(Bloomberg) -- From its glitzy crowds and art deco architecture to its year-round sunshine and seemingly endless revelry, the French Riviera has an appeal that’s endured for well over a century. In 2023 the region—which hugs almost 100 miles of Mediterranean Sea coastline between Saint-Tropez and Menton—exceeded its pre-pandemic tourism records with 11.5 million visitors. And this year’s numbers are already pacing 16% higher based on spring season arrivals and confirmed summer air bookings.
Part of that growth can be explained by a robust events calendar: On July 21, Nice is hosting the final stage of the Tour de France in a unique shift from Paris’ Champs-Élysées. Days later, it will become the home for Olympic football, with matches held in its ultramodern stadium. Add music festivals across the Riviera, including Jazz à Juan, Nice Jazz Fest and Les Plages Electroniques in Cannes—plus a mix of new (and newly renovated) hotels—and there are even more reasons to visit.
Regardless of what’s driving your next trip, here’s a curated guide to the best places to stay in the Côte d’Azur. Pick one or string them together to experience the breadth of what the region has to offer.
Le Mas Candille, Mougins
This new 46-room hillside property, 20 minutes from Cannes in the medieval town of Mougins, where Pablo Picasso famously spent his final days, is a restful alternative to see-and-be-seen spots along the waterfront. In 2020 it was taken over by Prisca Courtin-Clarins—the millennial heir to her family’s namesake cosmetics brand—and hotelier Jean-Philippe Cartier. Now it’s an intimate temple to sunny self-care, with a style that’s equal parts California villa and Provence farmhouse.
Set on almost 10 acres of parkland with expansive views of Mougins, the hotel lets guests enter at the top of a hill, then wind down through a network of paths carved into the vegetation. Half of the rooms are in the main Bastide building; the other half are downslope in the Mas, or farmhouse. Between them are all manner of restorative amenities: an outdoor pool, an orange grove, a pétanque court, a restaurant, a kids’ club and a spa—which, given the Clarins connection, is well worth visiting. Called the Glow House, it’s a holistic wellness concept and spa that uses the brand’s products throughout, and will soon start hosting “Glow Trip” wellness retreats tailored to guests’ needs. If massages and fitness circuits aren’t what make you glow, head to the pool instead; its ochre loungers and yellow fringed sunshades mean every hour here is golden hour. Rooms from $450 this summer.
Hôtel du Couvent, Nice
Ten years ago the local council in Nice decided that its 17th century convent, wedged in the old city’s warren of narrow streets, should become a hotel. For the renovation job, they tapped the hotelier Valérie Grégo, a man best known for creating the Instagram-famous seaside hotel Les Roches Rouges (which he’s since sold). After five years of resistance from neighbors and Covid-related restoration delays, the Hotel du Couvent—a €100 million undertaking—finally opened its doors in June.
By dint of the site’s heritage, the finished product is far more understated than the glitz that Nice is known for. But there are thoughtful details everywhere, such as a reconstructed Roman-style thermal bath in the basement and an herbalist shop where guests can procure bespoke remedies.
Visitors arrive through a spacious courtyard dotted with orange trees leading to a central cloister, where they’re greeted with lemon-filled madeleines. Inside, the design plays up the structure’s original charms, including terracotta floor tiles and dry-stone walls; it also makes liberal use of simple reclaimed wood furnishings and lush flower bouquets throughout both the rooms and public spaces. Even the programming plays into the building’s original role as a hub of local life: Every Saturday, the courtyard fills in with local greengrocers and producers who set up a farmers market mainly for guests.
But the 88 rooms and suites are far more indulgent now than they were in monastic times. Spanning four adjacent buildings including the original convent, they have breezy curtains, thick embroidered rugs, Fragonard soaps and custom bath amenities by perfumer Azzi Glass. (Apartment-style dwellings even have Cornue stoves, so you can put those farmers market ingredients to good use.) Ditto the three restaurants, which source much of their produce from a 2.5-acre on-site garden. And all rooms have access to multiple pools, which make you feel blissfully removed from the bustle of the city. Rooms from $525.
