Guides

The Best Hotels in the South of France

Along the French Riviera, the grand hotels of the coast and the newer names beside them, from the pines of Cap d’Antibes to the hills above Monaco.

A colonnaded terrace open to the sea at Cap Estel, Èze
The terrace above the water at Cap Estel, on its own peninsula at Èze. Photo: Cap Estel

Along the French Riviera the coast changes character every twenty minutes, and the hotels change with it. Pampelonne is long sand and pine, Cap d’Antibes is rock and cypress, Cap Ferrat is a garden on a peninsula, and the hills above Monaco drop straight into the sea.

Some of these hotels have stood on the water for a century and a half and carry the coast’s history with them. Others are new, or small enough to pass unnoticed from the road. Saint-Tropez and Pampelonne are for the beach clubs and the long lunch. Cap d’Antibes is for old-world calm and a swim from the rocks. Cap Ferrat and Beaulieu hold the quiet stretch between Nice and Monaco, and the clifftop above Roquebrune has the newest address of all. These are the hotels worth planning the trip around.

Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, A Four Seasons Hotel

A palace hotel at the tip of the Cap Ferrat peninsula since 1908, set in seven hectares of gardens that run down to the sea, with a rotunda designed by Gustave Eiffel. There are 74 rooms and suites and three private villas, and a funicular carries guests down the cliff to Club Dauphin, where a heated seawater infinity pool sits just above the water. Le Cap holds a Michelin star, two clay courts wait under the pines, and Four Seasons has run the house since 2015. It opens from early March to mid-November.

From around €800 a night. Book through Four Seasons.

The white entrance and awning of the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat
The entrance to the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat. Photo: Déstaire

La Réserve Ramatuelle

Set low into the hillside above the bay of Pampelonne, a few minutes from Saint-Tropez, and built to disappear into the landscape rather than announce itself. Nine rooms and 19 suites all face the sea from a private terrace or garden, with 14 villas set further into the grounds for those who want a house. La Voile holds two Michelin stars, there is a Nescens spa, and the place stays small enough to feel like a private house. It opens from May to mid-October.

From €1,100 a night. Book through La Réserve Ramatuelle.

The curved roof and open terrace of La Réserve Ramatuelle looking out to sea
La Réserve Ramatuelle, built into the hillside above Pampelonne. Photo: La Réserve Ramatuelle

Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc

At the southern tip of Cap d’Antibes since 1870, first as a villa for writers and then as the hotel the rest of the coast measured itself against. Its guests persuaded the owner to keep it open through the summer, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote it into Tender Is the Night, and Picasso and Hemingway took rooms in the years that followed. The Oetker family have owned it since 1969 and have changed as little as possible. Its 111 rooms and suites and four villas look out over nine hectares of park, a saltwater pool is cut into the rock above the sea, five clay courts sit under the pines, and Louroc holds a Michelin star. It opens from April to mid-October.

From €1,550 a night. Book through Oetker Collection.

The façade of the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc with clipped cypresses and cars on the drive
The Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc, on the tip of Cap d’Antibes since 1870. Photo: Oetker Collection

Château de la Messardière

A nineteenth-century château on the hill above Pampelonne, built as a wedding gift and taking guests since 1904. Airelles reopened it in the summer of 2021 after a full restoration. Most of its 86 rooms and suites open onto a terrace, the grounds cover twelve hectares of pine and cypress, and the hotel has its own stretch of beach at Jardin Tropezina. The restaurants include a Matsuhisa, there is a Valmont spa, and two sunken courts and two padel courts sit among the olive trees. It opens from late April to October.

From €1,570 a night. Book through Airelles.

The turreted Château de la Messardière above the bay of Pampelonne
Château de la Messardière on its hill above Saint-Tropez, the bay of Pampelonne below. Photo: Airelles

Lou Pinet

Five minutes from the Place des Lices, in the quiet Pinet district on the way to the Pointe des Salins, a 1950s hotel that Maisons Pariente reopened in 2019 after Charles Zana redesigned it as a house for friends. There are 34 rooms and suites across three buildings, each with a terrace or a garden, one of the largest pools in Saint-Tropez at the center, a Spa by Tata Harper under the pines, and Beefbar for dinner. It opens from mid-May to early October and closes with the season.

From around €450 a night. Book through Lou Pinet.

The pool at Lou Pinet with red umbrellas and pines behind
The pool at Lou Pinet. Photo: Lou Pinet

The Maybourne Riviera

The newest of the coast’s grand hotels, opened in 2021 on a clifftop above Roquebrune-Cap-Martin with Monaco in view, by the group behind Claridge’s and The Connaught. All 69 rooms and suites have a terrace or balcony facing the sea, an infinity pool hangs over the drop, and the beach club La Môme Riviera sits at the water in summer. Ceto holds a Michelin star, and the top-floor restaurant looks down the coast to Monaco. It opens from mid-March to mid-November.

From €680 a night. Book through Maybourne.

A suite at the Maybourne Riviera with floor-to-ceiling glass over the sea
A suite at the Maybourne Riviera, the Mediterranean beyond. Photo: The Maybourne Riviera

Cap Estel

A villa built in 1899 on its own two-hectare peninsula at Èze-Bord-de-Mer, between Monaco and Nice, and a hotel since the 1950s. Only 28 rooms and suites are spread across four parts of the property, from the gardens to Le Parc, where suites sit directly over the water. There is a private beach and jetty, a saltwater infinity pool, an indoor pool, a single tennis court above the sea, and La Table du Cap Estel, which holds a Michelin star and cooks from the grounds. It opens from May to mid-October.

From around €2,000 a night. Book through Cap Estel.

A colonnaded terrace open to the sea at Cap Estel, Èze
The terrace above the water at Cap Estel. Photo: Cap Estel

La Réserve de Beaulieu

On the seafront at Beaulieu-sur-Mer since 1880, a Belle Époque hotel that still sets the standard for this stretch between Nice and Monaco. Its 39 rooms, suites and villas look over a heated seawater pool on the terrace, with the beach a few steps away. Le Restaurant des Rois holds a Michelin star, there is a La Prairie spa, and the seafront path runs from the door past Villa Kérylos to Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. It opens from late March to mid-October.

From €1,170 a night. Book through La Réserve de Beaulieu.

The seafront terrace at La Réserve de Beaulieu, yachts on the water beyond
The terrace at La Réserve de Beaulieu, on the seafront since 1880. Photo: La Réserve de Beaulieu

When to go

The season runs from late May to early October. Late May and June bring long days, open beach clubs, and clear roads, and the sea warms through June. July and August are high season, when every hotel on this list fills and prices with it, so book well ahead. September and the first half of October are quieter, the sea is at its warmest, and the evenings turn cool. Whenever you come, the days fall into the same rhythm: a morning on the water, a long lunch, and an evening watching the light go off the sea. The hotels above are the best places on this coast to do exactly that.

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