Loire Valley Lodges

Character and identity

Set across 750 acres of forest down a series of unmarked dirt roads outside Tours, this is an 18-lodge retreat conceived by Parisian art dealer Anne Caroline Frey, who opened it in 2020. The lodges are stilted treehouses, each one designed by or with a contemporary artist, oak and chestnut trunks rising through balconies and floor-to-ceiling windows opening onto the canopy. A restored centuries-old barn houses the lobby, concept shop, and The Table, chef Hippolyte Delcher's single restaurant. There's a 65-foot pool, bikes between lodges, sculpture throughout the grounds, and a deliberately uncorporate, owner-present register.

Who's it for

Bottom line

The draw here is the architecture-meets-art concept: 18 individually authored treehouses scattered through a private forest, run with a personal, host's-home feel rather than polished hotel choreography. Come for two or three nights with a car, pre-read the lodge descriptions on the website and book one whose artist resonates, and request a forest-facing terrace if privacy on the balcony matters to you.