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Overview
Provence calls to mind huddled medieaval villages and manors of time-worn stone. Luxury hotel Villa la Coste is nothing like that. It’s a perfect storm of ideas from the brightest minds in art and architecture – one that passed leaving the landscape unscathed. Designed in harmony with its verdant surroundings, this cutting-edge stay is a place of straight lines, towering panes of glass and studies in shades of white. Inside, there’s a national gallery’s worth of artwork and bespoke furnishings that recall the best of mid-century modern design. What you won’t find, however, is the faintest touch of high-mindedness when it comes to looking after guests; the ideas explored here might be lofty, but impeccable personal service proves that Villa la Coste is designed for people first of all.
Highlights:
Singular, modern design
World-class artworks
Provençal setting
Smith extra
An in-room bottle of Château la Coste wine and a fruit plate; a vineyards tour and wine tasting; an on-site art tour; $100 credit to use at the spa
In the know
Also need to know:
A decade in the making, Villa la Coste has been shaped by the pencils, X-actos and brushes of famed creatives such as Frank Gehry, Tadao Ando, Renzo Piano, Norman Foster, Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst and Louise Bourgeois. The hotel’s public areas are wheelchair accessible, and there's a lift in the hotel gallery that runs to the spa and restaurants. Two of the ground-floor suites have been specially adapted, with oodles of space and larger bathrooms.
Packing tips:
A keen eye: the hotel’s commitment to art means there’s no filler pieces, so that painting hanging above your bed might just be by someone rather famous...
Dress code:
Avant garde elegance – after all, you’re sleeping and eating in rooms on which modern masters were at work.
Mr and Mrs Smith reviews
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this art-and-design hotel in Provence and unpacked their lavender-filled sachets and case of Château la Coste wine (the hotel’s own vintage), a full account of their artistic break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Villa la Coste in the South of France…
If you built a hotel in the part of Provence that’s basically Cézanne’s back-garden, it would probably need to have an artistic streak. At luxury hotel Villa la Coste, it’s a little more than a streak – paint is the hotel's lifeblood (well, that and wine) and each new turn reveals a surprising canvas or installation. Nowhere else in Provence will you see an enormous metal spider crouching over the surface of a lake – a bespoke sculpture by Louise Bourgeois. Take a walk in the forest surrounding the hotel, and you’ll come across extraordinary artworks that seem to fit in in spite of their otherworldliness. You see a 500 year old chapel encased in a giant vitrine, or what looks like an enormous drop of quicksilver hovering above the ground, and they’re just part of the landscape. Back inside, every corner of your suite is as cool as you like (the freestanding marble bath tubs are a highlight), but the monochrome palette doesn’t vie with the Provençal colours on the other side of the windows. This is no accident: if there’s one thing that’s clear at Villa la Coste, it’s that every detail has been carefully considered. Even the slippers. Yes, the slippers. When they’re made of memory foam, as they are here, they suddenly seem more exciting. ‘That’s not a slipper’, you think, ‘it’s a Villa la Coste slipper’. So whether you're watching the hills for a glimpse of Richard Serra's Aix installation, or admiring Alexander Calder's bright, weathervane-esque ‘Small Crinkly’, those with a keen eye will be rewarded.
Accommodation details
Address:
2750, route de la cride, 13610, Le Puy Ste Réparade, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, France
Le Puy Ste Réparade
France
Location:
7.6 mi / 12.3 km from city centre
General facilities
- Onsite laundry
- Spa
- Valet parking
- Complimentary in-room coffee or tea
- Exercise gym
- On-Site parking
- Internet services
- Restaurant
- Pool
- Aerobics instruction
- Lounges/bars
- Room service
Dining information
Restaurant:
Le Restaurant is inside a tall, glass-walled building suspended over a pool of placid water. In the centre of the room, two chrome-covered figures dangle down from the ceiling, reflecting the light streaming in from all sides. It’s a unique space, but it’s got more than good looks: the chefs are devoted to Provence and its produce, sourcing their ingredients from regional markets or the organic kitchen garden, which was designed by French landscape architect Louis Benech. If you'd rather have your meal elsewhere, the library, salon, cocktail bar and garden are all possibilities. Open for dinner and weekend lunches, Restaurant Francis Mallmann brings South America’s most famous chef to the la Coste winery. Sat next to the art gallery, the restaurant serves hearty, soulful dishes slow-cooked over enormous fires – Mallmann’s signature style, which is rooted in Argentinean culture. Try the salt-baked bass or the lamb, which is cooked in a dome over the roaring, smoky fire.
Top Table:
It's worth trying to snag a spot close to the floor-to-ceiling windows for an uninterrupted view. We also like the library for its cosiness (if it's wintery outside, ask to be seated by the fire).
Last Orders:
Breakfast is from 7am to noon. Le Restaurant is open for lunch from 11.30am to 2.30pm, and dinner from 7.30pm to 10.30pm. Dinner is served at Restaurant Francis Mallmann from 7pm to 9.30pm, Wednesday to Saturday. Lunch is served on Saturday and Sunday.
Room Service:
A full room service menu is available from 7am to midnight, consisting of light Provençal meals like foie gras and chutney toast, rockfish and pasta soup or saffron risotto with spelt. Selected cold items are available from midnight to 7am.
Hotel Bar:
The bar itself is an impressive block of marble set in a white-walled room in the hotel lobby. Artworks by Sean Scully and Damien Hirst face off on opposite walls, giving the room a burst of colour. There’s a cool, calm selection of music in the background – neither too loud or catchy – so you can actually discuss said artworks with ease. Trying the wine is a must: a great place to start is La Bulle, the Château's sparkling rosé.
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