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....
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
