Le Domaine Saint Aubin

Le Domaine Saint Aubin Review

This former estate is perched on a verdant hilltop with a breathtaking view overlooking the Atlantic. An interesting Parisian couple returned to the husband's homeland and lovingly restored the family's 19th-century Creole plantation house, starting with six simple guest rooms opening onto a wraparound verandah. They then expanded to 30 rooms while maintaining the colonial ambience. Nineteen rooms are housed in newly constructed or completely renovated freestanding cottages on a knoll overlooking the main entrance of the Louisiana-style greathouse. The newer rooms have some antiques and more style. Seven rooms (five doubles and two bi-level "quadruples") have been carved out of the original stables, and three four-room lodges, built in the same Louisiana-style architecture, house a fitness room and a conference room. Those built in 2009 are the best yet—six huge, two-bedroom flats, with four-poster beds and fashionable lighting from Spain. Free Wi-Fi throughout the property as well as a media room with a wide-screen plasma TV are welcome additions, since there aren't any TVs in the rooms, nor are there phones. The apartments here are rented seasonally, with minimum night stays.

The elegant restaurant, furnished with mahogany period antiques, vintage photos, and chandelier, has a fixed-price dinner menu (€40), and non-guests are welcome with a reservation. Expect mains such as sea bass on spinach puree, fresh vegetables from the garden, and perhaps a coconut-and-guava tartin.