Château Mentone: The Wine Estate You Want to Stay at in Provence
Destinations • Europe • France • Hotels
May 6, 2026
Day three at Château Mentone and the kids were already asking if we could stay longer. Day four, my husband started looking at extending our reservation. By day five, we were packing up and texting friends: “Book more nights than you think you need.”
We’d made the same mistake our first stay. Booked two nights in July 2024, left wanting more. So, we came back a year later for five nights in 2025, and left still wanting more.
🎬 WATCH THE FULL TOUR: Want to see the lodges, pool, and breakfast before you book? Check out our complete Château Mentone video walkthrough on YouTube.
When you walk outside your lodge in the morning you start your day with the smell of lavender that drifts across the vineyard, hear the sound of the bees that buzz around the estate’s gardens, and watch the warm glow of the sun beaming between the historic buildings and towering trees.
The best part, the long summer days stretch into warm evenings where you can dine at the on-property Michelin-recommended restaurant and watch as the day turns into night. Meanwhile, no one checks the time because there’s nowhere else you need to be.
Château Mentone sits on 170 hectares of vineyards and forest in Provence’s green interior. Additionally, it’s positioned about an hour from both the Gorges du Verdon and the French Riviera beaches. Consequently, you get access to both without paying Riviera hotel prices.
What We Paid at Château Mentone
The lodges at Château Mentone are gîtes. Before Airbnb existed, gîtes were France’s answer to self-catering vacation rentals. Fully equipped homes or apartments you rent by the week (or longer) with your own kitchen, living space, and privacy. Though these days, these gîtes are more like hotel suites with fully equipped kitchens, sheets, and daily service (if you want).
First Stay (July 4-6, 2024):
€498.64 total for 2 nights
Breakdown:
• Lodge: €490 (€218 base per night + €54 tax)
• Tourist tax: €8.64
Second Stay (June 30-July 5, 2025):
€1,555 total for 5 nights in the Carignan lodge
Breakdown:
• Lodge: €1,093.50 (€218.70/night)
• Kids’ breakfast (5 mornings, 2 kids): €120 total
• Tourist tax (5 nights, 2 adults): €11.50
• Restaurant dinners: €330 (2 dinners at La Table de Mentone)
For context, a standard hotel room for four in this area runs €150-200 per night. However, you won’t get a kitchen, separate living space, or access to a working wine estate at those prices. And what’s more, you might need to book 2 rooms for your family of 4.
The Château Mentone Lodges
The lodges are two-story townhouses tucked behind the main château.Each one gives you a full kitchen, living area, dining space, a bedroom upstairs, one bedroom downstairs, and a deck with an outdoor table and chairs.
What You Get Downstairs
Walk through your front door into an open-plan space. The kitchen takes up one corner with an induction stove, small sink, dishwasher, fridge with freezer, and storage cabinets above and below. There’s a wooden shelf that folds over the sink and stove where you can prep food or store items when not cooking.
The dining table seats six with a banquette on one side, two chairs on the other. Plus a separate shelving unit that holds extra dishes, salt and pepper, and a coffee machine.
We alternated eating breakfast between the dining room and the table outside.
The living room has a couch, two chairs, and a TV. Both the living room and the ground-floor bedroom have sliding glass doors that open to the outdoor terrace.
The master bedroom downstairs has a queen bed. Walking from the kitchen toward the bathroom, there’s a hallway with a closet (stocked with cleaning supplies, an iron plus an ironing board), and a toilet in its own enclosed room. The bathroom has a double vanity, walk-in shower, and heated towel rack.
Quick Facts
FAMILY SIZING:
It’s nearly impossible to find a European hotel room that sleeps more than three people for less than €300+ per night. These gîtes sleep 4-6 comfortably at €218/night with significantly more space than any hotel room.
The Upstairs Layout at Château Mentone
Stairs from the living room lead to an air-conditioned loft with a single bed. Beyond the loft is a bedroom with bunk beds and a long desk. Unfortunately, this room has no air conditioning.
During both our July stays when temperatures hit 35-38°C (high 90s to low 100s°F), the upstairs bedroom got uncomfortably hot. The first summer one kid stayed with family in another lodge. The second summer we kept the door open to the bedroom the whole day and left the A/C blasting to cool the bunk room before bedtime.
