STVOB
Google
We stayed 4 nights in the middle of July at Domaine du Clos d’Alari and liked it very much. It’s a place with a really special flair and architecture and we think one will never get tired of looking at the art hanging on the walls, standing at the tables, and nearly everywhere. You could say the guesthouse is a piece of art in itself, and then the artist would be the host, Nathalie, who created a very personal and nice place. ||||The room (we booked the chambre verte) was really beautiful and provides everything we needed, in the hall is a fridge where you can buy drinks (and wine, of course), behind the house is a gorgeous terrace with many nice seats under two giant and beautiful trees in the middle of a nice little garden. Some 100 metres behind the house is the pool, which is filled with natural spring water and not heated – very refreshing (approximately 25 degrees when we were there) after a hot day in the Provence and a really nice place to relax. Also we can imagine it’s nice to visit the place in wintertime because there’s an open fireplace in the “living room” and it looks very cosy.||||It was a really special experience to stay at Domaine du Clos d’Alari, since you feel like you visit Nathalie and her dog “PJ” in their very own house and are their guests: you make the beds on your own and are free to use the guesthouse for your purposes, like use all the seating areas and pick up one of the many, many books around the place. Let’s say you can feel “at home” in this guesthouse and enjoy the time and place. Also the conversation is really easy because Nathalie speaks French (of course), English and German (and maybe some more languages). ||||The petit-déjeuner is great (croissants, baguette, toast, cake, butter, fruits, quark, different marmalades, ham, cheese, eggs (boiled or scrambled), and so on) – a really nice way to start the day. Also we had diner twice and both times it was really delicious and a nice experience, since it was more like a “family diner” with the other guests and Nathalie. For example at the first diner we had some Caprese as a starter, Spaghetti with a light (and delicious) sauce based on olive oil, yogurt ice-cream for dessert and 3 sorts of cheese, accompanied by water and matching wine. It really was delicious and a delightful evening. In our opinion 40 Euro per person is a bit too much for the diner, but still we are very happy we dined at Domaine du Clos d’Alari!||||We also loved the wine, especially the Rosés, and it was really interesting to talk to Nathalie about the daily business on the wine yard. ||||In hindsight and concerning the places we visited we probably should have booked a place near Le Verdon because we ended nearly every day driving in that direction (more than 1 hour’s drive); but then we wouldn’t have experienced the spirit of Domaine du Clos d’Alari and that really would have been a pity, because we had a really interesting and great time and enjoyed it very much.||||We can easily recommend Domaine du Clos d’Alari to anybody who loves a relaxed and inspiring place.