Crillon le Brave

Some hotels are simply a particularly good place to stay in a destination. Crillon-le-Brave feels different. The hotel has a personality of its own, shaped by the village, the surrounding landscape and the way the different buildings and spaces come together. It feels less like a hotel that happens to be in Provence and more like a part of Provence in its own right. In that sense, Crillon-le-Brave really is the destination. We were delighted to return, and once again found the atmosphere incredibly relaxed and unforced. The service is attentive and highly personal without ever feeling formal or intrusive. From before arrival, the team makes a real effort to understand what you like and how you want to spend your time, and that continues throughout the stay in a way that feels thoughtful rather than overly managed. The recent additions of the spa and adults only pool have also been very well judged. Both feel as though they have always belonged at Crillon, using the same natural materials and local aesthetic as the rest of the property rather than introducing something that feels overly new or polished. Nothing feels bolted on or designed simply for the sake of having another facility. That is perhaps one of the hotel's greatest strengths. You can spend an entire day doing very little, moving between the pool, spa and restaurants, or use it as a base to explore Provence. Its location works particularly well for this, with Avignon, Aix-en-Provence, L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Gordes all within easy reach, while the surrounding countryside is reason enough to get in the car and explore. We mostly chose the former on this trip, spending our time around the hotel and dining there, which suited the setting perfectly. Breakfast is also worth mentioning. There is a large and generous buffet with a good selection of local meats and cheeses, fruit, yoghurt, croissants & pastries, alongside hot options and an à la carte menu for eggs. Freshly squeezed juices and detox juices are a nice addition, and it is the sort of breakfast where you can quite easily linger for an hour without feeling rushed. For those who want to be a little more active, the hotel also has bikes and e-bikes available to hire. Cycling around the surrounding roads and villages is a great way to see more of the area, provided you are feeling ambitious about the hills. The concierge team are excellent at suggesting routes and ideas depending on how active you want to be. We stayed in a Prestige Ventoux room, with beautiful views across the surrounding hills. The room itself was comfortable and thoughtfully appointed, with a separate walk in wardrobe, generous towels and dressing gowns, and small touches throughout the stay, including gifts left on the bed in the evening. The setting is what stays with you. The sound of cicadas and birds, the vines and flowers around the property, the views over the landscape and even the colour of the pools all feel completely in keeping with Provence. There is a sense that very little here has been designed to compete with its surroundings; instead, the hotel feels embedded in them. A particularly enjoyable aspect of returning was seeing the consistency of the experience. It still feels intimate and individual, despite offering everything you would expect from a luxury hotel. Most importantly, it has retained its own character, which is increasingly difficult to find. Thank you to the team at Crillon-le-Brave for another lovely stay. We very much look forward to returning next year.

We had three nights here . It’s a pretty hotel and our room was nice though on reflection I wish we had asked for a room with some outside private space . There are two pools both quite small but luxurious. The staff are friendly , really nice and we loved the restaurant. Yes we were lazy and ate in the restaurant each of our 3 nights but the choice is good and the food quite yummy ( only the bull fillet was disappointing ( rather tough to chew ) ) The views are amazing from the terrace . It was just the heat that stopped us doing anything too strenuous. We had planned to drive up to mount ventoux but couldn’t because of the risk of fire !

From the moment we arrived at this hotel we could just relax. The staff takes care of everything and offers a great service. The environment and atmosphere is lovely! The whole area is so beautiful! The rooms are nice and the pool area is like a dream! The food was amazing, reasonable prices and high quality! Thank you for a wonderful stay!

This was our fifth or sixth stay and the hotel is just as good as it’s always been. The staff are unfailing friendly and helpful, all speak very good English. Our room was excellent and had everything you would expect. The bottle of fizz to help us celebrate our wedding anniversary was a nice touch. There are now two swimming pools, one for adults only, both with stunning views.

Bad experience with a deceptive room - we booked the “Prestige Ventoux Room” which is one of the highest, most expensive room categories, and the website boasts a “view of the Mont Ventoux valley”. They gave us room 2 which has a view of the building next door. Even worse, room 2 is directly over the entrance, and there is a crowd of people sitting outside even now at 22:00 at night being loud and playing music. A lot of this room type on the website show a beautiful new bathtub in front of a window - we don’t have that. I guess they gave us the old unrenovated crap room. Honestly I’m really mad about getting this bad room when we paid extra for the nice room with a view. I don’t want to have to double check every room characteristic on check-in and deal with crap like this when I’m on vacation. I feel scammed and it’s ridiculous that they treat their guests like this. Other big issue is hot water - we filled up our bathtub and then tried to take a shower and there was no more hot water, just ran out. Ridiculous. Another issue is the air conditioning - it’s not strong enough. We are the type to always be cold (and had a cold shower), and the room still feels hot in the summer. This hotel is a scam - recommend the Airelles hotel in Provence instead, way better