The best hotels in the South of France
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The South of France holds endless allure: it’s a hop and a skip from the UK, and while the summer months are undoubtedly beautiful, the weather stays balmy well into November too. For many, it’s a chance to enjoy fresh, regional food and drink, as well as some of the best beaches in Europe. The region is vast, and the destinations within it span everything from glitzy seaside hangouts like St Tropez, Cannes and Saint-Raphaël, to thriving urban destinations perfect for a weekend city break, and small inland villages set among craggy mountains and olive groves. Whether you’re looking for a weekend getaway, a city that's pretty in winter, or a month-long retreat, there’s a hotel (or two) to suit. Here, we round up our favourite hotels in the South of France.
For more inspiration on where to stay in France, visit:
- Best hotels in St Tropez
- The best hotels on the French Riviera
- Best hotels in Paris
- Cheapest nicest hotels in Paris
How we choose the best hotels in the South of France
Every hotel on this list has been selected independently by our editors and written by a Condé Nast Traveller journalist who knows the destination and has stayed at that property. When choosing hotels, our editors consider both luxury properties and boutique and lesser-known boltholes that offer an authentic and insider experience of a destination. We’re always looking for beautiful design, a great location and warm service – as well as serious sustainability credentials. We update this list regularly as new hotels open and existing ones evolve. For more information on how we review hotels and restaurants, please look at our About Us page.
hotelLes Bains Gardians, Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer
There really is nowhere else like Les Bains Gardians in France. Rooms celebrate the unique local architecture — they're set in stylishly refurbed whitewashed gardian cottages with thatched roofs, like something from a storybook. Add to that an on-site equestrian centre with wild white horses, a natural reserve for migrating birds, and a relaxed barefoot luxury vibe. This is the sister property to Les Bains Paris, known for its cutting-edge collection of contemporary art. But call Les Bains Gardians the antidote for urban burnout. Once you pick up your key at reception — a gorgeously reimagined Provençal mas with a bar where breakfast is served — you walk past three Comtais horses with platinum manes munching on hay on the way to your room. The standout: this property boasts the largest concentration of restored lime-washed 18th-century-built round cottages in the area, aligned in rows on the grassy banks of small canals, edged with bent weeping willows and tall reeds. Rise early, and you might surprise a purple heron or an egret perched outside your doorstep.
In the restaurant, expect whitewashed walls, cane chairs, long tables and, in cooler weather, a crackling fire. For lunch and dinner, the seasonal chalkboard menu, whipped up by executive chef Bruno Grossi, includes classics from the terroir, from Camargue rice risotto, grilled octopus or sea bass carpaccio to heartier fare like the not-to-be-missed house speciality — grilled ribs of bull steak. Another highlight: sunset cocktails (try the scarlet herb-infused Campari and Champagne apéro) on the deck chairs facing the water where passing egrets and herons put on a show. Lanie Goodman
hotelChâteau Troplong Mondot
Lovers of Bordeaux reds should quite literally look no further than Troplong Mondot, which has remained the storied region’s highest wine estate since 1745. The ancient practices of this place are omnipresent: though you’ll sleep and wake in the middle of the vineyards, you’ll never hear a tractor, as the chateau uses draft horses for their sustainable farming. More of a retreat than a traditional hotel, guests can nestle away in the property’s vine-wrapped Vineyard House, a two-bedroom cottage out of a French film, or in a rustic-meets-regal bedroom overlooking Saint-Émilion in the main Château or the Keys, the manor’s wisteria-draped limestone guesthouse.
