Reviews

 

Sunday Star-Times Magazine

"Stacy Gregg encounters .... an absolutely fabulous French residence:

The little village of St Maximin is picture-postcard cute. It is tiny, with a castle at the top. The castle is a hotel run by two gay men with exquisite taste. Chateau St Maximin has its own Michelin star restaurant where you can dine from just 48 euros (about NZ$98) for a two-course meal, and which has eight vast, elaborately decorated bedrooms with paintings of matadors on the walls. It is the sort of place that pop stars rent out for the weekend and run amok in with their friends.

The best place to stay in the entire south of France is run by a Kiwi. Just down the hill from the chateau is Absolutely Fabulous. Fab by name, and fab by nature, the place is run by expat New Zealander Hester Bullen. Ab Fab is a converted old stable which has been turned into three self-contained apartments. The upstairs apartment, which has freshly white-washed walls, stone floors and balconies with views out over the arable plains of Provence, can sleep at least five. The two downstairs apartments can sleep three. Hester's friend Amanda, also a New Zealander, rents out the luxe villa next door for long-term stays of a week or more, but if you just have a few nights to spare then you should really rent one of Hester's bijou residences.

Hester has overseen the whole project of turning these derelict stables into three utterly gorgeous apartments furnished with minimalist French antiques. It is all beyond romantic. Not only that, St Maximin is a five-minute drive from Uzes, which is without a doubt one of the prettiest villages in the south of France.

Absolutely Fabulous in St Maximin is designer accommodation at a bargain nightly rate ..."