Le Vieux Castillon

When you’re in Provence, the threshold for what qualifies as “vieux” is rather stringent. Le Vieux Castillon makes its home in Castillon-du-Gard, a Renaissance-era village — but the hotel grounds include some 10th-century ruins, which by local standards is properly old. (Still, it’s brand new compared to the Roman aqueduct at Pont du Gard, from which the village gets its name.)

Within these stone walls is a whitewashed, minimalist, surprisingly modern boutique hotel, and an impressively luxurious one at that. The rooms, by a Parisian interior architect, effortlessly blend contemporary design with historical architecture, and include comforts like Bose sound systems, L’Occitane bath products, and Nespresso machines.

La Table du Castillon is the hotel’s restaurant, and in its design it’s even lighter and more minimalist than the rooms — with its contemporary furniture and its sparse visuals it feels almost Nordic. Here chef Benoît Dahai serves a menu that leans heavily on local, seasonal ingredients — not at all a hardship when the locality we’re talking about is Provence. There’s also a spa, also by L’Occitane, which is a welcome addition — as is the splendid outdoor pool, which is impressive enough by day, but turns into an outdoor cinema at night....