mardi 26 février 2013

Hotel in Saint Remy de Provence THE HOTEL GOUNOD



Hotel Gounod Saint Remy de Provence, travel in history !

The HôtelGounod (formerly known as the Hôtel Ville Verte) is most probably the oldest hotel in St Remy. Already mentioned as early as 1650…. Its former name is coming from its location on the entrance of the Village “Villa Viridis” (probably from the fact that it was right in the middle of “greenery”, believed to be orchard). It was one the first “Relais de Poste” (literally post office stop) where one could rest, dine and if needed, change horse in the XVIIth Century). 

The Hotel became extremely known when famous composer Charles Gounod stayed there to write the Opera Mireille (the St Remy version…). The room, facing the church is waiting for you.
In 2013 activities (starting on March 17th at the hotel will commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Mireille of Gounod. more info on Mireille Festivities in st remy

The plus of the property is that you are located right where life is…. The market takes place on the hotel door step, some room will have a view over the church and the old village centre is just across the street. Other room will give onto a lovely outdoor patio/little garden (where the pool is), on the very quiet side. The ground floor rooms will open directly onto the patio, some first floor rooms are with terrace.

The Décor is what I would call “baroque” since it is certainly not a corporate hotel and all of its 34 rooms (starting as from 125€ in High season, 100€ in low season) are differently designed and offer a post modern atmosphere with a touch of history.

The breakfast room is, to my taste, the jewel of the place….. And yummy lunch and dinner are also proposed to guests.

Marylin and Igor, your hosts will make sure your stay is a terrific one. They are what I would call “foody persons” and will only recommend you the place they go to…. And local producers to visit or some of the best activities on offer.

As you will see from the pictures, some of the décor in the common area are “church related”. When they opened the hotel and “revamped it” (as it was sort of a very basic but nice hotel in the past), they found a few statues of the Virgin Marie which they liked. Then with friends of them and guests brought them some more and here the start of a collection!!! The color scheme is also very important where black is cleverly mixed with red, blue, grey, etc. Antique is placed amongst modern commodities…..
Rooms are spacious, comfy, and the owners are always taking advantage of the winter to upgrade the property (new beddings were just delivered last week…). The breakfasts are to be all organic in 2013.

To sum up I believe this is a very good value for money in St Remy, I like the friendly atmosphere, the unconventional décor (which you won’t find anywhere else in St Remy), the location right “where the world go by”, the friendliness (wait until you meet the friendly and energic bfast girl), and the soothing feeling of the place.
Below photos taken on Feb 25th 2013.

Hotel Gounod
Place de la République
13210 St Remy de Provence
Tel +33 (0)4 90 92 06 14
contact@hotel-gounod.com



Hotel Gounod. History....



Hotel Gounod : The Reception desk





Breakfast at Gounod (lunch and dinner also possible)



Hotel Gounod Atmosphere details






The Faust Room and its view....







A classic room and its terrace (in Feburary.....)






Composer Charles Gounod stayed in this very room !

corridor in front of Gounod's room

Funkier room style


samedi 23 février 2013

Hotel de Provence ** in Tarascon

Easy to find, the Hotel de Provence is a good address. Managed by Mr Rich and his wife this 11 rooms hotels give you more a feeling of beeing in a private home. The rooms are carefully looked after and Mr & Mrs Rich make sure to improve the quality of the hotel (A/C, window frame, new LED television etc) every year. The overall sensation is sweet and gentle. Rooms are reasonnably sized and rates start as from 71€ for a double. Double room with a (shared) terrasse cost 87€ and the Suite where you can add an extra bed in the Salon in at 107€.

The Castle, the musee Souleïado, the old city are just at hand (link for more info)

And so is the newly star Michelin starrred restaurant (as of Feb 18th 2013)  MEO where you can have a michelin star menu at a reasonnable price (last year Lunch set menu were at 27 & 35 €, dinner at 45€).....

Hotel de Provence **
7 bld Victore Hugo
1315 Tarascon
Tel +33 (0)4 90 91 06 43
http://www.hotel-provence-tarascon.com/



Hotel de Provence on February 21st 2013
Tarascon is renovating its street....



 The salon adjoining the Breakfast room



A Standard room with Terrasse



A standard room at 71€



The Suite (room 7)
The Salon, the terrasse and the bathroom



lundi 18 février 2013

New Hotel in Saint Remy de Provence LE MAS VALENTINE

Yesterday I had eventually a chance to visit the entire Mas Valentine.
Located on the outskirt on Saint Remy, on my favorite "road to Noves", this new 4 star just opened last July.
Open all year round, this boutique hotel, with 12 rooms only, is decorated with style. I really liked the stone walls and the old style bathrooms. The owner Marie Gabrielle Soulerot enjoyed doing the designing of her property all by herself and took a lot of time to find the best fabric and materials to make her hotel a "special one". All rooms, called by a first name and not a number, are different from one another and open either on the garden and the alpilles or onto the tennis court and the alpilles. The overall feeling is a soothing one, like a visit to your old friends' mas in the country side.
Room rate as from 180€ in the low season, 290€ in the high season.

The plus is the gastronomic restaurant, La Table de Valentin.... The stunning 32€ lunch menu served under the plane tree is a must. When I went there with some american friends last summer, we were all stunned by the quality and the originality of the cuisine. You can see that the chef is really a "mad foody person" and they will most certainly gain a michelin a star in the near future. Menus in the evening start as from 45 € and when not warm enough, the restaurant room has a huge fire place making the atmospher comfy.

Le Mas Valentine
Route de Noves
13210 Saint Remy de Provence
http://www.mas-valentine.com/
(+33) 04 90 90 14 91
7 rooms and 5 suites
Swimming pool and Tennis
Free secure car park









A room








The Bathroom





Photos taken in February 2013

mardi 12 février 2013

Will be back

The blog is only taking a break during the slow season but I will be back soon....