Les Bains Gardians
Discover — a place to stayAn ancient gardian estate in the wild Camargue, among salt marshes, reed beds and semi-wild horses: renewed by Hauvette & Madani into a rural luxury retreat under the Les Bains name.
An estate turning wild again
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 — the thatched, whitewashed huts of the Camargue's horsemen — were restored in keeping with their original spirit: "the architecture dissolves in favour of nature", as Lucas Madani puts it. The result is a "patinated modernism" that gives Les Bains Gardians the look of a genuine breeding estate, now certified Clef Verte.
The gardians' cabanes
67 rooms across the estate's traditional cabanes and the historic mas, furnished in the same essential language: whitewashed walls, walnut wood, vintage 1950s–70s furniture. Mosquito nets, a private terrace and a view over salt marshes or horses in every room.
Cabane de Gardian Cosy
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
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
The estate's superior category, designed for families: more space, the same artisanal care, an open view over salt marshes and reed beds.
Chambre Gardian Mezzanine
Renovated in 2021, with a mezzanine and a terrace overlooking the marais and the horses: the configuration favoured by those travelling with children.
Among the horses of the Camargue
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 "slow gardening" spirit that guides the landscape renaturalisation project curated with Arles-based floral artist Luce Monier.
Foodie
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.
The bar and gypsy jazz nights
Signature cocktails, live gypsy music and a relaxed atmosphere, never a nightclub one.
The location
Les Bains Gardians sits within the Camargue Regional Nature Park, around 300 metres from the Mediterranean beach and a few minutes from Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.
Gallery
Les Bains Gardians
Contact
Reception open daily