The picket-fenced-in pool is a summer lounger’s dream, and the meandering vineyards are perfect for a walk or bike ride straight into the medieval alleyways of Saint-Émilion, which are bustling with wine merchants and bite-sized canelés shops. Les Belles Pedrix, Troplong Mondot’s Michelin-starred restaurant, overlooks the tumbling hills and makes almost exclusive use of seasonal, local ingredients, from morilles to dorade and cheeses topping a three-tiered trolley; on our visit, a local from a competing château admits the Pedrix to be Bordeaux’s best dining spot. If you’re a wine enthusiast after a secluded getaway, and if you’d enjoy the feeling of renting a historic home without worrying about meals or cleaning, it doesn’t get better than this. Tamara Southward
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Michel FiguethotelHôtel Martinez, Cannes
Hôtel Martinez sits plum in the middle of one of France’s most glamorous streets. Symbolically, too; life on La Croisette seems to revolve around the hotel, where shiny, happy people, A-Listers and discerning travellers have flocked for generations. You’re about 30 30-second walk from the ocean, a happy fact that Paris-based designer Pierre-Yves Rochon (the man behind The Savoy in London and Hotel George V in his hometown) leaned into. All is pale blue and white and golden, without edging too close to nautical-kitsch. Sea-facing windows in the bedrooms let in that glimmering ocean light, but those at the back of the hotel have just as pretty views over the recently manicured gardens and pool. The most-coveted of the soaring suites have shady little balconies for a morning coffee made in your living room or a glass of crisp Provençal rosé from the minibar.
Speaking of rosé, La Plage du Martinez, the hotel’s thrumming beach club, is the place to book for a glass served with buckets of ice and catch of the day. At the two-Michelin-star restaurant, each dish spotlights local, seasonal ingredients cooked in a number of distinct ways. The deceivingly spacious spa is built with seven airy treatment rooms that offer everything from massages to Carita facials (the Rejuvenic Gold regenerating treatment is especially spoiling); there's a barber, a hairdresser, space for manicures and pedicures and a traditional hammam with deeply soothing tiles. Everyone thinks they know what Cannes will be like – glitzy and luxe, lined with designer shops, expensive restaurants, and flashy beach bars. If that’s your scene, you’ll find it here. Sarah James
Lily of the Valley
Wend your way from glamorous St Tropez through blush-rosé vineyards up to Lily of the Valley, where wellbeing meets Côte d'Azur indulgence. Philippe Starck has designed the hotel (unusually named for a place perched at the top of a sunbathed hilltop) to blend into its surroundings like some kind of utopian version of Babylon’s Hanging Gardens – think villas in earth tones with tumbling greenery and bright blue pools. The idea is you come for the wellness – the poolside gym, the treatments, the earnest health menu. But many will take cocktails by the pool, then jump in a yacht to Club 55, just a private boat trip away. In the rooms, rustic luxury – wicker lampshades, marble bathrooms, rattan rugs and plump bedding topped with Ara Starck cushions – all choreographed with precision. But mainly, it’s all about what’s outside. The best part? Lily of the Valley is open year-round. Open fires and wood-burners are intended to deliver cosiness off-season, and the wellbeing bias is set to draw in guests looking to detox and reset even when the Med gets a little frosty. Katie Dailey
Château de Berne, Lorgues
Surrounded by 515 hectares of umbrella pines, ancient oaks, olive groves and vineyards, Château de Berne is a hidden gem in the rolling hills of Provence. It's just an hour's drive from Saint-Tropez, but it feels a world away. The grand estate is part of the Relais & Chateaux portfolio, and it embodies a refined lifestyle with Michelin-starred dining at its core. A luxurious spa, outdoor activities, and – importantly – incredible wine make it the ultimate countryside retreat.
