17 Best Hotels in the South of France
"Here is a game-changer for this chunk of the Riviera. Amid the soignée old-world grandes dames, this paean to ambitious nouveau luxe from the Maybourne Hotel Group (The Berkeley, Claridge’s and more) faces the future playfully. It is a brazen block of white criss-crossed lines and floor-to-ceiling glass by veteran French architect Jean Michel Wilmotte. The cavernous lobby is a show-stopper, with its colossal sculpture of an intertwined couple by Louise Bourgeois. But the real draw is the light. From the terrace of the Riviera Restaurant (dishes with the finest products from Liguria to Nice), and from each of the 69 rooms and suites, the panorama of mega-yachts and swooping hang-gliders unfurls. Rooms range from apartment-style suites with wrap-around terraces to hill-hugging Corniche rooms with pine-shaded patios. There’s a cutting-edge holistic spa and an indoor and outdoor pool – the latter built into rock so you see only a mirage-like haze of water, sea and sky. The roll call of chefs is starry. Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Pool Bar serves truffle pizza and lobster rolls; Japanese chef Hiro Sato steers the sushi; pastry wizard Benoît Dutreige the divine tarts. —Lanie Goodman" - Lanie Goodman, Sarah James
