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The last patch of the drive through the many hectares of vineyards leading up to Château Margüi are cinematic. The arrival is reminiscent of The White Lotus (IFKYK), but the experience? quite the opposite. The house staff, all dressed in chic black and with their hair done to perfection, have formed a semi-circle in front of a large fountain at the foot of the château. As we step out of our black van, it feels like we are being introduced to a secret club. At this very moment, a vacation begins that very few get to enjoy. Inside Château Margüi, a cinematic experience owned by George Lucas The welcoming team at Château Margüi is led by Yann Jouët, the General Manager of Château Margüi. Just in time for our arrival, the sun lights up the greenery of Provence. It is mid-May when the château opens its doors to us, a small group of press representatives. A special part of our stay is a visit to the film festival in Cannes, about an hour and a half away by car. Château Margüi is the official wine vendor for the festival. The first steps on the immaculately swept driveway instantly transition you from the normal world to an exclusive vacation. Vacation for the super-rich with exclusive privacy, three-level security and helipad Rent-a-Villa is so yesterday, if you can afford it, Château Margüi is purely Rent-a-Château - a wholesome experience, a vacation for the super-rich, curated with exclusivity. Since Château Margüi is not a hotel, it has no reception desk; guests checking-in are not a nuisance here. The inviting entrance of the château stirs nostalgia with its exterior statue and sparkling fountain. The estate extends at an altitude of 350 to 700 meters above sea level, spread across 22 hectares of vineyards, five hectares of olive groves and 65 hectares of forest, some with centuries-old trees. From here, the landscape unfolds as immortalised by Paul Cézanne, the artist of Provence. The Hellenes were here as early as 1000 BC. The Romans later laid out the terraced landscape. And as soon as you leave the car, the tranquillity gives you an idea of how secluded the château is in the midst of the ancient surroundings. The municipality to which the estate belongs, Châteauvert in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, has fewer than 150 inhabitants. None of them were to be seen for miles on the last few kilometers here. Considering this, Château Margüi is the perfect location for what the super-rich crave the most: seclusion and discretion. Anyone staying at Château Margüi is guaranteed not to be seen or bothered by anyone. Château Margüi, which hides perfectly in the terrain, comes with a security team included in the basic price. A total of three levels of security is provided, if needed. A week at Château Margüi can cost you upwards of 150,000 euros (approximately Rs 1.54 crore), in the most basic option. According to director Jouët, majorly billionaire families vacation here. A circus can be set up to entertain the children and a private concert can be commissioned to keep the parents entertained. A helipad on the property ensures quick connectivity to the Marseille airport. This luxurious property is also often visited by board members of powerful corporations who engage in conferences at Château Margüi. General Manager Jouët explains at one point that the service is also organised in such a way that service flow and guest flow do not get in each other's way. Unless otherwise requested, the last of the staff leave the house at midnight and return to prepare breakfast. Château Margüi - the castle, the suites, the estate At the center of the estate is, of course, the château itself. From the fountain mentioned on arrival, we walk up the wide stone staircase, 30 steps, to enjoy the breathtaking view of the expansive grounds. A huge, old hackberry tree, typical of Provence, provides shade. Strictly speaking, the château is not a castle, we learn with a welcoming glass of wine in hand, but a so-called bastide (a large country house). The main building dates back to 1784 and at that time, it was reserved for the nobility to own châteaux. The wealthy Garnier family, on the other hand, were not aristocrats but bourgeois and therefore owned a bastide, as the elegant country houses typical of the south of France were called at the time. Today, some of the Margüi wines are called bastides. The estate remained with the Garnier family until 1999. It was then acquired by a French couple, albeit without growing grapes. When the couple divorced, the château and the surrounding houses were largely neglected. But in 2017, George Lucas acquired the property and became the third owner in its long history - and transformed the entire estate over the years into a luxury experience that Château Margüi offers today. As soon as you enter the main house, you can see his signature design: The statue of a Storm Trooper from Star Wars stands tall in the living room. Hollywood and Provence also come together in the adjoining houses. Numerous posters of Hollywood classics adorn the walls. Large jugs and flower pots from the Ravel pottery, founded in 1837 and is now one of France's oldest ceramics factories, can be found on the terraces. Californian interior designer Michael S Smith has incorporated not only the Ravel pots, but also antique mirrors, furniture and even fountains from specialist dealers in the region into his concept. All of this is adorned with countless bouquets of flowers throughout the rooms. The fact that the owners are Americans is clearly evident in the design of the rooms. In the very large suites and bathrooms, craftsmanship meets consistent luxury and comfort, down to the very last detail. An architect from the region was responsible for the overall renovation of the buildings to ensure that all construction work was in keeping with the Provence tradition. There are nine suites in the main house, none of which are alike. With terraces attached to each of the rooms, guests enjoy a little more seclusion from their fellow travelers. As I lie on a garden sofa in the shade of a pergola on my terrace, I wonder whether I will ever be able to experience a normal hotel as a luxury again. My outrageous luxury worries are accompanied by the splashing of a small fountain. The word Margüi means small pond. There are a total of three springs on the grounds, orchestrating the perfect conditions for producing wine. The many outbuildings at Château Margüi In addition to a large pool with an outdoor bar, the comfort of a stay at Château Margüi includes the obligatory gym, especially for American guests, as well as retreats for massages and treatments. The farm-to-table cuisine with lots of home-grown vegetables whips up a very special treat. In the history of Provence, running your own oil mill was a status symbol. Today, these spaces are converted into suites, surrounding the main house. Directly opposite is the Magnanerie, a typical Provence silkworm factory where silk was produced over 100 years ago. Today, it houses a casino, billiards and other gaming tables as well as a movie theater, complete with a popcorn machine. One of our guides tells us that guests from Hollywood occasionally have their new works screened here, in the most intimate of settings. The Observatoire turns out to be an absolute gem in one of the adjoining buildings. It was newly built, but designed in the style of the entire estate, blending it with the other houses. During our tour, Jouët jokes that it is particularly popular with newlyweds who want to be completely alone. But personal assistants are also often accommodated here. Jouët explains that the redesign and renovation took a total of three years. For the first few years, he was more site manager than manager and you can sense his pride in his contribution to the work. During our tour, Jouët discovers a notch on a wooden door in the Observatoire and runs his finger over the barely visible spot. You can literally see him making a mental note to have the blemish repaired. "That's the nature of a true manager," I tell him jokingly and he replies: "The bad thing is that you can only see the imperfections." In the case of Château Margüi, that is very little. Brad Pitt and George Clooney are among the neighbors at Château Margüi Brad Pitt's Château de Miraval, also located in Provence, is widely known, first as the love castle of Pitt and Angelina Jolie, where they got married in their own chapel in 2014, and later as part of the negotiations in the Brangelina divorce. The dispute between Pitt and Jolie over the estate dragged on for years. The Miraval wine brand, which was once founded together with the long-established Perrin family of winegrowers, is a million-dollar business. Château de Miraval is around eight kilometers away from Château Margüi. The extended neighborhood also includes a château bought by George Clooney and his wife Amal in 2021. Legendary director Ridley Scott has lived in the region for much longer, since 1992, and also has a winery in Provence, as does Jon Bon Jovi, but a little further away in the Languedoc. Via gq-magazin.de
