The Southern US, known for hospitality and grace, offers a Route du Bonheur (road to happiness) in the best of the Relais & Châteaux tradition.

For the first stop, we offer The Inn at Little Washington in Virginia. Only an hour’s drive from Washington, D.C. and located at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Grand Chef Patrick O’Connell has created a luxurious hideaway in the country. The English country house style features luxury accommodations and American gourmet cuisine with products from the Virginia countryside. The Inn at Little Washington has two tables in the kitchen which allow guests to watch the table creation nightly.

Another luxury hotel in Virginia is the historic Clifton, located in Charlottesville. Its understated elegance and warmth, set in 100 acres of woods and nearby Rivanna River, offer a peaceful setting for daily touring excursions to historic sites and homes. A world-class luxury hotel with the intimacy of a small inn, the Clifton offers cooking classes, nearby golf, fine gourmet dining and an extraordinary experience on the Route du Bonheur in the Southern US.

The Chapel Hill area in North Carolina is the next stop of the Southern journey. The Fearrington House Country Inn & Restaurant is located in Fearrington Village. Here you will find a location with expansive gardens, museums, shopping, author readings and spa treatments as well as the Appalachian Mountains and the Carolina Coast. The gourmet restaurant at The Fearrington House Country Inn & Restaurant offers special events like the Wine Maker Dinner Series where Wine Director, Maximilian Kast, and guests pair and discuss wines with the sophisticated contemporary gourmet cuisine.

Charleston, SC, is known for its architectural treasures. The luxury hotel of Planters Inn overlooks the Old City Market with its art galleries and shopping. Surrounded by colonial houses lining the narrow streets of Charleston, the Planters Inn is a luxury boutique hotel in the heart of the historic Charleston district. Expect to find period-style furnishings and four poster beds in the luxurious accommodations. Antique shops, art galleries and the theatre district are just outside the door. The Peninsula Grill offers award-winning fine gourmet dining and wines.

Tennessee’s Blackberry Farm is a unique destination dedicated to the simple pleasures luxury traveling has to offer. Here you can experience a working farm which provides year-round fresh produce for Blackberry Farm’s table of simple and delicious gourmet cuisine accompanied by excellent wines. You might explore the region, go fly fishing, mountain bike or spend the day at the Farmhouse spa. You can garden in the organic garden, watch how cheese is made or simply enjoy the beauty of the Smoky Mountains at this romantic hideaway destination in Tennessee.

Our Southern journey turns now to The Inn at Dos Brisas deep in the Texas countryside. Four private luxury casitas offer a chance to live the life of a wrangler in luxurious style. The Inn at Dos Brisas features organic gardens and seasonal produce as well as their own cheese. Spa services are available in your casita as are private wine tastings from the Inn’s extensive wine cellar. Activities include horseback riding, fly fishing, trap shooting, hiking, hunting or gardening classes.

We conclude our southern excursion in Dallas at the Hotel St. Germain, a sophisticated retreat, just steps away from the Dallas Centre for the Performing Arts, the Winspear Opera House and Meyerson Symphony Centre. Classified as a historic landmark, Hotel St Germain has the allure of a French hotel, with old-world service, the finest dining, and gorgeous interiors which evoke the exotic beauty of 19th century New Orleans. This is a true urban sanctuary where the art of gracious living is celebrated daily and is a reflection of the owner’s French heritage.

Geographically the Southern US is typically considered to include 16 states, though culture and history plays at least as large a role today in determining “what is the South.” With roots stretching back to British colonists in the early 17th-century, the South is steeped in tradition and has long enjoyed a graciousness that sets it apart from the rest of the country. The South has a rich musical heritage including jazz, rhythm and blues, bluegrass and rock n’ roll.

Its cuisine is unlike any other - barbecue, Cajun and Creole, Tex-Mex. Relais & Châteaux luxury hotels and gourmet restaurants create unique gourmet cuisine using all the South has to offer. Though the perception of its climate is hot and steamy, the South actually has many zones ranging from tropical to arid. Its flora is among the most beautiful in the world with live oaks, magnolia blossoms and flowering dogwoods scenting the air. Mixed with modern skyscrapers, antebellum mansions dot the southern landscape, reminders of another age when time moved more slowly and life was savored. On your Route du Bonheur in the Southern US you can return to that time in Relais & Châteaux luxury destinations.