Having now reviewed 30+ SL hotels and resorts, it's getting harder to spot somewhere that's unique, with many of the beach style resorts increasingly blending into one.

Le Chateau cuts through that. It's very different to other Second Life Hotels. And it has lots of things I personally like - great design, neon, retro touches, pop culture references and even planes.

Having been open for just over a month Le Chateau is (loosely) a 1980s themed resort.

Combining French and American influences, it's the third French / Francophone run resort I've reviewed in Second Life, after Le Manoir de Provence and the Cannes-themed Le Martinez.

It was recently featured in the Second Life destination guide, meaning Le Chateau was getting 300+ visitors a day. That's died down a bit, so it's a good time to now visit and avoid the worst of the crowds.

The rooms are 200L a night, though you can rent longer term camping spots. The rooms themselves are more geared for RP, or somewhere you might want to visit just for the experience, as opposed to a weekend vacation destination spot.

Aside from the rooms, the rest of the resort is free to visit.

Overall look and feel

Le Chateau is broadly split into three sections. There is the motel, which is built around a pool and bar. Then there is a camp site with camper vans for longer term rentals. In this bit, there's a 1980s dress code.

Finally outside the hotel you'll find an airstrip and a parking lot with gas station. The airstrip is designed to look like an out of the way tropical airfield of the kind you could imagine Pablo Escobar would have used.

Various Flickr posts have described the hotel as 'Miami Vice', but rather than Miami, it would be more accurate to place Le Chateau in somewhere like Martinique or even French Guiana, as there are a lot of French pop culture details throughout the resort.

As a whole, Le Chateau is incredibly well designed with excellent attention to detail, and a lot has been packed into a relatively small area.

Overall - 5 / 5

The rooms

As mentioned the rooms are 200L a night and you can rent out a spot in the camp site long term.

The rooms are also all themed. For example, there is a 'kitsch' themed room, a Scarface themed room complete with dollar bills stacked up from the floor, a porn shoot style room and even a room dedicated to the French TV series 3615 Monique (where a group of friends use the Minitel online service in the 1980s to create a virtual sex hotline).

These are RP rooms, and not vacation style rooms that you live in, so there is no bathroom. This is somewhere to spend time with a friend or significant other or just visit for the sake of it.

The different themes were wild and creative, and I loved what the owners of La Chateau, Victoire and Bleze have done here.

Overall - 4.5 / 5

The facilities

The resort as such has quite a lot - three bars, a swimming pool, a campsite and an airfield. There's also an arcade pod, with 1980s style arcade games, most of which work, some of which have adult anims.

However Le Chateau is still quite small, so some features like a spa or RP restaurant are not there.

What I did like though is that the resort taps into the fact that it's located on Satori, not too far from a marina which gives Blake Sea access. As a result, co-owner Bleze runs both flight tours and a shuttle (van) tour service, which will take you to nearby places like the Pavet National Forest.

This means that the resort actually manages to offer more than some of the private sim resorts (which can only offer what the owners can pack into the sim), and at the same time gives you the opportunity to see other places in SL you may have never even heard of.

Overall - 4 / 5

The animations

The rooms have a mix of PG and adult animations, and there are also adult anims in places like the games arcade. Basically, Le Chateau has you covered for both your PG and adult needs.

Overall - 4 / 5

Other considerations

Is it adult? The land itself is moderate, but there are adult anims in some of the rooms

Privacy - Not much in the rooms, as they are located by the pool. The long term rentals at the campsite do offer privacy

Price - 200L a night with 10 prims included, or if you want to stay long term in the campsite 450L a week with 80 prims included

Lag - I experienced a little, especially when there were many other AVs around, it's also quite a detailed build.

Conclusion

Le Chateau is a riot of colour and fun. The owners have created something really unique, with lots of little details linking back to French pop culture that I loved. It's incredibly well designed and thought out, and it's also a great base from which to explore Satori from. I recommend it highly.

Visit Le Chateau here (SLURL)