Saint-Raphaël, France
Hôtel Les Roches Rouges
Artistic Idyll
What it is
A 47-room bastion of Midcentury style on the Mediterranean, with an al fresco theater, seawater pool and a Michelin-starred restaurant.
What it isn't
Just about snoozing on the beach. Activities here range from snorkeling with sea sponges and scorpion fish to petanque and ping pong in a verdant garden.
What we think
There’s no shortage of transportive hotels in this corner of France, but Hotel Les Roches Rouges outshines most. How could it not? Each room is seemingly prepared to host an indie rock band or a vacationing tech CEO alike; even the starter room category is fitted with a custom-made wooden bar and marble vanity in the bath, private terrace, sound system tailor-made for cocktail hour (including a loaner tablet with a personalized music playlist) and vibrant art that pops against bleach white walls. Book a Sea View Suite for show stopping panoramas over the Mediterranean from your terrace and living room, plus a sculptural soaking tub and a collection of vintage books and objet culled from the region.
You're here because
You feel particularly at peace when you’re in a garden, and the hotel has its own chockablock with herbs and lush greenery: marine figs, tamarisk, verbena, sage and mimosa.
The Moment
As you settle into your sea-facing seat on the terrace at Michelin-starred La Terrasse, you have to let out a contented sigh: Julia Child herself would adore this place. Or is that the locavore cocktail, a Provence Mule, talking?
Location
Overlooking the beach in Saint-Raphaël, a 49 minute drive down the shore from Cannes—where Hitchcock filmed “To Catch a Thief” with Grace Kelly and Cary Grant in 1955 at the Belle Epoque home Croix des Gardes Hill.