Mas de la Fouque Hotel & Spa

The Camargue

Located between the Rhone delta and the Mediterranean Sea, the Camargue is a land of extremes, passion and tradition. With more than 110,000 hectares of protected area, it’s a region of wetlands, white horses and black bulls, as well as the symbol of the region, the pink flamingo. Its intact nature possesses an inestimable biodiversity and an exceptional flora.

The inhabitants of the Camargue, a territory which is arid in summer and inundated in winter, have learned to adapt to its complexity. Against all odds, they have made it an agricultural land where rice grows side by side with fields of cereal and salt marshes. It is also a breeding ground for horses and bulls with about a hundred herds.

Classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Camargue has about 400 different bird species and varied vegetation as result of the constant combat between the river, the sea and man.

The capital of this exceptional site,Saintes-Marie-de-la-Mer, inhabited since the Roman era, is famous today for the traditions it has succeeded in preserving. As a refuge for gypsies, and an important pilgrimage site, the village attracts a great number of visitors annually.

Comme chez soi … en mieux

Nestled on the edge of the Camargue Regional Nature Park, barely two kilometers from deserted beaches, the Mas de la Fouque is a design boutique-hotel located in a traditional Camargue Mas, the local term for a farm. Completely transformed by its new owner, producer Gérard Louvin, this charming 4 stars hotel is a luxurious lodge with a Bohemian chic ambiance.

Situated between lakes and wetlands inhabited by pink flamingos, herons and wild duck, we come to a small path bordered with rose laurel, taking us into a vacation home with a simple and pure décor created by the Maow design studio in association with Sylvia Fabban and Clemence Fenninger. The result is an omnipresent immaculate white, highlighted by vintage furniture and contemporary designer objects.

The tone is set as soon as you enter the building with white linen couches and an immense suspended hat type cover whose shadow is projected over the entire space. The décor of the 26 rooms and suites are unique. Some have whitewashed walls, Eames rocking chairs and furniture in white or raw wood. Others have an “Out of Africa” feeling with dark wood furniture and vivid colors. All the rooms have their own private terrace opening onto the surrounding nature and the extraordinary fauna.

On the edge of the lake, a caravan adds a gypsy touch, emblematic of the Camargue. In the park, hammocks are stretched out between the tamarind and the olive trees for a well-deserved rest, and a gray colored swimming pool reflects the sky to infinity.

Like the rest of the hotel, the restaurant possesses the same mythical design qualities including vintage and industrial chairs by the designer, Tolix, in harmony with the raw wood tables. The menu created by chef Frederick Pelletier highlights local Camargue products, served under the Nuage chandelier, personalized with red wire by French designer, Hervé Langlais.

The spa, which proposes treatments originated by ancestral cultures is another confirmation, if another is necessary, that you are in a unique site, and that wherever you are, you feel at home…only better.

The restoration, renovation and decoration of the Mas was carried out with local products including the products in the minibars, the Provencal dressed stone extracted just 100 kilometers from the hotel for the sides of the pool, Camargue reeds for the parasols, and household linen from Provence.