Chambres d'hôtes et gites "Le Colombier" — Hotel in Carpentras

Provence is one of the most beautiful regions of France and Venasque is one of our favourite villages, so it seemed logical to book a short break at Le Colombier. The house was easy to find and on arrival we were greeted by the charming and very friendly proprietor, Caroline Ruel. Right from the offset Caroline did her best to make us feel welcome and after a tour of the premises and a very welcome glass of wine on the terrace, we felt very much at home.||||The house is lovely and our two rooms, with beamed ceilings and shuttered windows, and decorated and furnished in a pleasing rustic style, were spacious and comfortable. And although we are here on a B&B basis, with access to the lounge, kitchen and terrace you could be completely self catering as well. The house is next door to a gite which is run by Caroline's mum and we had access to the swimming pool there as well as the larger car park, which was more suited to our larger car.||||Breakfasts are very nice, with the accent on home made produce and the yoghurt, cakes and jams were particularly good. As I have already said, you can self cater for lunch and dinner if you like, but with the charming villages of Venasque and St Didier, as well as the larger town of Carpentras all close by there are plenty of dining options. We did eat out, but I have to confess that on an evening when I wanted to ditch the car and have a couple of beers and a glass of wine, an al fresco supper at home made a welcome change.||||By the way - it has been reported in previous reviews that Venasque is only a 20 minute walk away, and Caroline will tell you the same. You should be aware however that the pathway is pretty rough in places and very steep. We were happy to do it during the day, but wouldn't advise it for an evening visit if it is likely to be dark on the way back.||||Re the general location - as well as being close to Venasque, Le Colombier is also within an easy drive of the well known southern towns and villages of Provence, such as Gordes, Roussillon, Lacoste etc; it is also very handy to explore the northern wine route villages around Seguret and Vaison la Romaine, so rather than just spend a night here it is worth making Le Colombier a base for a longer visit.||||Many of the people who stay at Le Colombier are repeat guests who come back again and again, and having stayed here for three days we can see why. Quite simply, you couldn't find a nicer place to stay; it is a lovely house in a beautiful location run by a very special lady. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and look forward to coming...

Having randomly chosen Venasque as a base for our provence holiday, we set about looking for accommodation. After the excellent reviews for this place, it was an easy choice for us. ||From arrival this place exceeded all our expectations! The guest house is charming and beautiful both inside and out and has been lovingly restored with the owner Caroline adding her special touch to each room. On arrival we were greeted by the very lovely and welcoming owner Caroline with a welcomed glass of rose. After showing us around her delightful guesthouse we were shown to the pigeon room which was decorated to perfection with French antique furniture. The room was very clean, spacious and comfortable and tidied for us each day. It is one of the nicest rooms we have ever stayed in.||Breakfast was one of our favourite times of the day! Welcomed every day by a lovely smile and great conversation from Caroline who spoke excellent English to us. We sat outside in the beautiful shaded terrace, which was a real treat. Everything was homemade and locally sourced and we especially enjoyed the home made yoghurt and apricot cake! A delicious breakfast which set us up for the whole day.||As we were there during the heat wave we were very thankful to spend our afternoons cooling down by the lovely swimming pool and gardens. All was very clean and tidy with very comfortable seating. ||This guest house is situated in an excellent location with many popular attractions near by including mont Ventoux, the river Sorgue and the beautiful village of Gordes. Caroline's knowledge of places to visit was a great help to us. ||We would highly recommend this guest house to anyone staying in this area. The food, the charm and the comfort that Caroline provides makes this guesthouse a most stay! We arrived as guests and departed as friends. Thank you Caroline for making this such a special holiday that we will remember...

This was our second visit to Le Colombier and from the warm greeting from Caroline and the immediate feeling of settling down somewhere comfortingly familiar, it was like a real homecoming. In a previous review I went into considerable detail re the immense benefits of staying here, so don't need to repeat my self here. Let me simply update that review by saying that Le Colombier is as good as ever.||By chance, we met a couple of fellow guests from Holland who were here at the same time as us last year. They told us that they have been coming to Caroline's for the past 12 years, and this type of repeat custom says more about Le Colombier than I ever could. ||Many repeat visitors come for a week or more at a time and I can certainly see the benefit in that. This is a place where the holiday lifestyle is so wonderfully low key that you can really relax. This is most apparent in the evening when, after a relaxing hour or so by the pool, rather than get dressed to go to a restaurant for dinner, many guests simply get out the fresh bread, cheeses and cold meats they bought at the market and enjoy an al fresco meal on the terrace with a bottle of chilled rose.||Now that's what holidays are all about, although if you do prefer to eat out there are very good options in Venasque and in nearby St Didier.||See you next...