Romantic rooms in the chateau itself overlook the vineyards, but if you’re bringing the whole family, check into one of the seven incredible villas hidden in the surrounding forest. They come with almost any facility you could ask for: 24/7 butler service plus access to the main hotel’s restaurants (L’Olivier de Berne is the ultimate spot for long, rosé-infused lunches), the bars and wine cellar. The estate has three kitchen gardens, so only the very finest organic produce is served throughout the property, and the dining concept has been duly awarded the prestigious Michelin Guide Green Star. You might also recognise the Domaine’s produce in the spa. Book a treatment featuring the chateau’s exclusive body scrub created using grapes left from the vine harvests. Natasha Callin
Carlton Cannes, A Regent HotelhotelThe Carlton Cannes, A Regent Hotel, Cannes
Featured on our 2024 Hot List of the best new hotels in the world
A six-year hotel restoration, including two and a half years of complete closure, is serious business. That’s why everyone was clamouring to rush in when the Boulevard de la Croisette’s century-old grande dame, in a dramatic I’m-ready-for-my-close-up moment, finally flung open her doors in spring 2023 to unveil a swoon-worthy rejuvenation. But there’s more. Rebranded as a Regent Hotel, the Carlton’s neo-resort comeback works its charms beyond the showy marble-stucco-columned lobby and gorgeously spruced-up tea salon. The sprawling peristyle garden courtyard and splashy infinity pool (which morphs into a skating rink in winter) are just part of the draw. There’s also a dazzling Le C-Club Spa for personalized holistic massages and Dr Barbara Sturm treatments, plus a luxe cutting-edge fitness centre with a boxing ring where you can slug away with a private coach. Aquanauts may prefer a plunge in the turquoise Med and relaxing on a sunbed at the Carlton’s private beach, which still oozes To Catch a Thief glamour. Upstairs, the reimagined sea-view rooms have an unfussy, minimalist beach feel. There are also cavernous seventh-floor signature suites and a massive penthouse for glitzy movie mogul bashes. Come sundown, guests drift to the intimate Bar °58 for signature cocktails (try the tequila old-fashioned spiked with agave and bitter chocolate) then continue on to the newly added restaurant Rüya for mouthwatering Anatolian-style dishes to share among friends. Gracious service remains paramount, with 14 concierges in high season. The Carlton Cannes’s legendary glow is brighter than ever. Lanie Goodman
Groupe MillésimeChâteau de Théoule, Théoule Sur Mer
In the early 1900s – when a surge of wealthy expat eccentrics fell in love with the palm-fringed Riviera and built wildly extravagant homes – a Scottish lord impulsively snapped up the seaside property of a former 17th-century soap factory and transformed it into a storybook turreted stone castle. Fast forward to the newly-opened Château de Théoule, launched by the French luxe hotel group Millésime, a stylishly restored hideaway on the edge of a pristine curve of sand, thirteen kilometres west of Cannes. A high Technicolor movie-set landscape prevails – add to the red rock Estérel cliffs above, and the clear jade and turquoise shallows the inherent romance of 44 sea view rooms and suites, all in different shapes and sizes. They’re named after fragrances, plants and flowers (in honour of the chateau’s historical Grasse connection), imagined by interior designer Marie-Christine Mecoen, whose artful combo of handpicked antiques, sea shell motifs, rattan palms, gauzy curtains, linens in soft pastel shades and green marble bathrooms create an elegantly carefree vibe. And there’s something for every taste: the Suite Chanel N°5 is decked out in black, white, and gold with a leopard-patterned daybed; the colossal Fleurs de Jasmin suite comes with a panoramic terrace with its own little tower and a Jacuzzi for star-gazing. No need to venture very far: tumble out of bed for a dip and spend the day lounging at the hotel’s Plage Blanche beach club. Come sunset, guests drift to the restaurant Mareluna for cocktails and original dishes concocted by Napolitan-born chef Francesco Fezza, whose Italian-meets-Japanese recipes juxtapose unusual flavours with the finest local ingredients (try the cuttlefish tagliatelle or the barbecued veal with smoked sardines, topped off by lavender, blackcurrant and rhubarb sorbet). Highlight: the holistic Ec(h)o Spa, featuring a rejuvenating LED facial mask and an uber-relaxing hot sea shell massage to the tune of lapping waves. Lanie Goodman
