The rolling landscape of Green Provence heralds Château La Coste, a hybrid destination for art, wine, nature and joie de vivre that has been organically evolving since it opened in 2002. Across the 17th-century wine estate’s 200 hectares, Irish hospitality extraordinaire and art collector Paddy McKillen has gradually accumulated outdoor sculptures (45 and counting) by artists and friends such as Ai Weiwei and Bob Dylan, multiple experimental architectural pavilions by the likes of Richard Rogers and Oscar Niemeyer, and five restaurant concepts along with their maverick chefs.
Auberge La Coste, Aix-en-Provence
Encouraged by the nearly 400,000 annual visitors in 2023, McKillen’s latest evolution is a second hotel, Auberge La Coste. Inspired by the welcoming ethos of an ‘inn’ for travelling culture lovers, it’s a more accessible and convivial offering than the 28-room luxury Villa La Coste (opened in 2016 and tucked away on a secluded hillside plot). Adjacent to the daily energy of the restaurants, wine cave and galleries of the Château La Coste village, the 76 rooms of the Auberge line a Provençal-style cobbled street of raw stone and cream-coloured plaster walls, along which shops and studios will gradually open.
In a seamless continuation of the refined hospitality yet laid-back character of the estate, the contemporary architecture and interiors (designed by the in-house team) are fresh and minimal, yet layered with character and rooted in context. Postcard-perfect yellow umbrellas shade colourful tables and chairs flanked by cypress trees, pink peonies and a fountain. Rooms are understated yet luxurious in materiality, from the soft bed linen to the light-wood flooring, and atmosphere, with their abundant sense of space and light; curtains open to dappled sunlight over vineyard or sculpture park views.
Just like the whole of the estate, McKillen’s personality and outlook are present at the Auberge, where a painterly mural pictures his beloved Irish Wolfhounds and a wood-panelled Irish bar of red leather banquettes is decorated with local market finds. The family-oriented culinary offerings bring a decidedly international approach to this extension of the village; a generous lunch menu lists hearty sharing plates and popular classics from a cheeseburger to fish and chips, while a new rotisserie restaurant will open in late summer with a terrace immersed in vineyard views (it’s here where a picturesque breakfast is served for guests).
Like each new evolution, it’s clear that Auberge will soon start to shape future programming and possibilities. Since its soft launch in March, it has welcomed creative couples keen to absorb the art trail and wine-tasting experience beyond a day trip, as well as those seeking a chic base from which to explore Provence and the Luberon Valley; there are also adjoining rooms for families and studios with kitchenettes for longer stays, ideal for hosting the estate’s creative visitors during events from weddings to vernissages.
While there isn’t a pool, experiencing sunset and sunrise on the trail after hours is the draw; a quiet early morning walk – climbing up the softened timber staircases that tread through the consciously managed wilderness to revisit a sculpture or meditate on a carved stone bench – is recommended. As is the effortless lavender-scented evening stroll back from dinner at the Italian restaurant Vanini after a couple of glasses of biodynamically cultivated Château La Coste rosé. From waking up to an exuberant Damien Hirst sculpture to winding down with a Guinness, this Provençal Auberge is certainly unlike any other.
Auberge La Coste is located at 2750 Rte de la Cride, Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade, aubergelacoste.com
