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Official Website • Hostellerie de Crillon le Brave

Hostellerie de Crillon le Brave
Reviewed by Ferne Arfin Website: Freelance Writer Ferne Arfin

Pile on the luxury and spare no expense! That might have been the motto of the two Canadian businessmen who created Hostellerie de Crillon le Brave, beside Mt. Ventoux in the Vaucluse region of Provence. The level of finesse is almost audacious. Rich velvets and brocades drape the public rooms. Provençal antiques stuff the 31 chambers and suites, each one individually furnished and equipped with deep, indulgent baths.

Chef Philippe Monti's cuisine is adventurous and as interesting in its failures as in its successes--pink, pan-roasted foie gras in a sweet wine sauce, shoulder of wild boar roasted and stewed, cinnamon crème brulée with roasted figs.

But, perhaps the most daring element is the concept itself. Composed of a sprawl of seven, separate medieval houses, linked by a cobbled courtyard and a terraced Italian garden, the hotel seems to occupy at least a third of the village of Crillon-le-Brave, commanding a steep hilltop. The setting makes for a lot of up-and-down, so guests need to be fit. After a seven-course (and overlong) dîner degustation, we climbed four flights of terra cotta steps to street level, down a hill to our "maison", then up three narrow, winding stone staircases to our room. No wonder we slept so well.

Twenty-five miles northeast of Avignon, its proximity to the Mont-Ventoux stage of the Tour de France makes Crillon le Brave popular with the well-heeled element of the cycling crowd, who set a tone of casual chic. Make no mistake about it, this is serious luxe with prices to match – rooms from €155 to €400, suites to €540, diner from about €55 per person without wine. But it is luxury Provençal style; good food, good wine, great scenery – just leave the diamonds and the stiletto heels at home.

(Visit Ferne Arfin's Website.)

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