Sabrina SchrammhotelLe Moulin de Lourmarin
Featured on our 2022 Hot List of the best new hotels in the world
This well-located, old-world-meets-new village property offers an ideal blend of quintessential countryside charm with trendsetting, tasteful design. The hotel’s ivy-covered stone walls and typical sky-blue shutters invite guests inside, where the feeling of warmth continues to permeate the decor and service. Creamy, curved rooms are dotted with art, ceramics and wildflowers, and there's the odd hangover from the building's former life as an oil mill (look out for the press in the dining room). Apéro is taken on the street-side terrace, supper is eaten in the rose-covered terrace outback, and you can pop in to the epicerie across the road to pick up local treats to snack on in your room. Everyone here works to lend a hand, be it with the luggage up those steps, giving directions to the Sunday market in L’Isle sur la Sorgue, or unlocking one of the free bikes for a ride around the village. Don’t skip the homemade Fougasse grilled with olive oil at dinner! Sara Leiberman
Les Roches Rouges, Saint-Raphaël
It’s the dazzling light that strikes guests the moment they step inside this stylishly revamped Fifties waterfront retreat. The brainchild of boutique group Beaumier, which teamed up with Paris-based design firm Festen for its first Côte d’Azur property, the concept is refreshingly straightforward: an easy-going hotel, right on the water, inspired by the colours of the shimmering cobalt Mediterranean and rusty orange rocks. Near-identical rooms all have whitewashed walls, polished-concrete floors, minimalist furniture and balconies with canvas butterfly chairs. But the real star attraction is the 30-metre saltwater pool carved out of the rock, which spills over right into the sea. The freshwater lap pool is surrounded by sunbeds and waiters bearing trays of Rinquinquin, the local peach apéritif. There are two restaurants serving everything Provençal, from pissaladière (onion tart) to steamed cod with garlic mayonnaise and vegetables or roast lamb with rosemary. Teas of cream-filled tarte Tropézienne can be balanced with paddleboarding and kayaking. In each room there are also walking-sticks for hikes along the pebble beach, or a less strenuous wander to the Institut Esthederm spa for a mineral-packed tan-boosting treatment. Afterwards, laze in a hammock with a copy of Tender is the Night (F Scott Fitzgerald’s former digs are close by). Lanie Goodman
Guillaume de LaubierHotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap d'Antibes
Life isn’t perfect. That’s why we have places like Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, where the world’s most glamorous people descend every summer to live on what feels like an impeccably styled film set. The last day of my most recent stay here – the one I had reserved to spend entirely by its swimming pool, cut into rocks overlooking a glittering blue Mediterranean Sea – turned out to be grey and overcast. By this time, I had already experienced the other attractions: the rose garden, the tennis courts, the private cabanas where I enjoyed a massage, the restaurants that manage to feel casually chic in the day and all dressed up at night, and the Manolo Valdés exhibition on its perfectly manicured lawns, where pine trees are being carefully planted to eventually replace the imposing ones standing now. This is a place where nostalgia is kept alive, where corridors are filled with photographs of its most famous guests from the past 150 years, where golden sunshine infuses everyone and everything with an air of romance, so that your time here feels lengthened and expanded, and etched in memory no matter how short your visit actually is. You will leave so well taken care of, so well-fed, so intoxicated by the heady, fragrant summer breeze, that even a cold final day on the French Riviera will not taint your mood. Instead, it seems like just a little twist in the plot, enough to make you believe that the rest of your life is pretty perfect after all. Divia Thani
Capelongue, Bonnieux