Breakfast at Château Mentone
You can order breakfast baskets delivered to your lodge door. Simply pick your delivery time and the basket arrives as requested.
What’s in the Breakfast Basket
Kids’ breakfast costs €12 per child. The basket includes fresh-baked bread or pastries, yogurt, fruit, juice, and sometimes muesli or cereal.
Adult breakfast baskets (€20 per basket, per adult) include fresh-baked breads, butter, cheese, sliced meat, yogurt, fruit, juice, and muesli and/or cereal.
We ordered kids’ breakfasts all five mornings during our second stay. You can customize what goes in the baskets to fit your kids’ taste buds. If you don’t want to pay for the breakfast at the château (or you prefer other breakfast food items) you can drive to Lorgues (8 km away) to grab food from a grocery store or boulangerie in town.
The Pool at Château Mentone
The château has a main pool measuring 15 meters long and 5 meters wide. It uses salt-water treatment instead of chlorine. Additionally, there’s a smaller private pool at the Moulin (a house that sleeps up to 15).
During our first summer stay in 2024, the pool was too cold for the kids. They lasted maybe five minutes before declaring it freezing. But during our second summer stay in 2025, when air temperatures were particularly high, they played in the pool multiple days without complaint.
The pool area has loungers and shade trees, and it’s only a short walk there from the lodges.
Dining at Château Mentone
La Table de Mentone is the on-property Michelin-recommended restaurant. The menu changes weekly based on what’s in season from local suppliers.
What We Ate
First dinner (€158.50 for four people with wine):
- Adult Starters: Heirloom tomatoes with fresh basil and chilled gazpacho | Grilled Eggplant, Condiments & Garden Herb Coulis
- Kids: Grilled marinated Chicken Breast with Pasta
- Adult Mains: Seared Mediterranean little tuna with seasonal garden vegetables | Veal rump with garden courgettes and mint
- Kids Dessert: Locally made ice cream bars
- Dessert: Chocolate cremeux with Piedmont hazelnuts | Strawberries from Haut Var, Fresh Cheese & Garden Lemon Balm
Second dinner (€171.50):
- Adult Starters: Grilled Eggplant, Condiments & Garden Herb Coulis | Marinated trout with garden cucumber and dill
- Kids: Grilled marinated Chicken Breast with Pasta and vegetables
- Adult Mains: Petit Épeautre Risotto with Mushrooms | Veal rump with garden courgettes and mint
- Kids Dessert: Locally made ice cream bars
- Dessert: Chocolate cremeux with Piedmont hazelnuts | Strawberries from Haut Var, Fresh Cheese & Garden Lemon Balm
The restaurant isn’t open every day, but when it’s closed, you can eat at La Maison Mentone in Lorgues where the estate has a wine shop and second restaurant location. Notably, both restaurants offer children’s menus (€15-18).
The food quality at La Table de Mentone justifies the splurge. The ingredients come from the estate’s gardens and local farms. And the best part: eating alfresco under the setting sun with the breeze of the gentle evening air while listening to the cicadas serenade you.
Quick Facts
💡 DINNER PLANNING:
If the restaurant isn’t open on a night you want to eat out, La Maison Mentone in Lorgues (8 km away) offers the same quality. You’ll need to drive or bike (Château Mentone has bike rentals available). Alternatively, you can cook in your lodge or try another restaurant in the area.
Wine Tasting at Château Mentone
The estate produces organic Côtes de Provence wines. You can taste them in the tasting room as long as a staff member is available to do the tasting.
We did one tasting during each of our stays. The staff explained their organic farming approach and let us try ten wines: three whites, four rosés, and three reds.
The rosés were what you’d expect from Provence. Light, a little dry, perfect for drinking on the deck in the afternoon. I took a picture of the wines they had to offer then highlighted the ones I liked. At night, I ordered my faves with dinner.
Other Amenities at Château Mentone
The property offers more amenities than we had time to use. There’s a spa in the château’s former cellars with a hammam, jacuzzi, herbal tea room, and massage treatment rooms. We never made it there on either stay. Additionally, there’s a tennis court with rackets available for loan, a pétanque court with equipment you can borrow, and free bikes for exploring. And for the little ones there’s also a kids’ playground with a slide near the pool.
Why You Stay at Château Mentone
Château Mentone puts you north of the expensive French Riviera but within reasonable driving distance if you want to see it. However, the real reason to book Château Mentone is the access to Gorges du Verdon and Lac Sainte-Croix.
Gorges du Verdon and Lac Sainte-Croix Access
From Château Mentone, it’s about 55 km (45 minutes) to the Gorges du Verdon and 39 km (35 minutes) to Lac Sainte-Croix. You can kayak or rent electric boats to explore the gorges where cliffs rise 700 meters on either side, swim in the turquoise water, or hike the Sentier Martel trail (14 km, considered one of Europe’s most spectacular hikes).
The area also offers rock climbing, canyoning, paragliding, and rafting if you’re into adventure sports. Moreover, nearby villages like Moustiers-Sainte-Marie (listed as one of France’s most beautiful villages) and Lorgues are worth exploring on their own.
We’ve been to the Gorges four times now. On our first trip in 2023, we rented a pedal boat for four people at Pont du Galetas. We were completely unprepared. All we had was water and a loaf of brioche. Nothing waterproof except our bodies and swimsuits. My leather purse got wet (luckily it dried unscathed). Fortunately, we always carry a plastic bag and a waterproof camera case. We put our phones and car keys in the plastic bag and camera case for safe keeping. We pedaled through the gorgeous canyon, stone cliffs on both sides with crystal blue-teal water below. While we pedaled the kids alternated between eating brioche and jumping in the cool water for a quick dip. Though we had a magical time, every time I saw groups of girls drinking champagne on electric boats, I couldn’t help feeling we’d missed something.
The next summer (2024), we planned ahead. We went with more family, packed snacks and drinks, and rented a large electric boat for a few hours near Plage de Bauduen. Since we got there later in the day and started further from the gorge we toured the side of the lake near the boat rental.
In 2025, we went twice. First trip: electric boat with a bottle of Cava, water, flavored sparkling water, baguette, sliced ham and cheese for sandwiches, plus apéro items like chips and cheese cubes. Second outing: packed lighter snacks and rented a pedal boat again and spent most of the time letting the kids climb and jump off of the cliff outcroppings.
The kids loved it every time. We loved it every time. It’s the kind of day you can’t replicate anywhere else in Europe.
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What We’d Do Differently at Château Mentone
Ideally, book more nights. Five nights felt rushed when we were trying to balance estate time with Gorges du Verdon adventures and exploring nearby villages. Seven or eight nights would be better.
Visit the spa. We ran out of time both stays, but the underground spa in the château’s old cellars looked like it was worth the splurge for at least one massage.
Grill out or cook dinner once or twice. There’s something more intimate when a meal is made together.
Bike to Lorgues. We drove the 2 nights we had dinner in town, but we saw another family staying in one of the lodges bike to the same restaurant.
Should You Book Château Mentone?
If you’re planning to spend time at the Gorges du Verdon and want a home base that offers more than just a place to sleep, absolutely book Château Mentone.
One thing to note, the château is in the middle of the countryside. If you’re not European and not used to driving on small European roads the drive to and from the château may be a bit daunting. If that describes you rent a small car and take your time, or hire a driver.
The lodges at Château Mentone give you space to spread out, a kitchen to save money on some meals, and access to a working wine estate with a Michelin-recommended restaurant. You’re paying slightly more than a standard hotel room (€218 per night versus €150-180), but you might be able to sleep your whole family in one room, versus two, which actually saves you money.
Admittedly, the lack of air-conditioned airflow upstairs in summer is the only real drawback. Plan accordingly if you’re visiting June through August. Otherwise, Château Mentone delivers exactly what it promises.
We’ll be back to Château Mentone. Probably for more than a week next time.
More France travel:
Stayed at Château Mentone July 4-6, 2024 (€498.64) and June 30-July 5, 2025 (€1,555). Not sponsored. All opinions our own.