Provence - where to stay?
 

Hi. We will be traveling around France for 2 weeks at the end of June. For our 4 night stop in Provence, we would like to go all out and stay at the nicest, most luxurious, most unique place possible. We are thinking of something near Luberon, but we will have a car so will consider other places. If money were no object, where would you stay?

Well, there may be nicer places but we stayed at Le Phebus in Joucas. It was a good location, near Gordes, and we drove from there to see a lot. The rooms were very nice, the view great, the food gourmet, the staff very helpful and nice. However, we were in Provence for almost two weeks so we also stayed in Arles and near St. Remy. Happy travels!!

Oops, I meant we also stayed in Aix not Arles though we went to Arles.

We stay in Gites while in Provence (16 weeks so far, plus 2 more in June). We met some very close friends at La Bastide de Marie while we were there on one of our trips. The Marie was VERY nice. It's just outside of Menerbes in the Luberon - surrounded by vineyards.

Four days is really not doing Provence justice.

Stu Dudley

Hi AZH111,

Stu is spot on. We've stayed at La Bastide de Marie and it is gorgeous! The setting is magical and the rooms and public areas are just top notich!

IMO La Bastide and the Four Seasons Provence are two of the best in Provence.

www.fourseasons.com/provence

http://www.labastidedemarie.com/uk/

We leave for Provence in 80 days and I can't wait!

Enjoy your trip!

What does "most unique" mean ?

Peter

Crillon le Brave which is close to Carpentras is a beautiful spot.

The Villa Gallici in Aix is pretty special. It's at the northern end of town but walking distance to the center. No extensive grounds but lovely pool and one of the nicer places I've ever stayed.

Thank you all - I am going to look into each of your recommendations!

Whenever you're looking for a special place with price no object, you'd do well to check the Relais et Chateau association of high end hotels. You can usually count on them to be lovely and luxurious, or at least very charming.

I like
Crillon Le Brave
Bastide de Marie
and the Bastide de Mustiers.
I'm an exception, don't enjoy the Chateaus

My favorite hotel on earth is in Arles, France. It is Hotel Particulier (http://www.hotel-particulier.com/v2/en/). The hotel is absolutely beautiful and Arles is a lovely town. Arles is also a good base to visit other towns in Provence. Hotel Particulier is walking distance from one of Provences' best restaurants as well, L'Atelier de Jean-Luc Rabanel (http://www.rabanel.com/).

Another hotel that was highly recommended by the same friends who recommended Hotel Particulier to us is La Maison sur la Sorgue (http://www.lamaisonsurlasorgue.com/). I have never been to La Maison, but if it is anything like Particulier then it must be fabulous!

If you stay at Hotel Particulier, make sure you have excellent driving directions and/or a gps to find it. It is very hard to find tucked into a little side street surrounded by some not so great looking buildings. But, believe me, once they open the front gate you will be in Paradise!

Have a wonderful trip!
A

bookmarking

I'd rent a villa. I like the look of this one:
http://www.akvillas.com/france/provence/la-tuiliere.cfm
Or a chateau:
http://www.villissima.com/france/pro...ovence/tour/97

The nicest hotels I've stayed at in the area are Villa Gallici in Aix and Hotel d'Europe in Avignon. I enjoyed them both, particularly the latter (excellent service helps make up for lack of pool) but there isn't anything all that unique about either.

There are many nice hotels in the region; I don't think there's one that outshines all others. But, to fit all your superlatives, I'd rent a private home. Many offer staff on request.