on the top floor of the motel.  Finally, visit the retro games room at the side of the pool

2 - Have a drink in the Yacht Club building.  Probably our favourite part of the Le Chateau complex, this has a stylish feel about it with a cigar bar upstairs

3 - Join the group and rez your boat (slips cost 150L a week).  Le Chateau is no longer directly connected to the Blake Sea, but there is a direct link to a Le Chateau owned pier on the Blake Sea, where you can rez

4 - Charter a flight on Le Chateau Airlines.  Message Le Chateau creator Victoire, she is an excellent pilot and source of knowledge of places to fly to - this is incidentally a great date idea (something Aria and myself have done)

5 - Come to one of the regular Le Chateau parties.  Quite often, these are themed, where the whole pool area has decorations and props to match.  Victoire usually announces events on Flickr,

Overall look and feel

Le Chateau is a 1980s themed community set in a virtual French Guiana - the French overseas territory on the coast of South America.

Previously, Le Chateau was on Satori.  As it expanded, it branched out into various neighbouring sims on the mainland.  

This caused two problems. The first is that they weren’t always directly connected and the second was the increasing problem of lag.

Le Chateau has now been moved onto its own sim, which solves all of those problems.  It no longer has direct mainland access, but it has TP points to (for example) an airfield and a spot on the Blake Sea.

The main Motel building and pool are largely as they were before, same with the side area which has three French Polynesian themed lodges.

There is also an executive tower with an executive lounge and offices, a yacht club and a gated community where you can rent villas as a long term rental.

There’s nothing quite like Le Chateau in Second Life.  It’s a lot of fun, really well designed, colourful, and now being over a year old it has a very friendly and welcoming community of regulars.

Overall - 4.5 / 5

The rooms

The emphasis seems to be more on creating a community and a shared space, as opposed to a resort where you now stay.  

However, there are two valentines suites in the hotel itself (500L a night) and three Polynesian themed lodges (300L a week).  

Then there are the larger villas in the gated community, these are more geared towards people who want to stay on a more long term basis. These cost 2000L a week.

Having previously stayed in a villa, we rented one of the Polynesian lodges, the decor was nice, the furniture was high quality, and overall it had a bright, colourful feel to it.

Overall - 3.5 / 5

The facilities

These include the yacht club (with a tp point for Blake Sea access), the pool, the games room and a series of bars.

There’s also the option of joining the Executive Club at 650L.  This gives you access to another private pool, as well as the Executive Lounge in the office tower.

The pool area and the grounds as a whole really come to life at one of the regular events held at Le Chateau.

Finally, you can take a flight with Le Chateau Airlines by prior arrangement.

Overall - 4 / 5

The animations

Our lodge had a Soy Outdoor Chaise Lounger - PG, Ruckus do the things bed, Soy Folding Sofa, PG and a Kres Delphine Chair PG.

Overall the choice of furniture both in the lodge and around the resort itself was good.

Overall - 4 / 5

Other considerations

There are adult options in the rooms, but this is not the kind of place you visit for ‘adult fun’, there are of course plenty of other places in SL that cater to that

Lag is manageable and much improved over the old mainland location

Prices start at 300L a week, however this is a place you can visit and enjoy even if you are not staying

The sim is moderate with some adult options in the rooms and villas (see above)

Overall

If you haven’t been yet, you should definitely go.  If you have been to the old Le Chateau, we think you’ll like the new version.  

Creator Victoire Sire has done a great job in creating a really unique experience, which is why you’ll more likely than not find us here at one of the events.

SLURL

Highly recommended