Coquillade Provence

Andy Rihs spent much of his working life helping people hear. He helped build a Swiss hearing-aid business into an international company, then bought an old hamlet above Gargas, in the Luberon, and set about making something quite different. Coquillade takes its name from a Provençal word for a crested songbird. The obvious luxury here is the quiet. The more interesting one is what you can do once you start paying attention to it.

The stone houses were already here. Rihs turned them into a hotel, and the estate now has sixty-nine rooms and suites among vines, olives and lavender. The Rihs family has continued to develop the property, adding modern art and contemporary comforts without making it look like a newly built village. Some rooms open onto terraces; a few suites have private pools. The arrangement encourages time outside, though a room hidden deeper in the hamlet will feel different from one looking down the valley.

Cycling is not a borrowed lifestyle accessory. Rihs also owned the bicycle company BMC, and Coquillade has a Cycling Centre stocked with road bikes, mountain bikes and electric models, plus a specialist Bike Clinic that studies the way a rider sits and moves. You can take an easy ride among the vineyards or choose a serious climb towards the Luberon's hill towns. In the morning, before the heat rises, the roads and the sound of tyres on tarmac can become the best part of the stay.

There is another way to move through the estate: slowly. A long outdoor pool, a substantial spa and treatments built around plants and recovery provide the afternoon alternative to the cycling shoes. Down in the cellar, the Domaine de la Coquillade makes wines from its own vineyards, with the family working towards more sustainable and biodynamic practices. A glass on the terrace does not need a technical explanation. The vines below are explanation enough.

Meals follow the same unfussy idea. Les Vignes & Son Jardin serves seasonal food built for sharing; Cipressa is the Italian counterpoint, with pizza from a wood-fired oven and long lunches. The hotel is not trying to recreate a Provençal palace with gilded dining rooms and stiff rituals. Its mood is active, outdoors and comparatively relaxed. It is possible to spend a whole day riding, swimming, eating and hardly setting foot inside except to change clothes.

There are limits to the freedom. The surrounding roads are shared with cars, and summer afternoons can be too hot for a pleasurable ride. You need a car for much of the wider Luberon, despite the bicycles at your door; the estate itself is a destination rather than a base in the middle of a lively village. The spa and restaurants attract visitors from outside, so solitude is not guaranteed. Some will find the contemporary luxury a little detached from the old hamlet it occupies.

The hotel was named for a bird, but its most distinctive sound may come from a bicycle changing gear on a quiet road. A vineyard passes, then an olive grove, then the hill begins to rise. There are easier ways to enjoy this country, and Coquillade offers plenty of them. It is at its best when it persuades you to go a little farther before turning back.