La Mirande

The building which houses La Mirande dates back seven hundred years, in a variety of forms: once a cardinal’s palace, during Avignon’s 14th-century tenure as the seat of Papal power and headquarters of the Catholic church, and later a private nobleman’s townhouse, today it’s an exquisitely intimate 20-room hotel.

The traditional style and décor of the hotel is perhaps surprising given that it’s just ten years old. We’re used to thinking of hotel designers as working exclusively in modern materials and minimal styles, but La Mirande is the equal of any contemporary boutique, and its elegant interiors can compete with any carefully preserved antique hotel.

Expect finely detailed hand-printed fabrics covering the walls, and hand-crafted oak parquet floors, as well as a stunning collection of antiques, tapestries and original artworks. The result is at once more vivid and more inviting than the vaguely dusty, hands-off quality of many vintage hotels, and a good deal more functional as well: bathrooms, particularly, are spacious, with plentiful lighting and mirrors. Many look out through antique windows toward the Pope’s palace, next door.

The restaurant is a fine one, serving a sort of traditionalist no-frills Provencal cuisine, and offering cooking classes as well, in an authentically 19th-century kitchen that looks like something from a period film. La Mirande is centrally placed for exploring the walled city of Avignon on foot, and if you’re like most people, you’re here at least partially for the food—so get out and enjoy the wealth of restaurants, cafes and market stalls.