- 🏆 Seven of these houses carry a score from our own team · from 10/10 at Hôtel Sezz Saint-Tropez, the only perfect mark in our world ranking, down to 8.8/10 at Fairmont Monte Carlo.
- 💆 The biggest wellness figure on the coast · the 6,600 sq m of the Thermes Marins Monte-Carlo, shared by the Hôtel de Paris and the Hôtel Hermitage, against 450 sq m for the C Club at Carlton Cannes and 300 sq m for the myBlend spa at Kube Saint-Tropez.
- 📅 Two of the ten close for winter · Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc runs to 18 October in 2026 and the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat from 6 March to 15 November, so a December trip means Monaco, Nice or Cannes.
- ✈️ One airport for all ten · Nice Côte d’Azur is about two hours from London and takes non-stop flights from New York in season, with Monaco and Cannes roughly 30 minutes away by road and Saint-Tropez about two hours.
Between Saint-Tropez and Menton, a run of barely 150 kilometres of coast holds the houses that invented Riviera travel, and a few that have just rewritten it. We have kept ten of them, seven scored by our own team after a stay, with every figure below taken from the hotels’ own sites and checked on 20 September 2026.
Hôtel Sezz Saint-Tropez, our highest score
Tested by LRDH10/10Designer Christophe Pillet built the Sezz entirely on one level, 250 metres from the Plage des Canebiers, so that every room opens straight onto its own garden. The house counts 35 rooms and two villa-style suites, from 30 to 90 sq m, several of them with a private plunge pool, and outdoor showers in place of the usual marble. It is the only address in our world ranking to hold a perfect mark.
At the centre sits a 200 sq m heated pool, framed by umbrella pines and a dry stone wall. The Spa Sezz by Susanne Kaufmann adds two treatment rooms including a double cabin, a jacuzzi, a steam room and a walled relaxation garden, while Colette, the Michelin-starred restaurant, and the Dom Pérignon bar handle the evenings. Our verdict after a stay: a private house that happens to have a reception desk.
Kube Saint-Tropez, the gulf from a rooftop
Tested by LRDH9.9/10Three minutes from the village but out of its traffic, the Kube spreads 70 rooms across nine low buildings and two hectares of Mediterranean garden, on the Gassin side of the gulf. Three pools, one of them heated, sit between the buildings, and the estate takes guests aged 12 and over only, which is the clearest signal of the mood it is going for. Our team scored it 9.9/10.
The myBlend spa runs to 300 sq m, and Le Petit Célestin, the panoramic rooftop, is the table locals book. A shuttle links the hotel to Cybele, its own beach club at Ramatuelle on the bay of Pampelonne. Non-residents can use the pools, spa and gym with a day pass, which the hotel lists from €399 per person depending on the programme (rate checked on 20 September 2026).
Hôtel de Paris, on Casino Square
Tested by LRDH9.6/10Nothing in Monaco is more central than this corner of the Place du Casino, with the opera house on one side and the couture windows of One Monte-Carlo on the other. Le Louis XV, Alain Ducasse’s three-star dining room, has been the hotel’s anchor since 1987, and Cédric Grolet now runs the pastry. Le Grill takes the panoramic top floor, Em Sherif arrives for the summer, and the Bar Américain keeps its live jazz.
Guests reach the Thermes Marins Monte-Carlo, 6,600 sq m of spa and pool, without going outside, and the group’s private beach is part of the deal. The Diamond Suites, including the Princesse Grace and the Prince Rainier III, are the rooms people come back for. We scored it 9.6/10, which puts it tenth in our ranking of the fifty best hotels in the world.
Hôtel Hermitage and its Eiffel dome
Tested by LRDH9.4/10Two minutes uphill from its famous neighbour, the Hermitage is the quieter half of the same story, and the one connoisseurs pick. Its Winter Garden is covered by a glass dome signed Gustave Eiffel, and the pastel facade looks over the port and the Rock rather than the casino. The atmosphere is closer to a private club than a palace lobby, which is exactly the point.
Yannick Alléno holds both tables here: Pavyllon Monte-Carlo, with one Michelin star, and L’Abysse Monte-Carlo, the two-star Japanese room. The bar is named Gustave, after the dome. Guests share the 6,600 sq m Thermes Marins Monte-Carlo and the private beach with the Hôtel de Paris. Our team gave it 9.4/10, two tenths below its neighbour and well ahead on calm.
Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap d’Antibes
Antoine Sella opened this retreat at the tip of the Cap d’Antibes in 1870, and the pine wood that hides it from the road has barely changed since. Accommodation is split between the original Villa Soleil, the Eden-Roc Pavilion at the water’s edge and the private Les Deux Fontaines residence, for 111 rooms in all, plus four rental villas tucked into the gardens or just beyond them.
The seawater pool blasted into the rock below the Pavilion is the picture everyone knows, and the diving boards are still there. Executive chef Sébastien Broda cooks for four rooms, The Grill, Eden-Roc Restaurant, Giovanni’s and Louroc, while the Dior Spa Eden-Roc, a full beauty salon and a serious gym cover the rest. Recommended, with one date to keep in mind: the 2026 season runs to 18 October.
Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, Four Seasons
The white liner at the end of the peninsula has been working this view for more than a century, with Nice on one side and Monaco on the other. Seventeen acres of gardens separate the heritage building from Les Terrasses du Cap, the quieter wing where the Pool Terrace Suites come with their own water, and three private villas sit among the Aleppo pines. Fourteen room categories in total.
The spa keeps an indoor pool, outdoor treatment cabanas in the garden and a hydrotherapy circuit with private steam rooms, sauna, sensorial shower, whirlpool and ice fountain, open from 9 am to 8 pm. Club Dauphin, cut into the rock at sea level, is where the day actually happens. The Mediterranean table holds a Michelin star. Recommended, with the 2026 season running from 6 March to 15 November.
Château de la Chèvre d’Or, above Èze
Halfway between Nice and Monaco, the medieval village of Èze clings to a limestone peak 400 metres above the sea, and the hotel is the village. Since 1953 its rooms and suites have been scattered through the lanes, each one different, with a fireplace here, a private staircase there, a terrace hanging over the water somewhere else. Arriving means leaving the car below and climbing on foot.
The infinity pool is the reason most guests book, aimed straight at the peninsula of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. La Chèvre d’Or holds two Michelin stars, with Les Remparts and Le Café du Jardin for the lighter hours. In 2026 the house also moved up to three Michelin Keys, as we reported. Recommended for a first Riviera trip, when the view matters more than the beach.
Carlton Cannes, the Croisette landmark
The twin domes at 58 boulevard de la Croisette went up in 1913, paid for largely by Grand Duke Michael of Russia, who had moved to Cannes to marry outside his rank and found the local hotels wanting. Architect Charles Dalmas gave him a neoclassical block with a Belle Époque spirit, and the restoration has taken it to 369 rooms and suites, from 27 sq m to a 352 sq m penthouse.
The real change is behind the facade: a new inner garden and patio, with an infinity pool that the old Carlton never had, plus the C Club across 450 sq m of fitness and spa. Rüya handles the Anatolian menu, the Riviera Restaurant the Mediterranean one, and the Carlton Beach Club runs the pontoon opposite. Recommended, and the one address here that works as well in February as in May.
Anantara Plaza Nice, above the gardens
The building at 12 avenue de Verdun was inaugurated in 1848, on the edge of the Albert 1er gardens and a two-minute walk from Place Masséna. David Collins Studio, local architect Jean-Paul Gomis and TBC Interiorismo have taken the Belle Époque shell and put 151 contemporary rooms and suites inside it, from 20 sq m upward, most with a balcony or a terrace over the gardens or the sea.
SEEN by Olivier, the rooftop bar and restaurant, gives the Baie des Anges from above without the Promenade des Anglais crowd. The Anantara Spa and a Technogym-equipped fitness centre sit below, and guests use Ruhl Plage, the partner beach, for the day. Nice airport is a 20-minute drive. Recommended for the trip where the town matters as much as the hotel.
The Maybourne Riviera, facing Menton bay
The newest of the ten, and the most vertical: a modernist block driven into the rock of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, between Monaco and Menton, with nothing in front of it but air and water. All 65 suites and studios face the Mediterranean and come with a private balcony, plus a set of complimentary extras that includes an in-room massage and a sunset cruise.
The infinity pool runs along the cliff edge above the bay of Menton, with La Piscine serving pizzas in the shade beside it. Jean-Georges Vongerichten has taken the top floor with abc kitchens riviera, while the Riviera Restaurant works the local terroir, Le 300 covers the day and La Môme Riviera plays beach club. Private dining seats up to 25. Recommended for a first look at this end of the coast.
