The palace hotel Château Saint-Martin & Spa closes its season on 11 October in Vence: 47 keys and a new chef

On the hills of Vence, the calendar of a seasonal palace reads like a countdown. Château Saint-Martin & Spa, an Oetker Collection house set on 14 hectares above the French Riviera, closes its 2026 season on 11 October, after opening on 1 May. This year has been one of a change of brigade, with the arrival of executive chef Romain Antoine, and of a spa now working under the La Prairie banner.

☰Contents

1. Nine centuries above Vence
2. Romain Antoine’s first summer in the kitchen
3. The Spa Saint-Martin works with La Prairie
4. One room, 40 suites and six villas
5. Last Chance runs until 11 October
6. Our take

Nine centuries above Vence

The estate tells a longer story than the hotel does. A fortified Roman site, it welcomed the bishop of Tours in the year 350 and borrowed his name, before being handed to crusaders returning from Jerusalem around 1095. In 1150 the Domaine Saint-Martin became the fief of the Knights Templar, whose memory survives in the Saint-Martin chapel and a few ruins still visible in the park. A Polish count bought the ruined site in 1900 and rebuilt it on the foundations of the old commandery.

What follows is shorter. Parisian businessman Fernand Genève took over the estate in 1935, opened the first hotel there in 1954, then had six private villas built in 1960. The Oetker family acquired the whole property in 1994 and had the building fully restored in 1997. The house received the Palace distinction on 10 October 2019 and saw it renewed on 24 June 2025, for three years, under the new criteria of the label.

The setting comes down to topography. Backed against the Baou des Blancs, the château looks out over the hills of the hinterland and, further away, a stretch of the Mediterranean. The coast is about thirty minutes away by road, Nice and Cannes some forty minutes, and Nice Côte d’Azur airport about the same. Saint-Paul-de-Vence and the Fondation Maeght are immediately within reach.

Romain Antoine’s first summer in the kitchen

The 2026 season was the first for the new executive chef. At 35, Romain Antoine took charge of the Château’s kitchen brigades, around thirty people, after leading those of L’Apogée Courchevel. A native of the region trained at the École hôtelière Paul Augier, he claims a pared-back cuisine, built with local producers and attached to traditional French dishes.

The two tables of the house do not play the same tune. Le Saint-Martin, the signature restaurant, serves breakfast from 7am to 10.30am and dinner from 7.30pm to 10pm on a panoramic terrace open to non-residents, smart dress required. L’Oliveraie, set under the centuries-old olive trees with its open kitchen, ran only from 1 June to 30 August 2026: salade niçoise, grilled sea bass with olive oil, pissaladière and Provençal vegetables.

The summer also had its recurring date. Seven Estivales evenings were held from June to August, around a Mediterranean buffet at 95 euros per person and 40 euros for under-tens, with desserts signed by pastry chef Aurélien Wargny. L’Oliveraie closed its season on 30 August with La Grande Tablée des Producteurs, a day of tastings with around ten producers from the region. The Rossini bar and its two wine cellars take over for the rest of the season.

The Spa Saint-Martin works with La Prairie

The spa of the house carries the name Spa Saint-Martin by La Prairie and was voted best luxury spa destination in Europe by the World Luxury Spa Awards. It lines up four treatment rooms, including a duo cabin, and a salon devoted to beauty and hair, with the option of a treatment in the gardens, under a cabana edged with flowers. The protocols rely on La Prairie products and on the certified organic botanical range Bamford.

The circuit includes a sauna, a hammam, a whirlpool, a relaxation area and a fitness room equipped by Technogym, open around the clock to residents. In September and October the spa welcomes guests every day from 10am to 7pm. Two supplements are posted: 20 per cent for a treatment taken outside opening hours, 20 per cent for a treatment delivered in a suite or villa. A Spa Membership exists for a full season or for two months.

Outside, the infinity pool opens from 8am to 7pm, reserved for guests and unsupervised. Four private cabanas line it, in the shade of the olive trees, hired at 150 to 200 euros for two to four people. The tennis and pickleball courts sit at the foot of the Baou des Blancs, the pétanque pitch next to L’Oliveraie, and the Baous can be walked straight from the estate. A kids club runs in July and August.

One room, 40 suites and six villas

The house has few rooms in the strict sense. The Château lists one room, thirty-eight junior suites and two suites, completed by six private villas, forty-seven keys in all. The Deluxe room covers 30 square metres, the junior suites range from 40 to 69 square metres depending on category, with a balcony or terrace for many of them.

The most distinctive spaces sit high up and off to the side. The Duplex Suite, 57 square metres, occupies the top of the tower. L’Atelier Junior Suite, 69 square metres, adds a hammam shower and a private loggia. The One Bedroom Suite, also 69 square metres, opens onto a terrace facing the Riviera. Room service runs 24 hours a day, check-in is at 3pm and check-out at noon.

The villas stand apart, on the hill across the road: the butler handles the transfer by car. Villa Riou offers one bedroom over 70 square metres. Ponant, Veran, La Foux and Saint-Lambert offer two bedrooms over 180 square metres. Villa Saint-Martin, three bedrooms over 150 square metres, sleeps up to six. The hotel states that pets are not allowed on the property.

Last Chance runs until 11 October

The house has put a name on its final weeks. The Last Chance offer, valid from 11 September to 11 October 2026, starts at 960 euros for two people in a Deluxe room, buffet breakfast at Le Saint-Martin included and 10 per cent off the published rate. City tax, 6.43 euros per person per day, is extra. Rates recorded on 21 September 2026 on the hotel website.

Seven other packages appear on the offers page at the same moment, from 910 euros for the pre or post cruise formula to 2,155 euros for the wellness retreat, with Spa and gastronomy at 1,260 euros, Romance on the hills of Vence at 1,040 euros and Family stay at 2,030 euros. Private parking is free for guests and charging points are available.

The wedding calendar follows the same seasonal logic. The house does not host weddings in June, July, August or early September, but accepts them in late April, in May, in mid-September and in early October, with a maximum capacity of 150 guests, a recommended range of 80 to 100 and a minimum three-night buyout.

Our take

A palace that closes five months a year makes a rare bet in France: to concentrate a whole season on five months of light rather than stretch out the year. Château Saint-Martin holds that bet through geography, a 14-hectare estate backed against the Baou des Blancs and twenty minutes from Saint-Paul-de-Vence, which no seafront hotel on the Riviera can offer. The trade-off is plain: out of season, you look elsewhere.

The arrival of Romain Antoine, from another house in the group, makes for a cuisine still searching for a language of its own in Vence. We have not yet stayed at Château Saint-Martin. We will go and see at the opening of the next season what a second year with the same brigade delivers, and whether the Spa Saint-Martin lives up to the European title it displays.

Practical information

• Château Saint-Martin & Spa, 2490 avenue des Templiers, 06140 Vence, +33 4 93 58 02 02
• 2026 season from 1 May to 11 October, Last Chance offer from 960 € for two from 11 September to 11 October
• Check-in at 3pm, check-out at noon, 24-hour room service, free Wi-Fi, free private parking
• Nice Côte d’Azur airport about 40 minutes away, Nice and Cannes about 40 minutes, the coast 30 minutes
• Tennis, pickleball, pétanque, hiking on the Baous, kids club in July and August

Photo credit Château Saint-Martin & Spa, an Oetker Collection Hotel