Up a Tree

You open your eyes in a huge double bed perched 30 feet above the ground. The first thing that hits you is the delicious pungent smell of red cedar. Then there’s the view: framed by the lace-curtained open window are graceful branches of oak and sunlight filtering through green leaves, all set against the pale blue morning sky. Birds twitter, a cock crows, and the high is unlike anything you’ve ever experienced. Call it bough wow bliss.

The notion of a tree house hotel may sound like a Disney fantasy, but nothing could be further from the truth. At both Orion, a four-tree-house B&B in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, and the Château de Valmer, a family-run hotel near Saint-Tropez with two luxurious perched cabins, the ecologically minded owners are providing much more than a catchy Tarzan-and-Jane decor. While guests can fulfill childhood dreams of spending the night in a tree, the idea is to get closer to nature—without necessarily having to rough it.

The tree houses are actually sturdy red cedar structures supported by stilts, built between the branches. Each has its own particular shape and size, with a wooden staircase to climb up. All designed by Alain Laurens, a renowned French tree house architect based in Provence, the cabins all have lovely terraces for lounging and are furnished with luxury comforts.

Orion is hidden away at the end of a leafy road outside Saint-Paul-de-Vence. The stone village house with its palm-shaded lawn is the home of Belgian owner Diane Van den Berge and her family. But beyond the shimmering green pool—naturally filtered by plants—a path leads to a forest of towering oaks. The custom-made tree houses, discreetly set apart for privacy, are in perfect harmony with their surroundings.

Shere Khan is the most spacious of the four perched cabins, with its tree piercing right through its huge outdoor terrace and a hammock to swing in. Interiors are simple but impeccable, with queen size beds, beige linens, down quilts, oversize pillows and a writing desk. The bathroom, stocked with natural products scented with fig and olivewood, has a small wooden tub (plus a shower attachment) and double sinks.

Closest to the pool, the King Louie & Mowgli suite is ideal for families since there are two separate cabins with a connecting bridge. The main cabin has a lovely four-poster bed and a comfortable sitting area; the smaller cabin has bunk beds and adorable squirrel and rabbit cutouts on the wooden shutters and doors.

Bagheera has a lovely curved terrace with a terrific view of the perched village of Saint-Paul, plus a breezy sitting area below, at the foot of the tree, with a large swinging chair. The most recently built cabin, Colonel Hathi, is also the tallest—one master room with a smaller cabin on top with three beds.

The tree houses “tend to bring out the inner child in everyone,” says Diane Van den Berge. A former business consultant in Brussels, she moved here in 2004. She planned to open a small, classic B&B in the main house, a converted 19th-century sheepfold. The first step was the swimming pool, a unique “pond” surrounded by dozens of purifying plants that reproduce the ecological conditions of a mountain lake, right down to the flitting dragonflies; the chemical-free greenish water is like silk.

While pondering her next step, Van den Berge happened to see a magazine article about tree houses in India. Further research led her to Laurens, architect and author of several books on tree-house living, and much to her delight he agreed to take on her project.

It’s no coincidence that the Rocchietta family, owners of the Château de Valmer hotel since 1949, also called on Laurens for their custom-designed cabanes perchées. In the peaceful village of La Croix-Valmer, far removed from the buzz of nearby Saint-Tropez, the hotel’s sprawling property includes lush gardens with a pool and a long, palm-lined path leading straight to the sea. And it also has a small stand of oak trees overlooking a vineyard that yields delicious organic red and rosé wines.

“We’d been looking at that green oak tree for years,” says marketing director Numa Rocchietta, “trying to imagine how we could create a romantic spot that would be unique.” Their first tree house, surrounding the tree trunk, offers a canopy bed and a charming bathroom stocked with everything a guest might ever need, from hairdryer to Cinq Mondes spa toiletries. The newly opened, larger tree house, high in a cork oak, is a suite with an inviting sitting room and a separate room with bunk beds for kids.

The Château de Valmer’s 42-room stone Provençal bastide was recently renovated to include a pretty spa with an indoor pool and glass-walled solarium overlooking the garden. It’s also only a stone’s throw from Gigaro Beach, a quiet curve of white sand with limpid turquoise shallows that is never overcrowded, even in high season.

But first you’ll probably want to have your buttery morning croissants and coffee delivered to your tree-house terrace for a moment of utter peace. Later, come sunset, as you sip the chilled rosé produced by the vines below, there’s a soft breeze wafting woodsy aromas as the frogs begin their nightly song. There’s no TV, but the spectacle is right there in the boughs, and the true height of luxury is a chance to sleep in a tree, closer to the stars.

 

Orion Impasse des Peupliers, 2436 chemin du Malvan, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, 04.93.24.87.51. website

Château de Valmer Gigaro, La Croix-Valmer, 04.94.55.15.15. website

Alain Laurens website

 

Originally published in the July/August 2010 issue of France Today