USP This tiny spa – one treatment room and a small hydrotherapy pool –
is more than the sum of its parts. This is not a place to come for beauty
therapy (no waxing or pedicures here) but for relaxation, to feel the week’s
weariness ebb away. The small, friendly hotel staff, led by the solicitous
manager Antoine Lopez, make you feel entirely at home.
AMBIENCE Housed in a charming former convent in the centre of a quiet
village, the hotel has 13 suites and is simply decorated in cool greys to
reflect its previous life as a place of contemplation.
The owners have been careful, in the design of the spa, to veer away from any
hint of "oriental" or "zen" styling, relying instead on
the tranquil surroundings and the simplicity of the stone vaults where the
spa is housed. The ground floor spa looks directly onto the little garden
and out towards the nearby mountains. The treatment room is lit with candles
and the piped music is mercifully just classical - though I did hear a hint
of panpipes once, it was swiftly gone.
The two massage therapists – Le Couvent currently only does massage, though
they include both Ayurvedic techniques and reflexology in their repertoire –
are friendly but reserved and respectful, the focus being entirely on
turning you into a goofy-faced blob of jelly.
QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE Perhaps if I say that my visit was the most
relaxing three days I’ve enjoyed in years, that may give you the measure of
the place. Within an hour of arriving I was awaiting my massage on the
sunbaked terrace, merrily stuffing my face with locally produced cheese and
charcuterie with the daily ghastliness of broadsheet newspaper life receding
rapidly into the distance.
A solitary dip in the empty hydrotherapy pool washed away any residual EasyJet
angst, and as I lounged in the solarium in my enormous fluffy robe, staring
out over the mountains, I caught sight of a bird of prey, silhouetted
against the cloudless sky, hovering over the fields for a few minutes before
swooping out of sight against the tree-covered slopes. This is a very long
way from Wapping.
At first I feared that my 45-minute massage with Pru, one of the two
therapists, would be too light and namby-pamby: I’m a stiff and cranky
person and usually nothing short of tramping up and down my back will get
the knots out. After a few minutes, however, I began to wonder whether
someone else was in the room with us, so fluid was the treatment. By the
time she had finished, I was practically drooling.
FOOD Le Couvent pretty much contracts out their kitchen to a local
charcuterie and caterer, Michel Aninat, who makes his own meats from pig to
plate. Each day a single dish for lunch and dinner is written up on the
board outside the kitchen and you either sign up for it or not (there are
excellent restaurants all over the local area).
They will serve you a light meal at any time of the afternoon, unlike almost
any other French restaurant, which is a godsend when your flight means that
you don’t get there until 4pm.
The wine, as you might expect, is also excellent – and to be found in a
splendid little honesty bar tucked away on the ground floor.
IN CROWD International clients in search of a weekend of blissful
quiet, and those visiting the nearby thermal spa town of Lamalou-les-Bains.
Children under 16 are welcome but not allowed in the hydrotherapy pool.
Shortly, however, a swimming pool will be completed, hidden from view at the
end of the property’s garden, which will be open to children.
WALLET WATCH A suite, en-suite with kitchen, costs from £129 (€160) per
night based on two sharing, from 1 May until 31 October. All treatments in
the spa can be as long or short as you like, starting from the minimum 30
mins at £40 (€50) and going up to 150mins at £143 (€180).
NEED TO KNOW Le Couvent d'Hérépian, 2, rue du couvent, 34600 Hérépian,
France, 0871 218 7066 from the UK or +33 (0)467 118715, www.couventherepian.com
.
Le Couvent can be reached easily from Marseille (BA, EasyJet, Ryanair),
Montpellier (EasyJet, Ryanair), Beziers, Perpignan, Carcassonne and Nimes
(all Ryanair) airports. Beziers is closest; prices differ wildly but it’s
fairly easy to pick up a cheap flight. It is recommended to hire a car so
that you have the run of the area during your stay – Hertz car rental
operates from all these airports, for example. Taxis are expensive.
