Hôtel Sainte Valière
Arts residency in the south of France
A grand old house, in a small village in the Minervois region, between the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Mountains. Beautiful countryside, ancient stone villages set amongst vines and olive groves, markets, fresh local produce, rivers to swim in. Hôtel Sainte Valière is an arts residency, a place of creative production and cultural exchange, and proposes concerts and events. We are now accepting applications for our 2026 residency programs.
Upcoming events at the Hôtel Sainte Valière:
Upcoming availability at the Hôtel Sainte Valière:
2026: 08 May – 30 September
To apply, send a brief description of your project and the dates you would like to attend to Eloise at eloise@hotelsaintevaliere.com. You can choose any length of time within our available dates.
While our website is being updated, you can find most recent news here:
https://www.instagram.com/hotelsaintevaliere/
Chef in Residence Exchange program
Applications now open for our 2026 Chef in Residence program. Cook a meal every second night in exchange for a half-price room, the rest of your time is your own.
Find out more about chefs in residence
Reviews by artists in residence…
Lillian Warren – painter – USA – September 2025
Early morning (but not too early) Café au lait and croissant in the garden behind the house. Quiet. Cool breeze. Birds, sometimes chirping quietly to themselves, sometimes bursting with song and competing with their neighbors.
Mornings on foot or on bike, exploring country roads and paths with no names that wind between vineyards and fields of tall grasses. Each view at the top of a hill framed by mountain ranges in the distance.
Mornings painting en plein air, trying to catch the sense of the light, as a meadow lark encourages me in the background. Afternoons painting in the studio / library with the quiet companionship of other artists working in the house, of music being composed. The view of roof tiles basking in the sun, framed by the cool blue green of the distant hills.
The evening “kitchen dance” as we talk and chop and stir, laughing and pouring and sipping, weaving in and out among each other, the table and the stove. The buzz of conversation during the Thursday Apéro, punctuated by laughter and the sound of wine glasses being filled. The village openness and respect for the creative process and results, be they traditional or conceptual, established or experimental.
Long evening walks timed to catch the twilight skies that take your breath away. Night-time when all lights in the village are off. The silence is profound. Stars, thick as wildflowers across a spring field, blaze in the sky. Orion’s Belt shines through my window.
Ruby Marchese – creator of objects – Australia – September 2022
Life at Hôtel Sainte Valière is without exaggeration, the stuff of dreams…
Making art and new friends, stories, music,
Mornings exploring markets, afternoons in rivers,
Days out in the old, rickety, wonderful Peugeot,
Nights dancing in long dresses,
Oysters with crunchy bread (until now, I wouldn’t touch an oyster)
Sweet tomatoes from Michel,
Wine that doesn’t make me sniffly,
Grapes and conversations that never run out…
It really is that good.
Eloise is an exquisite host; excellent communication, organisation, hospitality and conversation.
Sainte Valière is a quiet and small village, with a friendly community – Eloise organised a wonderful exhibition for the artists at the end of the stay and we were greeted by many locals interested in our work. It’s also a short drive from many beautiful surrounding villages.
I hope to return soon, I cannot recommend it enough.
https://scrufflebox.com.au/
Jennifer Tremblay – author, poet, dramaturge – Quebec – September 2019
The big house on rue Cayla is sometimes so quiet.
You can hear a fly buzz.
Figs, peaches and tomatoes lie in a tangle on the table, fixed in the serene air.
Then someone starts to play the piano.
Or the guitar.
Someone has a good idea.
Writes a verse, a phrase, a paragraph.
Someone grabs a paintbrush, changes the world in one perfect stroke.
The air vibrates with joy.
We are here for this.
To exist as an artist before being anything else.
To forget, even, that we sometimes have to think of other things, to be other things.
The dinner bells ring.
We run to the kitchen.
We laugh too loudly.
It is the possibility of exchange that makes us wild.
We are mad with love for everything.
We gorge on fruit, art and friendship.
We do not want to be elsewhere.
We do not want it to end.
I say to our dear Eloise: “You will have to push me out with my suitcase. If not, I will not be able to leave.”
It’s not a joke.
When night has fallen, I go up to my room with a view on to rue du Docteur Cayla.
And I write this slightly awkward poem.
http://www.leseditionsdelabagnole.com/ficheAuteur.aspx?codeaut=TREM1078
Domnica Radulescu – author, poet, dramaturge – US – September 2019
The Hotel Sainte Valiere Residency is a magical place that inspires and transports. Beyond the breathtaking beauty of the house itself, of the mythical expanses of vineyards, olive and fig trees surrounding it, what really gives this residency its soul, passion and spiritual beauty is the hostess Eloise Caleo who knows how to combine just the right amount of warmth, inventiveness, peacefulness, delicious meals and scintillating discussions. In the three weeks of my stay I have accomplished more towards my creative projects than I had in the entire previous year and I even created new writing projects I wasn’t even thinking of before I arrived, as they were inspired precisely by this magical place and its delightful hostess. I couldn’t be more enthusiastic and grateful.
http://www.domnicaradulescu.com/
Betra Fraval – painter – Australia – May 2019
“Saying farewell to this evocative creative place, Hotel Sainte Valiere in the South of France.
I will miss the sunlight catching on blades of long grass, and listening to them rustle in the wind.
Surrounded by engaging people who write novels, make beautiful books about colour, plant gardens, cook with heart, and have conversations about difficult and entertaining subjects.
An elegant world where music fills the grand Maison, and we dress for convivial gatherings.
I have been in a state of slowed time, where beautiful things have filled my experience.
It has softened the world.
I couldn’t recommend this place more highly.”
https://jamesmakingallery.com/artists/betra-fraval/
