NUMBER OF ROOMS: 7 rooms
ANNUAL CLOSURE: Open year round

THE STORY: Built on the plains around Auxerre in the 19th century, the Couvent des Ormes has lived a thousand lives: first as a place of worship and contemplation, then as a religious school, an artistic workshop, a summer camp… and currently as a bed & breakfast, run by interior designer Alexandre Deshayes and her husband Marc. Surrounded by an immense garden filled with century-old lime trees, the magnificent ivy-covered building strikes a fine figure: on the ground floor there’s a fully-equipped kitchen with soft pink tiling and immaculate furniture, a luminous dining room that can accommodate up to sixteen hungry guests, and a cozy living room with a gigantic library, various couches and a fireplace; while upstairs there are a handful of former-nun bedrooms, with rough parquet floors and linen sheets that are as white as freshly fallen snow… In short, everything you need for one hell of a stay! Rent out the entire house, starting at €1,500 for two nights.

TOILETRIES: Maison/Made soap and shampoo, made in Burgundy.
BREAKFAST: There’s no breakfast served here, but plenty to make it yourself in the kitchen (a coffee maker, an electric tea kettle, a toaster…) with local ingredients from the market, just a few kilometers from the house.
LITTLE LUXURY: Taking the time to explore the surrounding countryside.