Domaine Ribiera, Hotel 5 Etoiles, Spa & Golf - Forcalquier

On a golf course, beautiful grounds and spa. Very peaceful and relaxing. Will definitely be returning.

This resort hasn’t quite cracked the code yet. It’s a beautiful location, with roomy, stone built rooms. We stayed in a family suite for a week. The good stuff: It’s a beautiful location and Provençal architecture The rooms are well air conditioned The rooms and public areas are well appointed Staff (mostly) lovely The restaurant is very good, but very expensive (London AA rosette prices). Breakfast is fine, usual selection of baked goods and eggs on demand. Stuff that could be improved: It is sold as a golf/spa resort and guests do have access to a driving range, but the course itself is very limited with some of the greens made of plastic grass, so it’s not a golf resort. The gym is fine, with a tread, bike and free weights. Indoor pool is great (small) and we understand spa treatments are available, but couldn’t find a tariff/menu so didn’t order one. The outdoor pool area is good, not amazing, but with plenty of potential to reach 5 star standard. The pool seems to be cleaned once/day which is insufficient if it’s a busy day for wasps. The hot tub was unacceptably unclean the whole week we were there, but not something we particularly missed as a family. The service, on the whole, was delivered with a smile, though we waited all week for our room phone and bathroom extractor fan to be fixed. The concierge works well when supervised and given detailed instructions/encouragement. The outside areas could do with a bit more attention. Weeds in paved areas, pipes not hidden, random areas of plastic grass poorly laid. The place felt a bit unloved/underinvested by the owners, which may be because it is currently for sale for €13.5m. In summary, DdR has plenty of potential and is charming, but doesn’t yet meet 5 star standards due to lack of recent investment and, probably, lack of clear purpose/vision. The place is crying out to be an event venue for weddings/parties/upscale corporate stuff with a baseline trade of romantic spa/gastronomic getaway venue for wealthy mid life couples. Thank you for a charming stay, we enjoyed ourselves immensely being based at DdR, we hope the new owners find inspiration and purpose to give this place focus and success in a new guise.

The hotel facilities were nice, location close to the attractions in Provence. However, any good experience we had was overshadowed by the fact that we had money stolen from a purse in our room by someone on the staff. Instead of offering a solution, the manager refused to even acknowledge that employee committed a theft and made dealing with it our problem on the day we were leaving France. Please be warned.

It is an excellent resort. The suites are large and well appointed with our own jacuzzi. The personnel in the spa are excellent as well and so is all the staff. The owner (Loic) is personally involved in every aspect of the hotel. Definitely a s-star resort.

Ma femme et moi avons passé un très bon week-end dans un cadre magnifique, avec un personnel très chaleureux et professionnel, ainsi qu’un SPA superbe. Nous avons cependant quelques réserves sur trois points : Le système d’éclairage dans les chambres est très compliqué et fonctionne mal. Il n’y a pas de véritable vestiaire au SPA : il s’agit d’un couloir, et pour avoir un peu d’intimité pour se changer, il faut aller dans les toilettes… Le choix du shampooing, de l’après-shampooing et du gel douche est limité à une seule senteur (verveine/agrumes), trop forte et irritante pour le cuir chevelu. Un choix plus neutre aurait été préférable.