Mas Pomona in Provence
 

Has anyone ever stayed or heard of this property in Cheval Blanc? It looks lovely, but would love some info or first-hand account. Many concerned about its location.

I meant, I am MAINLY concerned about the location in regards to its location to the must-see villages and what is available in Cheval Blanc itself.

Cheval Blanc is not in a very scenic area. The region just south of Cavaillon is loaded with warehouses, light industry, etc. The location is OK for getting to the Luberon's main villages (Gordes, Roussillon, etc), and the St Remy/Les Baux region, but farther from Vaison, Uzes, etc than you would like to be. I would try for a place a little farther north. The D2 between Cavaillon & Coustellet has some ugly commerce on it also. Draw a line between Maubec & Cabrieres d'Avignon and try to find a place east of there. Immediatly around Coustellet is not that great, and from about 5K west of Apt to Apt on the N100 has some ugly commerce also. Gordes, Roussillon, Oppede les Vieux, Menerbes, Bonnieux, Lacoste, Joucas, Goult, St Pantaleon, St Saturnin les Apt, and Saignon are nice areas to find a place (although Saignon might be a little too removed).

Stu Dudley

Bonjour madame!

I have visited/toured the Mas Pomona and know the owners, though I haven't stayed there. They are done a beautiful job with the renovation and are thoughtful and helpful hosts. (He is British and she is Swedish, though lived in Britain a long time. Marianne is an interior designer, which clearly shows in the decoration of the B&B.) You can read my review of the Mas Pomona here: http://www.slowtrav.com/france/hotel...cheval%20blanc

The plus of this location is that you could base in one place and pretty easily reach the areas north and south of the Luberon as well as the Alpilles (St. Remy). It is a very central location with easy accessibility.

I understand what Stu is saying about the area, but it is more interesting than it may seem. The B&B is off the main road through Cheval Blanc, set among apple orchards. There are some very nice views of the the rocky western end of the Petit Luberon.

Cheval Blanc is a "real" village-- not as touristed as some of the others. (My review has a link to some info about the village.) One plus is the restaurant Auberge de Cheval Blanc. We have eaten there twice, the last time with a group of 16 from the Slow Travel website. The environment, food and service are excellent, and I would drive 30 minutes again from our base in Bonnieux to enjoy this meal (especially their lamb!)

How long are you staying in Provence? What I'd suggest is that you take a map and (given the time you have) mark the places you're interested in visiting. That could help you see what would be the most desirable base for your stay in Provence.

Kathy

Hi
A little late in coming to this, and other threads on Provence.To take issue with some comments.
"Cheval Blanc is not in a very scenic area." From where I am sitting right now he's never been to Cheval Blanc. The sun is setting on the Luberon, it looks amazingly beautiful. We live at Mas Pomona, a B&B in the countryside, surrounded by orchards, 8kms from the highway, 1 km from the main road on the south side of the Luberon which is glorious. Our location is perfect for seeing the western side of Provence, the east is the Cote d'Azur. All parts of Provence are easily reached.
Someone sings the praises of Gordes, nicknamed, "Disneyworld" by the locals and "Gordes awful" by the etrangers that live here. After you have seen the awesome view of it it has little left to offer, yet another overpriced tourist trap. It is wholly unoriginal due to the fact that the mairie insist that all new build has to be clad in cut stone. If you look at ALL the other hill villages of the Luberon, Gordes is the odd one out.
If you base your self there you end up driving home most nights up and down several kms of road between it and Coustellet, hardly the place to be when wanting to discover Provence.

Mas Pomona in Provence
This is probably a bit late in responding to your enquiry but we in fact stayed at Mas Pomona last month and it was fab. I think StuDudley's response is rather unfair about the area - we found it very scenic and Mas Pomona was an ideal location from which to tour around the area. The property itself has been absoluty beautifully restored and furnished - the rooms are superb. Although we hit a cool spell in March (even though I had been tracking the weather until we went and it had been great - which I think is more the norm for the area), but there is a fantastic swimming pool, a great space for eating and cooking outside and as I say we were really able to explore the area. I guess if you only want to see the chintzy side of Provence you might go elsewhere but we wanted to see real villages as well as the picture postcard stuff. The views from Mas Pomona in Cheval Blanc are stunning and the quality of air hits you. Within a very short space of time you can be shopping in Avignon or some trendy village or sampling the delights of the local restaraunts - I would thoroughly recommend it!

Lynnmary

My comments are not about Mas Pomona - I've never visited it. The observations are regarding the area immediatly north of Cheval Blanc - towards Cavaillon and Coustallet. That's the route people will take to about 80% of the "top spots" in Provence, IMO.

Stu Dudley

Stu
From Cheval Blanc you would take the D31 through Vidauque, Les Taillades and Robion then on to Maubec and Menerbes and the perched hill villages etc. The alternative would be to drive to Lourmarin, a very scenic route, and visit the perched villages via the road to Bonnieux. One also has direct access to the Alpilles and the motorway, Orange, Aix, Cassis etc without having to pass through Cavaillon, which is a distinct advantage over those staying in the hill villages.
So I don't know where your figure of 80% comes from.
Rgds
Wilko