The lavender-steeped lure of a Provencal holiday takes on a resolutely modern slant at this reinvented five-acre stone hamlet, acquired by the Beaumier Group in 2020, who teamed up with Parisian architects Jaune and created their own hybrid of earthy-meets-minimalist design. The deeply comfortable 17 bedrooms and 19 suites are variations on an artful assemblage of pale woods, whitewashed walls, terracotta and brick, rattan furnishings and clay pottery, all with sweeping vistas of the landscaped cypress-lined gardens and hilly green Lubéron Valley. And you needn’t venture very far. Capelongue has two dreamy pools, three restaurants (a country-style bistro, a café, plus La Bastide, their superb newly-awarded one-Michelin-star gastronomic haunt headed by chef Noël Bérard), but a flashy resort it is not. Everything – from the holistic spa and organic local wines to the fleet of electric bikes and morning yoga classes – is in sync with the stress-busting aura and dressed-down stylishness of nouveau Provence. Lanie Goodman
Ultimate Provence
Ultimate Provence offers a unique, modern experience of Provencal living in sharp contrast to many traditional properties in the region. The hotel and wine cellar were designed by Monegasque architects Humbert & Poyet, with retro-style furniture and light fittings. We loved the homeware pieces crafted from the iconic Art Deco Ultimate Provence wine bottles, including candle holders, decanters and tumblers, exclusively available in the cellar store. In addition to the vineyard and press house tours, guests can explore the local nature reserve by horseback or electric bike, take on a game of padel or beach volleyball, or simply bask in the sun by the hotel pool. Indulge in the estate’s white, red or world-renowned rosé on the restaurant terrace overlooking the Provençal hills, paired with light, seasonal dishes that celebrate ingredients grown at sister property Chateau Saint-Roux. Natasha Callin
Crillon le Brave, Vaucluse
Regulars at this rambling, extraordinary place at the foot of Mont Ventoux will know that the seven stone houses Crillon le Brave occupies once formed part of a prosperous hillside settlement, abandoned after World War II. Swiss and American second-homers snapped up the lovely buildings in the 1970s, and hotelier Peter Chittick and his now wife converted their first property in 1989. Robin and Judy Hutson (of Hotel du Vin and The Pig) joined as investors years ago, and Judy redesigned many of the rooms during a recent refurbishment, giving them a lighter, distinctly seasidey feel. Bedroom, suites and houses are all connected by passageways and courtyards. La Tour, aka Room 33, is one of the most thrilling, with twin bathtubs, a tower-top terrace and an arched window looking out over the olive groves and vineyards. Sophie Dening
Ana LuiLa Divine Comedie, Avignon
You'd never guess it but behind a massive unmarked iron gate at the end of an impasse lies a magnificent secret garden – Avignon’s largest – and a supremely chic new five-room maison d’hôtes. After seven years of painstaking restoration, Parisian owners Gilles Jauffret (an interior designer and self-professed antique-market addict) and Amaury de Villoutreys have transformed this former residence for cardinals into an enchanting theatrical space filled with rescued church relics, hand-painted screens, rich fabrics and crystal chandeliers. But a museum it is not: beyond the unique decor (inspired by Naples, Venice and the Middle East), the bedrooms are also deeply comfortable. Most romantic is Aphrodite, with its big round bed, ceiling-high white gauzy curtains and huge terrace for cocktail hour. Wild beasts and whimsy also feature: there are tables with Shrek-like feet, a life-size baby elephant sculpture in the salon, and a vintage merry-go-round horse watching over the stairwell. Wherever your eyes fall, there’s something to discover, including the collection of 200 historical regional artworks that decorate the monumental curved staircase. After breakfast in the sunlit conservatory, explore the garden (with a terrific view of the Palais des Papes’ crenelated towers), then follow the jasmine-scented path to the stone pool and a spa pavilion. Jauffret and de Villoutreys will arrange a private dinner in the orangery, or you can step next door to their bar, Le Complot, a converted barn where a switched-on theatre crowd drink local wines alongside plates of sardines and foie gras. Lanie Goodman.
