Le Mas des Etoiles - A reply to specific questions

Restaurants and Wine Tasting - “Table d’hôte” :

For most people good food is part of the game. Provence has a lot of resources. We know every restaurant of the area mostly thru our analysts, our guests… Generally, we can say that Gordes has problems because of the Tourist pressure. We have very few good ones right in Gordes Village. However, there are marvels at all prices within 10 minutes. When you book we will tell you in details. The very short list includes 1- Clos de Gustave in Gordes Village, 2- L’Estellan ( a bit more pricey) in les Imberts, just across the road in front of us – Swiss and Germans like it because they don’t have to drive, 3- La Farigoule also in Les Imberts - 300 m – “Cheap good value”- and ‘- La Bergerie in Maubec ( 4 miles) : Good food and everybody remembers “Nounours” and his Jazz band. Kids are welcome there.
Some people are surprised that we do not offer meals right in Mas des Etoiles. The story is that we did it at the beginning in 2004. Annette is a good “chef” but we quickly discovered that it was very difficult to seat people, respond to their various needs while all facilities are just very close. This concept of Table d’hôte is OK when you are way out in the wild and there is no alternative. We prefer to concentrate on what we are sure to do well on a permanent basis.
On Wine Tasting, there is much to say. We have also a list of recommendations : For instance 1- Chateau La Canorgue in Bonnieux, 2- La Cave de Bonnieux (reasonable prices ),, Chateau la Verrière in Goult and further Chateauneuf du Pape, Gigondas … In the house, we keep for our guests in the evening on the pool a selection of (fine and reasonable) reds, rosé and white. We will teach you the difference between Cote de Ventoux, Luberon and Cote de Provence. The fans are often the British and the Germans.

Pets, kids and TV ?

Here guests come expecting an “harmless” situation. Why are they going to live here if dogs are barking and they would leave their hair on the bed and the new guests are allergetic….
We experienced that and said “no more” whatever the case. (Only a very few imperial specimens like Sasuke from Japan are welcome)
For kids, it is different. It depends on the parents overall "control of situations". We cannot fully anticipate but we expect that in all cases respect for other geusts quietness be respected.

TV is perfect… at home. But when you can get away from it, have good time, smell the flavors, read a book ..; So for TV the’re is a good hotel round the corner (Mas de la Senancole). However, we have a TV Room and in August you will miss no piece of the Olympics Games in Beijing.

Religious Sunday Service

You can expect a good Sunday Mass in Abbaye de Senanque (with Gregorian Gospels) and one right in the Gordes church.

Music and Entertainment

It you want to spend nights dancing, it is not the proper place. Better look at Saint Tropez or Marseilles. But Luberon holds the most delicious places to listen classic music and it can be quite a life-emotional event. The best by far, is La Roque d’Antheron Piano Festival. It is not very close from here – 40 minutes- but more than “worth the detour”. Mozart, Beethoven, Litzt, Schubert have the favor, among others.
We have also Music Festivals in most villages : By memory, Gordes, Lacoste, Les Taillades, Lourmarin … If you are interested we can see the best when you plan to come. One good opportunity are Jazz soirees at La Bergerie in Maubec.

Visits

When you decide to come to Mas des Etoiles, we have a large array of incredible things to do, up to you desires : Best roads, best mountains, secret places …

Garden and landscape interests

One of our passions is gardening. So we are not experts but we can show you many thigs and adviseyou to see besides Mas des Etoiles nice gardens around ( One is Domaine du Rayol near Cavalaire)

Games of Golf
Golf is important for many guests. We know where the good courses around are and we can make reservations. When compared with other European countries (espacially Portugal) in France green fees are cheap. Furthermore, we also get discounts for our guests...

Guides – Michelin, Gites de France and others

We are members of “Gites de France” and have the best official ranking for B&B which is “4 épis”. We did not run yet to be in fancy guides like Guide Michelin. We are too young. For some popular guides, we just think it is not our style of clientele

Our location in Gordes
We are outside the main village, but not that far – 3-4 miles. Gordes is one of the best villages in France, so it tends to be very crowdy and noisy during the season. So being as we are down in the countryside is not bad at all. Gordes uphill has several other drawbacks : It can be very windy and the orientation makes that the sunset is very short while here we have the sun until the last minute possible and it is generally very nice.
People ask : Can we walk ? Yes, of course but it is not a good walk because the situation of the main village on top of a hill makes it tough. We have much better to propose. Most B&B in Gordes are along the main road or conversely real too much in the wild. So we are central in Luberon with 3 good restaurants in walking distance ( In Gordes, you can walk but good food mostly is not there)

If you have no vacancy, do you have any suggestion for a B&B around Gordes or in Luberon ?

