Hotel of the week: Oustau de Baumanière

Oustau de Baumanière, Les Baux-de-Provence, France

A hotel in Les Baux-de-Provence in the south of France seemed ‘crazy’ in 1946, but times have changed

LAST UPDATED AT 14:01 ON Wed 1 Jul 2009

Oustau de Baumanière seemed like a "crazy idea" when it opened in 1946, says Reggie Nadelson in Condé Nast Traveller. Tourists in the south of France didn't stray far from the Côte d'Azur in those days – so why launch a fine restaurant in the wild heart of Provence?

Since then, of course, it has come into its own, and 30 guest rooms have gradually been added. The place is like a "dream", its ravishing terraces and gardens "stretching for half a mile under awesome cliffs"; the rooms and suites are "deeply comfortable"; and the "formal" restaurant has two well-deserved Michelin stars.

Doubles from €200. Contact: 0033 4 90 54 33 07; www.oustaudebaumaniere.com. · 

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