I AM writing this as I overlook the vineyards of St Emilion, a French medieval village in the heart of Bordeaux. Since I’ve been in France the past week, I’ve experienced a heatwave – two days of temperatures that made me think I was in Oman, instead of Brittany – and a hailstorm, with stones so big it damaged cars and houses in Bordeaux.
One evening, at the guesthouse I am staying in – 5lasserre – I watched the dark clouds gather and swirl over the valley, as lightning lit up the evening sky. The owner, Frederic Simon, had just received a phone call from his insurer, warning him to take precautions against the coming storm.
Storm clouds gather over 5lasserre as owner Frederic Simon watches the approach
“In all my six years here,” said Simon, who ran Alila Hotels & Resorts for more than 20 years, and created with his wife Cristina this place in what they call the “Whisper of Light”, “I’ve never had such a call.”
As he and his “manager” Baptiste took down the umbrellas and removed anything that could possibly blow away, he shrugged, “Climate change, this storm and heatwave – they are all connected.” Just days ago, the temperatures in Bordeaux had soared even higher than by the Atlantic coast.
As it turned out, the storm didn’t come to the village we were in but it hit Bordeaux hard. Added a fellow guest the next day after the storm had passed and a bright, blue, beautiful day dawned, “Better travel while we can before these extreme weather changes set in.”
The communal living space
5lasserre has only five rooms and it’s full the week I am here. I love the fluidity of the place – it defies categorisation, even though it’s listed as a “luxury hotel in St Emilion” on Google and it describes itself as “part auberge, part family estate”. Simon, with his experience at Alila and then CEO, Lifestyle for Hyatt after it acquired Alila, and his wife Cristina have created a unique place and space that becomes whatever you want it to be.
It feels like home although it’s not. If I had a home like this, I might never want to leave. Formerly a stable, it’s a cluster of houses stitched together, with each room having its private entry via a garden. Each room is designed differently but has all the elements of a luxury, design hotel, super soft bathrobes, ultra comfortable beds, swishy toiletries and the most modern shower I’ve ever seen that sprays water from whatever angle you choose. Like the Swiss Army Knife of Showers.
Breakfast at 5lasserre, and that’s just for starters
Other than your room and garden space, everything else is communal – the living space, dining room, pool, garden, terrace. Two cats, Babouche and Gribouille, move through it with so much fluidity that you want to copy them. Adding to the fluidity is the music, curated by Cristina, to suit the time of day and the energy of the guests, Simon tells me. Well, it certainly works for me.
The other thing that flows with fluidity here is the wine of course. This is one of the richest wine growing areas of France and although I’ve not even visited a vineyard yet – my restless spirit seems to have been tamed into submission by this place – I’ve imbibed a lot, just sitting by the pool, lying on the deckchair on the lawn, writing in the garden as I am now.
When it comes to food – and I know this is important to my fellow travellers from Asia – it serves a fabulous breakfast which you can have individually or communally, your choice. After you’ve had the breakfast, you feel you ought to walk for miles – and don’t worry, there are plenty of walks you can do or you can take the two electric bikes they have and explore the environs.
Baptiste and Babouche, who’s the real master of the house of course
Two days a week, it offers a table d’hote dinner – up to you to eat or leave it – which you can also choose to have communally or by yourself. The house is run by chef/manager/general man of the house, Baptiste – again, his job description defies categorisation and is as fluid as he wants to it be.
He’s a neighbour incidentally and he told me he got the job when Simon met his mother and they started talking over the garden wall. He then met Simon who offered him the role in less than a minute. “Best job interview ever,” he laughed. “It’s not a job, it’s a lifestyle”
It’s been interesting meeting fellow travellers and exchanging travel stories once again – something that was taken away from us the past two years.
Over a lovely three-course meal, rounded off with Armagnac, I met three couples, all with different backgrounds, but driven by the common passion of travelling and seeking out new places, and doing it with renewed vigour and appreciation. All clearly experienced travellers, they found 5lasserre on Google and booked direct. A perfect blend of new world technology leading travellers to find the perfect old world experience.
And that’s what Simon and Cristina have created with 5lasserre – they’ve brought the best of the new world they discovered through their three decades of living and breathing hospitality in Asia back to their roots in this neck of the French woods. “We just want to share our lifestyle with people who appreciate it,” he said.
Here, you feel the new and old worlds come home to roost and time flows as fluidly as the wine and moves as silently as Babouche and Grebouille.
The dining room where travellers exchange stories, something we’ve missed the past two years
