Hidden among the honey-colored stone walls of the picture-perfect French town of Aix-en-Provence, midway between the vast meadows of the Luberon and bustling Marseille, Villa Saint-Ange feels intimate and discreet despite its central location minutes from the town's Caumont and Granet art museums.
One of a handful of five-star hotels actually in the town centre, when owner Jean-Brice Garella, behind the Quatre Dauphin Hotel also in Aix, visited this former eighteenth-century family residence calling out to be renovated, it was love at first sight. The hotelier oversaw all the works to transform this hôtel particulier into a 35-room hotel himself, tapping almost 40 different local artisans, from gilders to cabinetmakers, with the know-how to bring the property back to life.
A painstaking renovation highlighting many of the villa's original, or imagined, details like the Napoleon III style zinc restaurant roof or the ornate moldings swirling across the domed dining room ceilings, the hotel also feels light, airy and caters to modern standards.
The clutch of ochre-hued buildings are dotted around leafy gardens where nineteenth-century sculptures lead to a bright turquoise pool that lures guests to its heated waters year-around. Rooms look out onto the idyllic surroundings, big double windows letting in plenty of that magical golden light Provence is known for.
Inside, rooms and suites are wrapped in frescoes of faraway lands that tell of ships sailing to exotic lands, colorful journeys along the silk road and other dream-inducing tales to think about from the big bouncy beds.
The high point is Villa Saint-Ange's restaurant, which, with wrap-around windows and great big potted palms, feels like an oasis but with great big crystal chandeliers dangling over Empire-style chairs and white-clothed round tables.
In the kitchen, the team cooks French fare steeped in local Provencal tradition from the coast to deep countryside, like fish soup, veal filet with truffle potatoes and rosé lamb from Roque d'Anthéron. Reflecting the surroundings, the careful attention to detail and emphasis on the all-local cast of producers and farmers (which are mentioned on the menu), makes this spot a standalone dining destination you'll want to have on your checklist for when you are next in town.
Villa Saint-Ange - 7 Traverse St Pierre, 13100 Aix-en-Provence
