A place to Discover

Les Bains Gardians

Saintes-Maries-de-la-MerFrance Show on map

Discover — a place to experience

An ancient gardian estate in the wild Camargue, among salt marshes, reed beds and semi-wild horses: Hauvette & Madani transform it into a new Les Bains destination, where architecture, landscape and equestrian culture coexist.

An architecture that dissolves in favour of nature

Les Bains Gardians grew out of the revival of the historic Auberge Cavalière du Pont des Bannes, a 4-hectare estate set within the Camargue Regional Nature Park, a few hundred metres from the Mediterranean. The project is the work of former film producer and collector Jean-Pierre Marois, already behind the rebirth of Les Bains Paris (the storied Parisian nightclub Les Bains Douches), of which this rural address is the natural extension: the same philosophy of "well-being and enlightened hedonism", here played out among horses, salt marshes and reed beds.

The renovation, which took eighteen months, is signed by the Paris-based studio Hauvette & Madani, with curatorial direction by Jérôme Pauchant. The traditional cabanes de gardian were restored in keeping with their original spirit: reed-thatched roofs, whitewashed walls and an architecture designed to give way to the landscape. As Lucas Madani puts it, here "the architecture dissolves in favour of nature". The result is a deliberately patinated contemporary language, giving the estate the look of a genuine rural property, now certified Clef Verte.

The gardians' cabanes

67 rooms spread across the estate's traditional cabanes and the historic mas, all sharing the same essential language: whitewashed walls, walnut wood and vintage furniture from the 1950s to the 1970s. Every room keeps a direct relationship with the landscape, between private terraces, salt marshes, reed beds and horses.

Cabane de Gardian Cosy

20m² · 2 people

The traditional cabane in its purest form: a reed-thatched roof, white walls, retro-essential furnishings for the estate's most authentic gardian experience.

Cabane Cavalière

20m² · 1–2 people

Dedicated to the estate's equestrian world, with details and materials recalling the saddles and tack of the gardians, steps from the stables.

Chambre Massoucles

25m² · up to 4 people

Larger and facing the salt marshes and reed beds, it keeps the same material language of the cabanes in a more generous footprint.

Chambre Gardian Mezzanine

20m² · up to 4 people

Renovated in 2021, it introduces a mezzanine and a terrace overlooking the Camargue landscape, keeping the essential character of the gardian rooms.

Focus on

Among the horses of the Camargue

Les Bains Gardians — horses in the Camargue

Les Bains Gardians — horseback ride among the salt marshes

Les Bains Gardians — the estate's stables

The estate's name speaks to its deepest identity: the gardians, the traditional mounted herdsmen of the Camargue, keepers of an equestrian culture that remains a daily practice here. Private stables, arenas and semi-wild horses welcome guided rides across salt marshes, lagoons and beach, alongside carriage rides — with the option, for those travelling with their own horse, to stable it among the estate's boxes and pastures.

The estate's multisensory wellness programme also includes equine therapy sessions, alongside yoga, meditation and silent retreats: a way of living the relationship with the animal not as a tourist activity, but as an exercise in slowing down, in the same spirit that guides the landscape renaturalisation project curated with Arles-based floral artist Luce Monier.

Dining

A short-supply-chain Mediterranean cuisine, signed by chef Johanna Laporte, built around local produce and seasonality. On Sundays the pace shifts with brunch, while in the warmer months the restaurant moves outdoors, between the pools and Camargue sunsets.

Short-supply-chain Mediterranean cooking

Local produce and seasonality at the heart of the menu signed by Johanna Laporte.

Sunday brunch

Buffet, raw bar, barbecue and dessert, with DJ sets until sunset.

Poolside dinner

In the warmer months, the kitchen moves out to the estate's two pools.

Cocktail Bar

Signature cocktails, live music and a relaxed atmosphere that carries the estate's evenings.

Where it isLocation

The location

Within the Camargue Regional Nature Park, around 300 metres from the Mediterranean and a few minutes from Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, Les Bains Gardians occupies a territory shaped by salt marshes, reed beds, lagoons and pastures. It is precisely this relationship with the landscape that defines the experience of the estate.