mardi 26 février 2013

Hotel in Saint Remy de Provence THE HOTEL GOUNOD



Hotel Gounod Saint Remy de Provence, travel in history !

The HôtelGounod (formerly known as the Hôtel Ville Verte) is most probably the oldest hotel in St Remy. Already mentioned as early as 1650…. Its former name is coming from its location on the entrance of the Village “Villa Viridis” (probably from the fact that it was right in the middle of “greenery”, believed to be orchard). It was one the first “Relais de Poste” (literally post office stop) where one could rest, dine and if needed, change horse in the XVIIth Century). 

The Hotel became extremely known when famous composer Charles Gounod stayed there to write the Opera Mireille (the St Remy version…). The room, facing the church is waiting for you.
In 2013 activities (starting on March 17th at the hotel will commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Mireille of Gounod. more info on Mireille Festivities in st remy

The plus of the property is that you are located right where life is…. The market takes place on the hotel door step, some room will have a view over the church and the old village centre is just across the street. Other room will give onto a lovely outdoor patio/little garden (where the pool is), on the very quiet side. The ground floor rooms will open directly onto the patio, some first floor rooms are with terrace.

The Décor is what I would call “baroque” since it is certainly not a corporate hotel and all of its 34 rooms (starting as from 125€ in High season, 100€ in low season) are differently designed and offer a post modern atmosphere with a touch of history.

The breakfast room is, to my taste, the jewel of the place….. And yummy lunch and dinner are also proposed to guests.

Marylin and Igor, your hosts will make sure your stay is a terrific one. They are what I would call “foody persons” and will only recommend you the place they go to…. And local producers to visit or some of the best activities on offer.

As you will see from the pictures, some of the décor in the common area are “church related”. When they opened the hotel and “revamped it” (as it was sort of a very basic but nice hotel in the past), they found a few statues of the Virgin Marie which they liked. Then with friends of them and guests brought them some more and here the start of a collection!!! The color scheme is also very important where black is cleverly mixed with red, blue, grey, etc. Antique is placed amongst modern commodities…..
Rooms are spacious, comfy, and the owners are always taking advantage of the winter to upgrade the property (new beddings were just delivered last week…). The breakfasts are to be all organic in 2013.

To sum up I believe this is a very good value for money in St Remy, I like the friendly atmosphere, the unconventional décor (which you won’t find anywhere else in St Remy), the location right “where the world go by”, the friendliness (wait until you meet the friendly and energic bfast girl), and the soothing feeling of the place.
Below photos taken on Feb 25th 2013.

Hotel Gounod
Place de la République
13210 St Remy de Provence
Tel +33 (0)4 90 92 06 14
contact@hotel-gounod.com



Hotel Gounod. History....



Hotel Gounod : The Reception desk





Breakfast at Gounod (lunch and dinner also possible)



Hotel Gounod Atmosphere details






The Faust Room and its view....







A classic room and its terrace (in Feburary.....)






Composer Charles Gounod stayed in this very room !

corridor in front of Gounod's room

Funkier room style


1 commentaire: