Annick Weber

Hospitality Normandy May 2026 issue 2 Min Read A 19th-century château has been restored as an art-filled hotel in which to dream and unwind. Writer Photographer If you ask a hotelier what they want most for their guests, sweet dreams would probably be near the top of the list. Verneuil-la-douce – an art-filled, 17-room hotel an hour west of Paris by car – goes well beyond plush pillows and soft lighting in its efforts to fulfil that promise.

Escape to the shores of Lake Geneva, where the heritage hotel's welcoming rooms offer a taste of Old World elegance. Auberge Port-Gitana in Geneva was originally constructed in 1875 as a steamboat pavilion for passengers embarking on cruises on Lac Léman. Though boarding is now mostly done from lakeside piers, the historic structure still stands. After several decades as a cultural venue, it recently reopened as an 18-bedroom bolthole, complete with a lakeside restaurant and terrace.

'Konfekt' meets the brothers running Ateliers Marcel Carbonel, a workshop working to preserve the Provençal Christmas tradition of santons alive. "It feels a bit like playing with Lego," says Baptiste Vitali as he opens drawer after drawer filled with colourful clay figurines. Vitali is showing Konfekt (Monocle's sister publication)around Ateliers Marcel Carbonel, a 90-year-old workshop in Marseille that he and his brother, Hugo, took over from the founder's family in 2021.