Where? Saint-Paul de Vence, a walled medieval village in the hills above the French Riviera, 15 kilometres from Nice. Not to be confused with the La Columbe d'Or of Houston, Texas. Who stays there? Who doesn't? Madonna, Francis Ford Coppola, Robert de Niro, Elton John, Giorgio Armani, Sophia Loren, Karl Lagerfeld ... Your modern-day glitterati then? Yup, but also your golden oldies - since its opening in 1925, the likes of Winston Churchill, Orson Welles, Marlene Dietrich, Charlie Chaplin, Gregory Peck, Katharine Hepburn, Rudyard Kipling and Maurice Chevalier have all crossed its cobbled threshold. Owner Francis Roux recalls looking out on to the terrace one night and seeing Cary Grant, Clark Gable and Alfred Hitchcock all seated at the same table. It must be luxurious Mmmm, more provincial chic: the 16 rooms and 10 suites feature four-poster beds, frescoed and dadoed walls and antiques galore.There's also a heated pool, sauna and fabulous outdoor restaurant serving rustic Provencal cuisine. So what's all the fuss about? Well, if you're an art lover you won't find a more art-laden location than this one to rest your head. Priceless paintings, drawings, etchings and sculptures cover every surface and, legend has it, Picasso, Modigliani, Chagall, Matisse and Braque left behind canvases to settle tabs. A sculpture by Calder and mural by Leger decorate the cypress-lined pool. Romantic then? I'll say - this is where Yves Montand and Simone Signoret met and married; F Scott Fitzgerald flirted with Isadora Duncan (in front of his wife); Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir drank coffee and contemplated existential angst; and George Clooney fled Cannes to have supper, presumably not on his own. This proximity to art and celebrity must come at a price? Not too bad considering the cachet - 1,550FF (HK$1,672) for a standard double room up to 1,800FF for a suite. For more details telephone: 334 9332 8002, or visit www.la-colombe-dor.com More art gallery than hotel: an original Tal-coat in the dining room; a Calder sculpture by the pool.
