Review of La Mirande, by Jamie Dunford Wood

We all have favourite hotels and personal preferences, but for this reviewer the Mirande in Provence is the best boutique hotel of its type in Europe - and since you can't get the type outside Europe, as the essence of it is steeped in European history - perhaps the best of its type in the entire world. It's an old ecclesiastical nobleman's house, what used to be known as a 'hotel particulier', the former house of a cardinal in the very shadow of the grim granite walls of the papal palace. The boutique hotel is located in bustling and busy Avignon, La Mirande is an oasis of calm and quiet. It is privately owned, opened only in 1991.

The facilities

The triumph of the hotel has been to preserve the character and historic association of an 18th-century townhouse mansion, with its exquisite antiques, its hanging aubusson rugs, its carefully recreated (in some cases original) 18th-century fabrics and chinoiserie, and its original and stunning architectural features - from the 15th-century coffered ceilings of the reception rooms (double-caisson a la francaise) to its historically recreated kitchens, where cookery classes are held midweek.The courtyard has been ingeniously covered to create the restaurant. Outside, a delightful small garden hugs the wall of the palace.

The rooms

Upstairs, the 20 guestrooms of this small boutique hotel have all been decorated 'a la mode', with Pierre Frey fabric, 18th-century wall coverings, fine antiques and, in most, separate showers. Most of the flooring is tiled in honeycomb terracotta, much of it original, with some parquet flooring and rugs in the rooms - the suite has wood panelled walls. For guests seeking even more privacy there is also a two-room luxury apartment in a separate building. A couple of the rooms at the boutique hotel have small terraces.