Château de Théoule, Théoule-sur-Mer
Never heard of Théoule-sur-Mer? Millésime Collection wants to change that. In March 2024 the French hospitality group opened its first Riviera property in this small seaside town, just a 20-minute ferry ride from Cannes.
The 400-year-old building—whose superb views survey the Bay of Cannes and the red-hued Massif de l’Estérel mountain range—began not as a castle but as a soap factory; its Tudor-style turrets and crenellated ramparts were added in the early 1900s by then-owner Lord Harry Crowford. Fast-forward to 2024, and the historical callbacks include draped silk headboards and Second Empire antiques in 44 guest rooms that are named after local medicinal herbs. No two are identical, though guests may find rattan light fixtures bookending the bed or linen curtains from the elegant French brand Maison de Vacances. And they’re not all in the château, either—a handful are carved into newer buildings, including two villas and a fisherman’s house, all set on the estate grounds.
The star features of this new Riviera destination, however, are the Plage Blanche private beach and the seaside dining at Mareluna, whose dining room extends onto a parasol-lined, sea-facing terrace. Dishes mix Italian and southern French flavors—think ossobuco tortellini with Provençal herbs or cuttlefish tagliatelle. All are courtesy of rising star chef Francesco Fezza, who cut his teeth working for Alain Ducasse at Le Meurice in Paris. Rooms from $686.
Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Antibes
This 22-acre cliffside retreat—whose pool features prominently in Slim Aarons’ legendary photography from the 1970s—has been given an elegant refresh to ensure its glamorous legacy lives on for another generation. Arrival here is via a showstopping 200-meter-long Grande Allée lined with palm trees, at the end of which lies a Napoleon III-style mansion facing the ocean. Originally a writers retreat built in 1870 by Hippolyte de Villemessant, founder of Le Figaro newspaper, it’s been a favorite of such luminaries as Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, Marlene Dietrich and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Now guests staying at the 40-room, 68-suite Oetker Collection hotel can bask in an updated version of that hedonist fantasy, which was redone in 2023 by Countess Bergit Gräfin Douglas of MM-Design Frankfurt. Her new aesthetic leans on fabrics from Pierre Frey, Loro Piana and Manuel Canova—all in tones of blue and white that offset a bolder selection of postmodern and contemporary artworks. In the lavish guest rooms are soaring ceilings, Louis XV-style furnishings and expansive marble bathrooms—plus floral and toile patterns aplenty.
But Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc’s glory remains rooted in its spectacular grounds and services, whether it’s pétanque and tennis courts, Riva boat access or a shiny new Dior spa. Be sure to reserve one of the property’s thirty-one 1930s-era seaside cabanas for a day: They’re set up amid centuries-old pine trees and newly renovated with a retro Mediterranean look. Rooms from $1,700.
The Carlton, Cannes
The Carlton, which lords over the Bay of Cannes at the heart of the prized Croisette promenade, is the city’s grande dame, long frequented by actors and politicians on the global stage. Last spring it reopened its doors after a five-year, top-to-bottom renovation meant to preserve its 113-year-old art deco and belle epoque spirit. Recognizable even when you’re flying overhead, the property now features two new wings housing a massive fitness center complete with a full-size boxing ring, an infinity pool and an enclosed suspended garden patio brimming with 22,000 Mediterranean plants.
The lobby, previously a grandiose space full of partitions and dropped ceilings, has been completely opened up, drawing attention to restored marble columns and pilasters, blown-glass light fixtures and the striking reception counter. (It was produced by the artist Fabienne L’Hostis entirely in Japanese Raku ceramic.) And the 384 Croisette-facing rooms and suites—redecorated with the help of 750 artisans—are now done up in a range of soft, off-white tones with custom-designed furniture that discreetly hides the updated tech features, such as Chromecast TVs. Rooms from $1,300.
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