In the know

Our favourite rooms: Each of the nine guesthouses in Domaine des Andéols is individually decorated, but all share a feel for cutting-edge design and an eye for artwork. Although it’s the smallest, we’re (appropriately) enamoured with La Maison des Amoureux, so-named because of its significance in the owner’s romantic past (ask him). The one-bedroom house not only features David Bailey photography and Philippe Starck furniture, but also a dainty balcony from where you can admire jaw-plummeting views of the countryside and the tiny village of Saint-Saturnin-lés-Apt. Light, bright Maison des Cascades and artefact-filled Maison du Voyageur are the largest, with two to three rooms apiece and their own private pools and garden areas. La Maison de l’Artiste is the most homey and relaxing, with natural stone floors, neutral tones and lavender-field views.
Packing tips: Your glammest Balenciaga swimwear for poolside posing. Leave your books at home – the hotel library is full of engrossing coffee-table leaf-throughs – but pack a sketchpad or a notebook for when the landscape-inspired muse strikes.
Also: Domaine des Andéols sits at the heart of a vast agricultural estate, which produces large quantities of fruits, veg and herbs. Help yourself to crimson tomatoes or juicy olives as you wander the grounds – and look out for the 400-year-old plane tree,

Languedoc-Roussillon hotels: Domaine des Andéols, need to know

Current offers

Smith card offer: Continental breakfast for two each day of your stay

Domaine des Andéols

Provence, France[view map]

Style: Provençal hillside hamlet
Setting: Lavender fields and olive groves

At first glance, Domaine des Andeóls is a cluster of classic stone houses set in swathes of inimitable Provence countryside. Get closer, however, and you’ll discover a thrillingly contemporary boutique hotel packed with original modern art, Starck furnishings, and eye-poppingly designed furniture. The restaurant kitchen runs under the watchful eye of Michelin-darling Alain Ducasse, the spa features a Turkish hammam and a heated pool, and acre upon acre of sculpture-dotted grounds, lavender fields and olive groves stretch off into the horizon.

Need to know

Rooms: 19 rooms in nine houses.
Rates: Low season, €260–€645; high season, €350–€770, including tax but not breakfast (€25).
Check-out: Midday, but later check-out may be possible, subject to availability.
Facilities: Spa with hammam, steam room and indoor pool, library, DVD selection, free WiFi throughout, helicopter landing area. In rooms: flatscreen TV, DVD/CD player, coffee-maker, minibar, air-con in most suites, Kiehl’s and Daniela Steiner toiletries.
Poolside: Built from sandy dry-stone, the hotel’s slender infinity pool looks out over the sculpture-filled gardens to the horizon. There’s a heated indoor waterhole in the spa too.
Eco-friendly: There’s an extensive recycling programme, including the generation of compost for use in the hotel’s organic vegetable gardens. The outdoor pool has a solar-powered heat pump.
Hotel closed: 15 November to 25 December 2008, and 4 January to 28 February 2009.
Also: Non-smoking throughout. There’s a two-night minimum stay between May and September. Small, ‘well educated’ pets are welcome for €18 a night.

Food & drink

Hotel restaurant: Michelin-star collector Alain Ducasse oversees the hotel restaurant, La Maison des Saveurs, an impressively chandeliered dining room serving innovative French cuisine in a pebble-floored, glass-tabled space.
Dress code: Arty chic with a boho flourishes.
Top table: There are lots of top spots: under the recreation of Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam on the ceiling, a table on the far end of the terrace overlooking the gardens, or beside the library where the panoramas outside are reflected in the mirror panels.
Last orders: Lunch is on offer between 12.30pm and 2.30pm; dinner from 7.30pm until 9.45pm.
Room service: Snacks and meals available in-room between lunchtime and 9.30pm.
Hotel bar: The lounge area by the spa pool is a great place to relax with the Domaine des Andéols signature ‘Violetta’ cocktail, but you can enjoy a drink anywhere on the property.

Other facilities

Children: Cots are €18 a night; extra beds can be added for €45. Reception can arrange babysitting for €20 an hour, and can also recommend child-friendly activities in the area, such as horse riding, tennis and rafting.
Weddings: This hotel is suitable for weddings. More…

Smith card offer

Continental breakfast for two each day of your stay

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