Edouard Sanville & Juliette AbitbolTuba Club, Marseille
You’d be forgiven for walking right past one of France’s most talked-about openings of the past few years. Set in the Marseille fishing neighbourhood of Les Goudes, on the edge of the Calanques National Park, this is classic business-up-front, party-in-the-back territory. The former scuba-diving centre once frequented by conservationist Jacques Cousteau is not only facing the sea, it’s practically in it. Those who come without a swimsuit for a cocktail on the rocks – as in actual rocks – consider yourself forewarned: you will get splashed. Inside, a subtle Seventies dive-school theme flows throughout: a wooden beaded curtain in the restaurant; rough-hewn ceramic vases that look as if they were recovered from an ancient shipwreck; Fernand Léger flame-shaped wall lamps. But that’s all part of the appeal of this five-bedroom hotel and restaurant, founded by a self-dubbed friends collective of design and hospitality veterans, which has fast become the hangout for a creative set; staying here is an instant shortcut to the South of France’s hippest scene. Sara Lieberman
Cheval Blanc St-Tropez
There are good reasons why, in the first half of the 20th century, the French Riviera in general and St Tropez in particular became the stuff of legend. This is one of them. When it opened in 1936, La Résidence de la Pinède, as it was then known, was an elegant, uncomplicated maison by the sea, a short distance from the town centre. When it reopened in 2019, having been acquired by LVMH, it had been transformed into Cheval Blanc St-Tropez. Though outwardly still the same elegant, uncomplicated maison by the sea, things had actually changed beyond recognition. The interiors by Jean-Michel Wilmotte manage to be at once soothing and startling, with Provençal art everywhere you look. A 20th-century classic has turned into a 21st-century one, with no loss of charm. Cheval Blanc makes for an intriguing contrast with its sister property on St-Tropez’s main square, White 1921 (another LVMH gem), as well as with much-loved Hôtel Byblos, and it holds its own in spite of competition from the likes of Michel Reybier’s La Réserve Ramatuelle and Jocelyne Sibuet’s effortlessly stylish Villa Marie. Steve King
Read the full Cheval Blanc St-Tropez hotel review
Gaelle Le BoulicautDomaine de Chalamon, Saint-Rémy-Provence
At first glance, the majestic entrance to the 19-room hotel Domaine de Chalamon – a long narrow road lined with century-old plane trees – conjures a private country estate in deep Provence, which is precisely what seduced entrepreneurial French hôteliers Fréderic Biousse and Guillaume Foucher when they snapped up this 16th-century bastide and then gorgeously reinvented the 15-hectare property along with longtime collaborator architect Alexandre Lafourcade. “We wanted to respect the soul of the manor house and also pay homage to Van Gogh, who lived in Saint-Rémy,” says Biousse. In the ever-stylish spirit of the Domaines de Fontenille collection, subtle handpicked details abound: the cathedral-ceiling rooms and salons are a medley of soft sage greens, blues and rose (“we used Van Gogh’s self-portrait as our palette”), with low-slung rectangular sofas by Caravane, custom cane-woven chairs and delicate floral wallpaper by artist Flora Roberts. Over in the Orangerie suites, you wake to birdsong and a view of the verdant French garden and gurgling fountains. Work up an appetite at the inviting stone pool or tennis court and dig in; from the open kitchen, chef Rémi Fasquelle whips up a locally sourced flavour fest – asparagus and wine-steamed morels, John Dory fish in a spicy cardamon sauce, wild garlic-spiked gnocchi and fruity sorbets.
Le Mas des Eydins, Bonnieux
When chef Christophe Bacquié, formerly at the Hotel & Spa du Castellet, decided to hang up his apron and explore something new, he and his wife Alexandra found the postcard-perfect Provencal farmhouse surrounded by fruit orchards and an olive grove that would offer the extreme opposite of a Relais & Châteaux mega-resort experience. At Le Mas des Eydins, hidden away in a valley near Bonnieux, there are only five rooms, one suite and one studio; similarly, dining is an intimate affair with ten tables and one nightly fixed menu. The concept: to be closer to guests, like a maison de famille, with the added perk of utter peace, save rustling leaves and whirring cicadas. Nothing beats lounging at the dreamy pool beside a fragrant lavender field, but there ’s also plenty to do and see in the Luberon. The spacious neo rustic rooms, designed by Alexandra, are a restful mix of grey, taupe and white, with exposed beam ceilings. Come dinnertime, Baquié serves an exquisitely refined six-course feast (plus tantalizing amuse-bouche tidbits and mignardises) to celebrate Provence – “modern” aioli with octopus, courgette flowers, lamb, langoustine, plus a cornucopia of local cheeses, cherries, strawberries, wild fennel, chocolate-olive madeleines, plus homemade elderberry sake to be savoured under the stars.