Three more Monaco houses we scored
The principality is two square kilometres wide and holds five addresses our team has stayed in, so the three that did not make the ten deserve their line. The Hôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo took 9.2/10 for its Jacques Garcia interiors, its Spa Métropole by Guerlain and the starred Yoshi. The Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort scored 9/10, largely on the strength of a 4,000 sq m sandy-bottomed lagoon that suits families better than anything else in Monaco. The Fairmont Monte Carlo closed the group at 8.8/10, with a rooftop pool straight above the Grand Prix hairpin, a Nobu and the Willow Stream spa.
The ten hotels compared
| Hotel | Where | What stands out | Our score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hôtel Sezz Saint-Tropez | Saint-Tropez | One-level design house, 200 sq m heated pool, starred Colette | 10/10 |
| Kube Saint-Tropez | Gassin | 70 rooms, three pools, 300 sq m myBlend spa, rooftop | 9.9/10 |
| Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo | Monte-Carlo | Casino Square, Le Louis XV, 6,600 sq m Thermes Marins | 9.6/10 |
| Hôtel Hermitage Monte-Carlo | Monte-Carlo | Eiffel glass dome, Pavyllon and L’Abysse by Alléno | 9.4/10 |
| Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc | Cap d’Antibes | 111 rooms, four villas, seawater pool in the rock, Dior Spa | Recommended |
| Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat | Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat | 17 acres of gardens, Club Dauphin, starred table | Recommended |
| Château de la Chèvre d’Or | Èze | Medieval village, infinity pool, two Michelin stars | Recommended |
| Carlton Cannes | Cannes | 369 rooms, inner garden and infinity pool, beach club | Recommended |
| Anantara Plaza Nice | Nice | 151 rooms, 1848 facade, SEEN rooftop, partner beach | Recommended |
| The Maybourne Riviera | Roquebrune-Cap-Martin | 65 sea-facing suites, cliff-top infinity pool | Recommended |
Which one, for which trip
- For a first Riviera week in summer · Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on the Cap d’Antibes, or the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, the two that put a private shoreline between you and the coast road.
- For a long weekend without a car · Carlton Cannes or Anantara Plaza Nice, both a few minutes from a station and a beach, and both open all year.
- For the highest marks we have given · Hôtel Sezz Saint-Tropez at 10/10 and Kube Saint-Tropez at 9.9/10, an hour and a half west of the airport and a world away from the palaces.
- For dining above everything else · Monaco, where the Hôtel de Paris holds Le Louis XV and the Hermitage holds L’Abysse, five Michelin stars inside two hundred metres.
Coast, cape or hilltop: how to choose
The three families here do not offer the same holiday. On the Croisette and the Promenade des Anglais you step out of the hotel into a town; on the capes you stay put; on the hilltop at Èze you look down on both. Monaco is its own case, a city-state you can cross on foot where the hotels double as restaurants. To place these ten in a wider field, our ranking of the fifty best hotels in the world gives the scores in full, our list of the French Palaces shows which houses hold the official distinction, and our guide to France’s best gastronomic hotels covers the tables.
- 📍 Where · the Côte d’Azur, from Saint-Tropez and Gassin in the west to Roquebrune-Cap-Martin and the bay of Menton in the east, by way of Cannes, the Cap d’Antibes, Nice, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Èze and Monaco
- ✈️ Getting there · Nice Côte d’Azur is the single gateway, about two hours’ flying from London and served non-stop from New York in season; from Paris the TGV reaches Nice in around six hours. Cannes and Monaco are roughly 30 minutes from the airport by road, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and Èze 25 to 35 minutes, Saint-Tropez closer to two hours
- 📅 Best time · May, June and September, when the sea is warm enough and the rates are not at their peak. The Cannes and Monaco event calendar drives prices hard in May, and August fills the coast road
- 💶 Budget · none of these ten publishes a nightly rate without a date search, so we quote only what is displayed: the Kube day pass, from €399 per person, roughly £345 or $460 (checked on 20 September 2026). Expect the Monaco palaces and the two capes to sit well above the rest in high season
- 🛂 Good to know · Monaco is entered from France with no border formality and uses the euro; British and American passport holders travel visa-free for short stays. Half of these houses run a season rather than a year, so check the closing dates before booking a winter trip
- 🔗 Official sites · hotelsezz.com · kubehotel-saint-tropez.com · montecarlosbm.com · oetkercollection.com · fourseasons.com · chevredor.com · carltoncannes.com · anantara.com · maybourneriviera.com
Check availability for the French Riviera hotels in this guide
