La Maison d'Ulysse
Style Historic-with-heart maison d’hôte
Setting Provençal poet’s corner
La Maison d’Ulysse is a historic homestay in the Gard region of southern France. Owners Guy and Gauthier have laboured over this fortified farmhouse with love (once home to Ulysse Dumas) – one look at the blooming grounds, a taste of the garden-grown fruit and a glance at the elegant jumble of art and you'll be in love, too.
Need to know
- Rooms Seven, including four suites.
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Rates
Double rooms from $217.54 (€168), excluding tax at 7 per cent.
The price shown represents the lowest nightly rate for a double room available at this hotel over the next 21 days. Any price conversions from the hotel's local currency (€168) have been conducted using today's exchange rates from xe.com.
- More details Rates usually include breakfast.
- Facilities Steam room, free WiFi throughout, air-conditioning. In rooms: Damana bath products.
- Poolside The tranquil narrow heated pool is set amid the hotel’s fragrant wild gardens, with sleek sunloungers and bright yellow chairs.
- Check-out 11am, but flexible on request. Earliest check-in, 4pm; latest, 8pm.
- Children This is more of an adults' retreat, but there is one room that would suit a couple with a baby.
- Also Book your spot on one of the massage tables for a treatment courtesy of the local masseurs; pair this with a session in the eucalyptus-scented hammam-style steam room.
Food and drink at La Maison d'Ulysse
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Hotel restaurant
A spread is put on in the kitchen each morning of local cheeses and charcuterie, French bread, croissants and smoked salmon. The kitchen garden provides vegetables, fruit and herbs for co-owner and chef Gauthier; the orchard’s produce makes an appearance in the home-made jams at breakfast. Gauthier will also cook delicious table d'hôtes lunches and three-course dinners on request (on Mondays or Fridays in July and August; otherwise on Saturdays) – be sure to book ahead, as they're wonderful, and packed full of the flavours of the Garrigue and Gard countryside.
- Dress code Fresh florals to match the exotic gardens.
- Top table Out on the patio to be perfectly positioned for catching rays.
- Last orders Breakfast is on offer between 9am and 10.30am. The table d’hôtes dinner is available on Fridays and Mondays only in July and August. The rest of the year, it’s only available on Saturday nights.
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Hotel bar
There's no bar, but local wines are served with dinner, and you're not exactly short of market towns and vineyards in this neck of the woods.
La Maison d'Ulysse Place Ulysse Dumas, 30700 Baron
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Smith extra at La Maison d'Ulysse
A welcome glass of wine and a pot of Gauthier's home-made jam
In the know
Our favourite rooms
We loved the Belle de Seigneur Suite simply for the sheer size of its lounge, but we weren’t complaining about its Philippe Starck loo, lime-green stools or fireplace, either. For privacy, opt for the secluded, colourful Chant du Mûrier Suite, up a flight of stairs in an outer building. Its private terrace has a prime view of the house and gardens. For more flexibility, the 50s-feel Petit Prince apartment offers a kitchenette and Smeg fridge-freezer.
Packing tips
Books, bikinis and bottle openers. Gardening gloves and a pruner to muck in and give Gauthier a hand on his half-hectare of land.
Also
Ramble the garden and seek out the tombstone of the farmhouse's famous former resident, poet Ulysse Dumas. Other members of his family are also buried here, from a time when Protestants were buried in their homes, rather than among Catholics in regular cemeterys. The gardens are also home to salvaged benches from the train station in Marseille.
