La Ressence - Chambre d'hôte au coeur du Luberon — Hotel in Apt

We arrived later than expected on Sunday due to a missed connection but Françoise and Thierry could not have been nicer, meeting us with glasses of wine and sitting with us in the salon as we wound down from a hectic day of travelling. We stayed 5 nights and each day was better than the day prior. The grounds are beautiful, including a pool, tables in the sun or shade of a large tree and a pétanque/boules court in the shade for those long hot days when playing and drinking wine all day is the best plan that can come to mind. Despite all the beauty and hospitality, the greatest part for me is Françoise's breakfast of French bread, ham, cheese, fruit, coffee, juice.... it was just the best. ||||I appreciated all the small details incorporated into the renovation. Beautiful finish work on the trim and hardware. It really is as good as the pictures make it look. Rooms are graciously appointed with small bluetooth speakers, air conditioning/heating, showers with rainshower heads and hair driers. Any concerns about traffic noise from the adjacent D943 should be dismissed as the windows eliminate all noise. We slept soundly even through the morning, always waking up later than we'd like. Graciously, Thierry offered to arrange road bike rentals through his contact at rentbikeluberon in Bonnieux which allowed us to take advantage of the nearby Calavon trail which stretches from Apt to Cavaillon without riding on the busy D900, though many riders were seen on the much busier highways, our State-side experiences have not given us the confidence to ride in such traffic yet. ||||Zero complaints about La Ressence, we will definitely return. I only wish sooner...

We had the most wonderful time at La Ressence! This review is especially for American tourists like us. After spending a week in crowded, hot Paris and then Strasbourg (less hot, still crowded), we were exhausted by the time we got to La Ressence, but now we feel like new people! Here we had plenty of space in our large, airy room (Marie-Louise) and fresh air on the enormous property. We spent five nights here. Every morning we woke up to an amazing breakfast of fresh fruit, yogurt, juice, and croissant in the garden, and every afternoon we sunbathed by the pool. It was the perfect "babymoon" (I am 5 months pregnant). This is also a very good opportunity to practice your French. Our host Francoise was very tolerant of my malapropisms, and all other guests during our stay were French-speaking - this is definitely not a "touristy" spot and you can enjoy an "immersion" experience. Note that driving in this area is challenging and La Ressence is not directly located in any town, so it will be necessary to drive to get lunch and dinner, whether you are eating in a restaurant in town or getting groceries to picnic (we did both). We were intimidated by the driving at first but eventually acclimated enough to visit the nearby towns of Bonnieux, Lourmarin, and LaCoste. We recommend asking Francoise to make dinner for you one night for a small fee - she's an incredible cook and our meal was intimate and romantic (and no death-defying drive through the mountains involved!). We truly loved our time here - it is such a special place and we hope to...

We enjoyed a wonderful two-night stay this summer at La Ressence. The farmhouse is a beautifully restored building from the 1800's with the most modern amenities. Around the corner is a small pool that was perfect for the hot Provence summer set off from the main building by the original mill building from the 1500's. A small creek flowed along the property and beautiful wildflowers completed the picturesque setting.||||While the accomodations were amazing, the warmth of our hosts, Francoise and Thierry was unsurpassed. They greeted us with smiles and after seeing us to our room made us feel completely at home. Francoise baked a small snack each afternoon for us (lemon loaf one day, chocolate cake the next). Coffee was always available to go with the cake!||||Thierry provided helpful advice about sightseeing, and made reservations for us at restaurants we were interested in.||||We would not hesitate to recommend...