RESTAURANTS - CHEFS - HOTELS - REVIEWS & STORIES

Hotel La Bonne Etape ****
Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban, Haute-Provence, France

This is a very special and romantic hotel with its fabulous Michelin starred restaurant up and away from the maddening crowd at the coast. It is a luxury family hotel featuring the cuisine of owner and Executive Chef Jany Gleize that will make you never want to leave!

Peter and Linda D'Aprix 1993-2021
See all our Video's >> See the Restaurant of La Bonne Etape Story & Video>>

Wind your way up from the coast of Provence into the fields of lavender and grains and where the wonderful subtle flavors and aromas of Alpes-de-Haute Provence of wild thyme, rosemary and lavender are carried on the crystal clear breezes that waft off the snow covered peaks of the Alps themselves, and you will never want to leave!

In a small village off the autoroute to Sisteron, Hotel/Restaurant La Bonne Etape, a former post house, is an ideal and charming stop over or destination in itself of top quality, a member of the prestigious Relais et Châteaux group. This is and has been the family home of the Gleize family (father, Pierre, and son, Jany, and Mom too whose family owned it prior to Pierre sweeping Mom off her feet) who are not only delightful and welcoming hosts but for over 30 years have together created a cuisine inspired by the tastes of the best of local ingredients for the Restaurant La Bonne Etape. It is "modern classic" in style but Provençal to the core. The rooms and suites are charming, many with their own private garden terraces or balconies. They are decorated with great taste, formerly in Provençal fabrics and colors and filled with antiques but today are mostly updated to a comfortable mix of traditional and modern. Here you will feel part of the great tapestry of Provence.

It has been some years since we last visited and there have been a few changes that we noticed. While the rooms and suites have been modernized and the bathrooms made luxurious and up to the standards of today with each room or suite quite unique as befitting an ancient building, the public rooms have been well maintained and retain their more traditional ambiance.

The property is small, but they have created exquisite gardens with winding pathways that lead down to the swimming pool and if you don't stop there to soak in the sun, off to the left is an extensive organic kitchen garden and parkland.

The wood paneled dining room is sedate and old world as are most of the other public and private rooms. The frayed nerves of traveler's from near and far ease as the high beamed ceilings, carpets and tables set far enough apart for discrete conversation (useful as well during Covid) to take place, without the echoing of many of today's establishments, that allow the visitor to hear each other and to relax.

Whether you are looking for a destination or just a comfortable stopover with great food, this is an excellent choice.

Now visit the the Restaurant La Bonne Etape >>