Château de Montchat, which belongs to the Bernard family whose name has long been associated with engineering compressors, is active on the meetings market. But very much Lyon-style, on a discreet basis without making too much of a fuss and without taking part in any of the specialist tradeshows around but just relying on small advertisements in specialist publications. All of which is a bit of shame because this 16^th C château, which was renovated by Viollet-le-Duc in the 19^th C, offers enough attractions to put it amongst some of the biggest names in the business. Situated at Montchat, a little village in the middle of Lyon, it is set in grounds of 3800 m² and since 1993 has been active on the congress market. The site is 1100 m² in total, of which 575 are given over to meetings and conferences. There are 12 rooms of between 15-100 m² with capacity for between 10 and 150 people.

A number of the rooms are interlinked, all offering the latest equipment such as broadband and wireless technology , explains Luc Martinod, the site’s director. For catering, we bring in some of the best caterers in the region – notably Michea, Declerck, Magner, Pignol and La Potinière with whom we work closely. 95% of our business comes from corporate clients, mostly for meetings .

Château de Montchat has completely redesigned its interiors and two years ago created two new rooms on the first floor, which cost 1 million euros. It is open year round, except for a few Bank Holidays including 14 July and 15 August. Because of its location close to Lyon’s main hospitals, the château gets a good deal of its business from the health sector. Medical teams from the Edouard-Herriot hospital, the Neuro-Cardio, the Vinatier, the Léon Bérard, the Centre International de Recherche sur le Cancer and the future Mère Enfant hospital come here on a regular basis, confirms Luc Martinod. This dominant trend reflects in our figures, with the health sector representing 50% of all events held in the château, with the rest coming from the sectors of training, ICT, SS2I product launches, textiles, finance and industry, in particular Renault Trucks. Usually the events last just one day, with only product launches lasting no longer than a half day, because we suffer from not having enough accommodation nearby even if there several hotels in the vicinity .

Château de Montchat, which has a private car park for 65 cars, achieves 150 business days a year, with its really busy times during the periods between mid-September and Christmas, March and from mid-May to mid-July. Its clientele is largely local or regional. A study day works out at 54 euros (ex VAT) per person, including room hire, two refreshment breaks, lunch with wine and coffee, and equipment. It is also possible just to hire the rooms, which will cost 100 euros (ex VAT) for a 15 m² room for four hours. Higher up the scale, the largest room costs 2000 euros (ex VAT) to hire for 12 hours.