Hôtel Restaurant Les Géraniums

Hotel Les Geraniums Firstly, Les Geranium is situated in the town of Le Barroux, it was a frontier guard post and toll station in the 11th century, you can sit beside any of the fountains in the village and listen to the water flow from the nearby mountains as history wraps itself around you. I was there to climb Mont Ventoux with my friends and after doing so, we went to a nearby town for a recovery drink, all the towns are beautiful, stop at any cafe and like the locals, you can watch the world go by. I recently watched Russell Crowe in A Good Year, a film set in Provence. Russell goes to the place of his childhood and gradually learns to appreciate the life he once shared with his uncle. Likewise, staying at Les Geranium is like going to stay with your aunt and uncle during the school holidays. The owners of the hotel, Geraldine and Huw are a wonderfully gentle elderly couple, who calmly run the hotel along with some local help, and so, for a few glorious days, they were like my aunt and uncle and I felt like I was a kid again. In the evenings, I had the pleasure of sharing a few fabulous glasses of wine with them, take my word for it, the local wines are stunning. Huw and Geraldine spent most of their lives in the hotel business and Huw ran some of the top hotels in the world. Huw does all the cooking, the food is wholesome, fresh and more importantly, tasty. I could see why the famous English artist Ernest Fedarb stayed here with Huw and Geraldine, every summer until he died in 2005. The building itself is roughly 300 years old and apart from WIFI, there are no mod cons, this is old world, some things work and some things don't, but you quickly learn not to care. Time slows down here, which gives you a chance to ramble through the nearby vineyards, olive and cherry groves, you can buy all this produce off the local farmers for virtually nothing. The quirkiness of this hotel is the very reason you should stay here, nothing matters, you're not staying in a hotel, you're staying with family. Les Geranium is peace and calm for the soul. As Arnold Schwarzenegger said, I'll be back...

I have stayed in this hotel so many times. It has been a lovely experience away from the maddening crowds and not like the big hotels. It is quaint and comfortable has very good personal service and homely which you don't get elsewhere. It doesnt have swimming pools ect but is for the person who's passed all that side of the business and enjoys quiet tranquility and personal treatment.