French Riviera

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At a Glance

Arriving at the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, A Four Seasons Hotel is a glittering affair: a Lalique crystal table sits below a silver chandelier, and the Gustave Eiffel– designed rotunda opens onto panoramic sea views. Every elegant corner emphasizes why this property, built on a peninsula between Nice and Monaco, is one of the French Riviera’s most legendary. Like its surroundings, interiors are breezy and bright, with a white-on-white design that incorporates splashes of color: the emerald Murano chandeliers recall sunlight playing on the waves. Outside, 17 acres of serene gardens invite meandering—and taking in the setting sun as it blazes across the sky. In typical Four Seasons fashion, guests are spoiled from the start to the end of a visit, with help from the beach club, the Michelin-grade dining and the 8,000-square-foot spa.

The Standout: The fabulous pool suites that interconnect and come with large plunge pools
Don’t Miss: Club Dauphin and its seaside cabanas, accessible by funicular

Indagare Loves

• The private villas with Provençal charm and their own staff
• The focus on local ingredients, many grown on-property, that find their way into the Michelin-starred cuisine (don’t miss the bouillabaisse)
• The extensive indoor-outdoor spa and fitness facilities, and a seaside hiking path

Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat Review

The Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, one of the South of France’s most iconic properties, looks better than ever after a $100-million renovation and expansion. Sitting on the idyllic peninsula between Nice and Monaco, the hotel was showing years of wear, so the owners shut the property for 14 months and invested more than $1 million per room to refashion the hotel for the 21st century. French star designer Pierre-Yves Rochon, the creative mastermind behind Joël Robuchon’s restaurants worldwide, was entrusted with the redesign and he said of the Grand-Hôtel: “I try to respect the architecture when I undertake a renovation. I am like a surgeon, I have to repair it. What I have from the beginning is a picture of what was before.”

What was there before—most noticeably the hotel’s cream-and-white colored marble and lobby rotunda (designed by Gustave Eiffel)—has been painstakingly restored. The property’s 17 acres of gardens were also given an overhaul by landscape designer Jean Mus. The interiors remain light and airy, with an understated white-on-white design that occasionally breaks into splashes of color: an emerald Murano chandelier here, a colorful tapestry there.

What is generating the most buzz, however, is the addition of the Residence wing, which houses 16 rooms and eight exclusive suites. The pale wood floors, predominantly white décor—including sprawling marble bathrooms and understated furnishings—are a perfect extension of the main hotel’s elegant interiors. The newly renovated rooms have a fresh, bright feeling and are a beautiful contrast to the blue sea in the distance. Each room is also decorated with the prints of artists famously associated with the region.

Best of all, the suites make the most of the outdoor panoramas: large sliding-panel window walls lead to private terraces and infinity-edged pools (amazingly, the hotel is the first and only along the French Riviera to offer suites with private pools). To cap it all off, the deep-blue vistas of the Cote d’Azur mountains are visible in the distance.

If you can pull yourself from the privacy of the new Residence wing, the hotel’s celebrated beach club, Le Club Dauphin offers outstanding Mediterranean fare and stunning views over the infinity pool to the sea beyond. The beach club is located on the rocky shoreline and accessible by a glass-encased funicular (very James Bond) from the hotel above. The other place where the history is palpable is the Grand Hotel’s cellar, featuring one of the world’s best wine collections. In 2007, the hotel acquired a unique collection of 135 rare bottles of Château d’Yquem (with vintages from 1860 to 2003), as well as 38 bottles of Château Lafite Rothschild (from 1799 to 2003).

For those who associate pampering less with culinary delights and more with facials and mud treatments, there’s the new 8,000 square-foot spa, located in the Residence and accessible via a subterranean passage. Serene, contemporary and featuring a long list of treatments using Carita and Comfort Zone products, the Grand Hotel’s spa is another indication that this venerable property has successfully moved into the 21st century.

Acquired by the Four Seasons in 2015, the elegant grande dame of seaside palaces has a few additional new offerings: Le Club Dauphin now serves a sumptuous Provencal buffet (in July and August) along with a delicious Sunday brunch accompanied by a jazz trio. the spa menu now includes signature treatments with Carita and the Swiss Bellefontaine beauty products that are infused with caviar, gold and silk (from Dr. Burgener and Biologique Recherche). Guests can also partake in complimentary bi-weekly free yoga and Pilates classes and get in shape at the outdoor fitness center under the parasol pines.

Who Should Stay

Those who like hushed tones, pure elegance and serious glamour; families and couples who crave elegance and a scene

Author

• Indagare