At Airelles Le Château de la Messardière, there will probably be blood—buckets of it—and never simply in the type of the resort’s home rosé: pale pink, with notes of jasmine and watermelon, served ice-cold by the pool ,and by the way named Roseblood.
Rumor has it, in accordance to Variety, that the Château will probably be used as a location in season four of The White Lotus. HBO had no remark, but when it’s true I can confidently say that this resort, which I’ve had the privilege of visiting a number of instances, will make the excellent setting for a season spent on the French Riviera—set excessive on a hilltop, with the temptations of Saint-Tropez and Pampelonne’s strip of all-day-party seashore golf equipment beneath. Shopping there may be an endurance sport (round 230 boutiques populate the surrounding village, which is so compact you may cross it on foot in quarter-hour). Boat invitations are made freely and, if we have discovered something from the present, have to be accepted with discretion.
Many of the leisurely parades of luxurious we at the moment are used to on The White Lotus exist already at Le Château de la Messardière. Come early night, company emerge from their suites to strut their night finery (a model parade of Loro Piana loafers, Casablanca silk shirts, Richard Mille watches, Missoni attire, Hermès luggage) and converge on the terrace for cocktails. From there, there’s a sweeping view of the manicured grounds—12 hectares of aromatic gardens and forest, parasol pines, and a lone sailboat on a far-off blue swath of sea: the Gulf of Saint-Tropez. It’s simple to think about, say, the late Rick and Chelsea staying up to watch the solar rise right here, or the Ratliff clan gathering for a tedious dinner.
In brief, it’s a heavenly setting. There are Instagrammable Cédric Grolet pastries at breakfast, a Kid’s Kingdom for the tots, a Valmont spa for the adults, and tennis courts worthy of Djokovic. There can also be La Messardière’s personal seashore, Jardin Tropezina, a classy, family-friendly scene the place lunch would possibly imply platters of lobster and extra rosé. Lively however tasteful: jazz at sundown, no desk dancing, no champagne-spraying theatrics.
But let’s face it: even in paradisiacal palaces like this storybook turreted fortress, issues can go flawed in the means that they so usually do for company of a White Lotus property. Some concepts: the heavy metal ball on the pétanque court docket turns into a projectile; an “accidental tumble” into the duck pond; a “mishap” at their open-air fitness center in the woods. And if you happen to join for La Messardière’s experiences—say, boxing with a champion on the Château’s yoga deck—it’s not exhausting to think about a lesson turning right into a public humiliation with personal motives.
