La Bonne Étape

Rooms are nice and clean. Good size bathroom - shower curtain was missing, so the bathroom gets a bit wet if you want to stand in shower. Nice pool and service. Good parking place. Dinner was great and tasty. Great stay for 1-2 nights.

La Bonne Etape ... the good stopover. So true! This delightful, family-run, inn with a world-class restaurant is indeed a good stopover. In fact, it's great. The story of the name is that, many years ago, Pierre Gleize was driving by this historic post house when his motorbike broke down. There he met his future wife, whose parents owned the house and its restaurant ... and history was made. Since then, the restaurant, run now by their son Jany, has earned a Michelin star, and the delightful rooms and garden have welcomed many happy visitors to this charming region of Provence ... now, my family is happily included on the list! Every few years, my extended family (20-25 of us) travel to a destination related to our ancestry. This year, we set our sights on Provence with the intention of visiting an ochre mine near Roussillon where my father's ancestors once worked. These trips are complicated. Our group includes a wide range of ages, our arrivals and departures vary, we need group transportation, several of us have dietary restrictions, and we look to put together a busy itinerary of trips and experiences that will allow us to really get a sense of the region: the people, the language, the food, the landscape, the colors, the scents, the music. I needed a place that could offer all of that, and help me to put it together. Enter La Bonne Etape! I don't know where to begin. Staying at La Bonne Etape felt like being embraced by family. Everyone greets you with a smile and goes out of their way to meet, and anticipate, every need. The rooms are charming, and blessed with air conditioning (which was essential as the region contended with an extraordinary heat wave while we were there. Thank goodness for the pool!). We stayed at la Bonne Etape for 5 nights ... eating every dinner there. A whole book could be written about the inventiveness and deliciousness of these dinners and the perfection of the wine pairings. One dessert was lavender ice cream encased in a sugared hive, with bees drawn on the plate! Every dish was a work of art. We enjoyed buffet breakfasts every day and, on some days, picnic lunches hand-packed by Jany's team. Want to experience a perfect Provencal moment? Go to the Gorges du Verdon with a La Bonne Etape picnic basket. C'est magnifique! This review wouldn't be complete without discussing the help that I received from the wonderful Lucille putting together my group's active itinerary. Lucille lives (and speaks) with a smile, always. You can hear it in her voice even over the phone. No detail is overlooked! She is incredible! Some highlights? Forqualquier on market day; Sisteron's citadel; Roussillon and the ochre mine/museum; water hiking and electric boating in the Gorges du Verdon; a cooking lesson with Jany; a tour of La Bonne Etape's wine cave with wine tasting; a Cezanne-centric tour of Aix en Provence, ceramics shopping in Moustiers; olive-oil tasting at award-winning Moulin Fortune Arizzi; standing in the shadow of the extraordinary Les Penitents rock formations. And the absolute very best moment? A dinner al fresco, in the garden, with musical entertainment from the charming and extraordinarily talented Julie Jourdan to celebrate my daughter's 21st birthday. La Bonne Etape is like staying with the Provencal family you never knew you had with, lucky you, a Michelin-starred chef in the house! There is so much to do and enjoy in the region and; when you are tuckered out and ready to relax after a long day of enjoying the sights, sounds, and scents; you can return to this charming hotel, enjoy the pool, stroll the organic gardens, feast on the local bounty prepared to perfection, and lay your head in a room evoking the charm of the area. Parfait!

All the staff were superb. From check in to departure. We enjoyed a memorable and delicious dinner, the service was excellent The bedroom was very comfortable, but perhaps due for refurbishment and re decoration.

Charming property, if a little unsophisticated. The welcome from the staff was exceptional - they came out to meet us as we parked. Pool area could be tidier, more inviting with more towels available. Dinner in the bistro was OK.

Nice stay at this family-driven, with very good Service, like beds made ready for night and other small details. Rooms are with fine old furniture, but still appears nice and bright. Nice restaurant with delicious food.