There are many B&B (guest houses ) or small hotels in Luberon and Provence : Among others we have a few strong recommendations (many really do not put on their website what they are actually) : Hotels : Ferme de la Huppe (perfect), Romarin and Carcarille ( good value) in Gordes. Also Mas du Loriot ( very quiet) in Murs. Hotel des Bories and Bastide de Gordes, or like Bastide de Marie or Domaine des Andeols are in the 300-500 EUROS range. You get an International class with all the “pomp and splendor”. Our favorite is Bastide de Marie in Menerbes. If you want a Thalasso, you can stay in Mas des Etoiles and have your day organized in Bories or Bastide de Gordes.

For the B&B, the best cheaper of quality around is La Guillone. It is a bit out of everything but people there are very nice and globally it is a good buy. We have recently discovered Mas del Sol in Lacoste where you get the same approach as here. Most others have variable advantages or drawbacks.

And if we want, not a B&B, but a small apartment for 2 or with a few children, do you have any idea around ?

There are not so many good ones at a reasonable price. Our favorites are Mas des Roses - Chambre avec Vues in Fontcaudette. It is absolutely lovely. It is like us not far from Gordes main village. Also the "Writer's house in Goult near Saint Pantaleon or les Chênes in Oppède le Vieux. An other marvel is "Le Petit Miracle in les Petitons just outside of Oppede. Another one is Domaine Faverot in Maubec.

Wedding ceremonies, Honeymoons or Anniversary Gift

Although we do not make of it a specialty, we dedicate special care to those situations in order that the guests obtain an exceptional environment. And … it works. So, we “package” a little bit, we offer flowers, a drink or whatsoever they think enjoyable. And friendship.

Who are usually your guests ?

It is easy to reply : It depends on the period. In summer we have more people from France and Belgium. Globally, we have 30% French, 20% from Belgium (we are a little bit from there as having a substantial time our residence in Rijsel near Kortrijk– and Argentina…), 10% from America – The US, Canada, Brazil, Argentina , Mexico and all others). 10% Germany, 10% Switzerland, 10% Italy, 5% Asia (China, Japan) and the rest – 40 nationalities). By the way, we speak several common languages. And Annette has words of Chinese or Japanese which make good friends. In general the guests mix easily. However in some situations we understand that people want confidentiality and real quietness away from their jobs. So we respect and make the arrangements.

Do you consider your rates are expensive ?

In fact we see that we are in the higher bracket. But Mas des Etoiles offers much more than a bed and a breakfast. It offers a wide frange of benefits and good probability that you will love Luberon and Provence for your whole life. This part of France is one of the best places in the World. And even better, there are psychological positive impacts. The fact of feeling at ease is unvaluable.

Shopping

Like in all tourist areas, you must be cautious about where you buy. You can get everything but not anywhere. A good place is certainly L’Isle sur la Sorgue. Some places must be avoided absolutely. So we maintain a list updated by feed-back from the guests.

Credit cards, Booking Guarantee and Cancellation Policy

We accept major credit cards : Visa, MasterCard and American Express. For AMEX, we charge an extra 4 % for their commission.

Guarantee for booking is 35%. It is either by the credit card, or deposit. We have very few cancellations.

The cancellation must be made in writing, if possible by e-mail. If done more than 21 days ahead full refund of the deposit. Between 21 and 3 days : 50% charge of the deposit. Less than 3 days : No refund of the deposit. If not done 48 hours before arrival date, we bill thru the credit card the superior amount between the 1st night value or 35% of the value of the entire stay.

If cancelled during the stay no refund except 15% for breakfast. For all cancellations, whatever the situation, administrative fees of 30 euros.

Real Estate investment

Question : My husband and, I love Luberon and Provence. We would like to invest in a small “Mas”, not too expensive, and that we could fly to, once upon a while for refurbishing. Can you do something to help us ?
Reply : Yes, we know most real estate agents (the good ones …and others…). In fact we learnt a lot from our guests who had the experience, again good and bad. All depends on the budget and the time to do the operation. Many agencies play on the high trend reputation and fact you are away , unaware of the market . They are quite expensive. Nothing is perfect but there are several nice approaches which reduce considerably the cost. We can talk about that and give you the correct unbiased info.

If we build something, can you help us to select good contractors ?

Yes. The problem is that the good ones are not so many and because of the demand tend to increase their prices. So here the proper compromise between cost, quality and delivery is a bit hard to manage. So we know a lot of them and recommend the ones who fit to the situation.