Château de la Gaude

It’s not every day a new luxury boutique hotel opens in Provence, especially not one set on a winemaking estate surrounded by acres of organic vineyards and finely manicured gardens. Château de la Gaude’s estate isn’t new, and neither is the stunning farmhouse that anchors the property, on a hillside just outside of Aix-en-Provence. What is new, however, are the Château’s seventeen rooms and suites, spread across the various buildings of the charming, village-like estate.

The interiors retain an extraordinary amount of period detail — rooms in the Bastide, a registered historic monument, feature ornately figured moldings and carved stone fireplaces. What’s new, however, is very new: high-end contemporary furniture, modern fixtures, even some subtly high-tech comforts. The result is a state-of-the-art small luxury hotel with centuries of personality.

And naturally Château de la Gaude has more to offer than rooms and suites. Tastings and tours enable guests to make the most of the estate’s winemaking operations, and the grounds offer plentiful opportunities for rambling and recreation. Meanwhile the restaurant is where it arguably all comes together: wine, hospitality, and the cuisine of chef Matthieu Dupuis-Baumal, previously of the Michelin-starred Domaine de Manville in Les Baux-de-Provence.