Fashionista's island hotel suite nestles among the birds...

Well, looks like the Great British Summer is in its final throes, the gloom is setting in. Yes, the weather, how boringly British to mention it, but it is remarkable for its awfulness for September. It might not be as bad in your part of the world, but why not join us in a flight of fancy to a very warm-looking part of Bordeaux?

What we have in mind as an escape from the perpetual gloom is Les Sources de Caudalie, a five-star retreat hidden amidst acres of grapevines, boasting a Michelin-starred restaurant and something called Vinotherapie, which sounds like our kind of health treatment. God bless the French. Of particular interest is one of the two stilted gîtes perched on L’Ile aux Oiseaux (Bird Island), a thousand hectares of land housing a bird sanctuary, surrounded by oyster beds revealed at low tide.

But, of course, it’s interior wonder that we’re here for – and, in the fanciest of all fancy suites at Les Sources de Caudalie, it’s a sanctuary of a very different kind; fashion. Employing somewhat of a revolving door of who’s who in the world of haute couture (its last incarnation was at the hands of Maison Martin Margiela), the Iles aux Oiseaux suite has recently received an overhaul from up-and-coming French designer – and current mentee of Christian Dior CEO, Sydney Toldano – Maxime Simoëns. The birds receive a nod in the shape of a kitsch dove installation, whilst bold graphics and iconic furnishings are at play elsewhere. What did we say? You’re looking more cheerful already…

@SourcesCaudalie