Château Talaud

Château Talaud is absolutely perfect. This splendid, 18th-century estate offers all the warmth, charm, and intimacy of a bed and breakfast, enhanced by the sophisticated amenities of the finest small hotel. Plan to stay as long as possible, making Château Talaud your home while exploring Provence. A long tree-lined lane leads up to the stately mansion, a beautiful, honey-colored, three-story home nestled in its own garden. Stretching away in every direction are immaculately kept fields of grapes that produce Côte de Ventoux wine. Your charming hosts, the Deiters-Kommers, are Dutch, but have lived throughout the world. Hein now produces fine wine while Conny operates the bed and breakfast. The château’s comfortable yet elegant interior—combining gorgeous fabrics, fine antiques, and exquisite furnishings all chosen by Conny—is definitely Architectural Digest material. The bedrooms are spacious—some enormous—and all have cable TV, direct-dial phones, and splendid large bathrooms. I adored the Blue Room, which has pastel-blue walls, an incredibly high ceiling, wooden canopy bed, and a marble bathroom as large as many bedrooms. Conny is a gourmet chef and on Tuesday and Friday serves a superb dinner for her guests.