La Villa Fabulite, Cap d’Antibes
The Cap d’Antibes ranks among the priciest places on Earth. Its glittering beaches (such as silky, sandy plage de la Salis) and stately homes (like Villa Eilenroc, where Woody Allen shot Magic in the Moonlight) are a short stroll away from Villa Fabulite. Open since 2014, it’s a – relative – steal. Franco-Mexican manageress Angelina welcomes guests to her 15 rooms with Asian-inspired decor; these ring a swimming pool and orchid garden. Local chef Cyrille – formerly of London’s Le Gavroche – serves up local octopus for €15 a platter at lunch and dinner. Angelina can also arrange a rented paddleboard, kayak, racing bike or shopping tour quicker than you can say “rosé by the pool”.
Doubles from €130, +33 4 93 61 47 45, fabulite.com
Le Roquebrune, Roquebrune Cap Martin
Owned by charming sisters Patricia and Marine, this petite hotel is well off the Riviera’s tourist radar. Each of the six chintzy guest rooms is light and airy and all boast a private sea-facing terrace. There’s a superb restaurant on site (reservation only) where Patricia will the seasonal menu with you in advance. Sweeping Mediterranean panoramas from the dining room take in Irish designer Eileen Gray’s newly renovated Villa E-1027 (“a lost legend of 20th-century architecture”) in the bay below. The 1929 seafront home has been open to the public since June 2015. It features frescoes painted by iconic architect (and Gray’s eventual next-door neighbour) Le Corbusier.
Doubles from €120, +33 4 93 35 00 16, le-roquebrune.com
Hôtel Villa Patricia, Villefranche-sur-Mer
The Patricia is an eco-chic bargain in a millionaire’s paradise. Keith Richards once lived in Villa Nellcôte, a 16-bedroom mansion almost next door. Yet bedrooms here start from £50 a night. Even the parking is free. As is the coastal path around the Cap Ferrat peninsula and the museums of Villefranche castle (both 10 minutes away on foot). The drawback is that the nine rooms in this rambling Provençal house aren’t big, and the coastal train (Nice is three minutes away, Monaco is 10) does ramble past within earshot – but Villefranche’s golden sweep of public beach is only three minutes’ walk away.
Doubles from €65, +33 4 93 01 06 70, hotel-patricia.riviera.fr
Hôtel Le Geneve, Nice
New addition Le Geneve is in the middle of the city’s most boho quartier, around pedestrian-only rue Bonaparte. Nicknamed “le petit Marais” after the gay-friendly area of Paris, the district has many boutique patisseries (such as Déli Bo at number 5) and boutique shoe shops (like Lucien Chausseur at number 6). Chief among the stylish offerings is Le Geneve’s own bar-restaurant, Café des Chineurs. It has flower-power wallpaper, brocante antiques and artfully mismatched armchairs. Upstairs, the 16 rooms are ultra-modern and have hefty windows to shut out the summer party noise from outside.
Doubles from €65, +33 4 93 56 84 79, hotel-le-geneve-nice.com
Nice Pebbles, Nice
Nice Pebbles manage the city’s finest collection of apartments, which often work out more affordable than a hotel when booked by the week. Each one of its 180 properties is artsy, well equipped and near the beach. All have Wi-Fi and sleep from two to ten guests. New offerings for 2015 include Valentina (sleeps 4, from €135 a night,), a mammoth two-bedroom property in a belle-époque building, wrapped with balconies all round. Other picks include Serenity (sleeps 6, from €195 a night), a three-bedroom palace beside the iconic Negresco Hotel. Pebbles also manages a dozen wow-factor apartments in Antibes, Cannes and Villefranche.
One-bedroom apartments from €90 a night, +33 4 97 20 27 30, nicepebbles.com
Hôtel Mademoiselle, Juan-les-Pins
The sandy holiday resort that once hosted F Scott Fitzgerald (he lived in the ritzy Hôtel Belles Rives around the corner in 1925) is home to the Riviera’s nuttiest new hotel. Standard rooms at the Mademoiselle are decorated with plastic moose heads and golden robots; super rooms boast flock wallpaper and statues of Queen Elizabeth II. Equally fun is the 7am till 7pm tearoom that is run by young in-house pâtissière Alexandra. She also makes the homemade breakfast served in the orchard-like rear garden. For better or worse, Juan-les-Pins’ breathtaking beach, terraced restaurants and raucous clubs are less than a minute’s walk away. Or, to escape it, rent a vintage Solex scooter, also new to town, from just around the corner.
Doubles from €102, +33 4 93 61 31 34, hotelmademoisellejuan.com
Le Refuge, La Croix Valmer
On the southern shoreline of the Saint-Tropez peninsula, La Refuge offers simple guest rooms and studios (each with its own kitchenette) just 80m from the sea. Make no mistake: you won’t be crossing paths with Kate Moss or Beyonce here. The hotel decor is basic: wooden floors, white linens and plenty of communal outdoor seating – although as a nod to the 21st century Wi-Fi has recently been added. From the adjacent family-friendly beach of plage de Gigaro, coastal pathways unfurl in both directions, with direct access to pine-shaded coves and sandy swimming spots.
Doubles from €68, +33 4 94 79 67 38, lerefuge-cotedazur.fr
C2 Hotel, Marseille
C2’s 20 modernist rooms are over five floors of a carefully restored 19th-century mansion in downtown Marseille. Each has high ceilings, exposed brick walls and a scattering of designer furnishings (such as armchairs by Arne Jacobsen and Patricia Urquiola). There’s a spa managed by French skincare brand Filorga, as well as a sleek bar and lounge occupying what was formerly the home’s ground-floor parlour. But C2’s pièce de résistance is its beach club, on the private Île Degaby just off of the Marseille coastline – with day access for hotel guests only (additional fee).
Doubles from €189, +33 4 95 05 13 13, c2-hotel.com
Les Appartés, Arles
Double Michelin-starred chef Jean-Luc Rabanel has created a foodie wonderland on one of Arles’ atmospheric old town streets. L’Atelier de Jean-Luc Rabanel wows serious gourmets, while Iode dishes up fresh seafood and Bistro A Côté offers more affordable informal dining. Last year Rabanel opened Les Appartés, a four-bedroom guesthouse designed by the chef himself. Terracotta floors and arched ceilings give the accommodation a Provençal feel, and there’s also a communal living room and kitchen – although guests will be hard-pressed to self-cater with Rabanel’s delectable cuisine on the doorstep.
Doubles from €160, +33 4 90 91 07 69, rabanel.com
Hôtel Jules César, Arles
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