The most chic hotels on the French Riviera have the Mediterranean at their feet. And yet, whether they boast 4 or 5 stars, whether they are palaces, luxury hotels, or charming hotels, they all pride themselves on having a superb swimming pool. And what swimming pools! Infinity pools, heated pools, long pools, pools dressed in mosaics, adorned with lounge chairs, each one is eager to show off its finest assets.
The Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc
This might be the most famous hotel pool on the entire French Riviera, and has been for over a century! It's worth noting that the former Villa Soleil, elevated to the status of a palace and a member of the Oetker Collection, has hosted all of Hollywood during the Cannes festivals. Carved directly into the rock, as if to better survey the Mediterranean, its infinity saltwater pool is even heated. And if F. Scott Fitzgerald wonderfully described the 5-star hotel In *Tender Is the Night*, it was the American photographer Slim Aarons who immortalized the famous pool.
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La Réserve Beaulieu sur Mer
Mirror, my beautiful mirror... Words one might whisper while looking into the swimming pool of this hotel on the French Riviera slipped between Nice and Monaco. 200 m2 and 25 meters long, heated to 30°C year-round, its bottom is adorned with beautiful mosaics. With this army of impeccably arranged sun loungers all around as its bodyguards, tranquility is assured.
Grand Hotel du Cap-Ferrat
The Club Dauphin? This is undoubtedly the most fashionable Pool Club on the Riviera, right at the tip of the Cap Ferrat peninsula on the Côte d’Azur. And one of the most original: it’s by funicular that you reach the almost Olympic, heated saltwater pool overlooking the Mediterranean. Now clad in Verrazzo stone, it has retained all the charm of the 1930s. You could almost imagine Elizabeth Taylor, one of its most loyal clients in her time, emerging from the water and heading to one of the cabanas hidden in the gardens.
Tiara Miramar Beach Hotel & Spa
This member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, half an hour from Cannes, is discreet: a pink-hued facade, nestled amidst hanging gardens above a private cove and terraced gardens just begging to be explored, down to this infinity hotel pool. Leaning against a beautiful ochre wall, it offers the pleasure of admiring the sea from behind this glass barrier.
Lou Pinet
With its ochre walls and cheerful green shutters, this luxury hotel from the Maisons Pariente collection ticks all the boxes for a true family home, where a group of friends and legions of children would gather every summer. At its heart is this pool, said to be the largest, Hotels in Saint-Tropez. She reigns on her terrace, surrounded by umbrella pines. A scent of lavender, and that feeling of going back in time that inspires reverie.
Les Roches Blanches
What sets this 5-star hotel, adjacent to the Calanques National Park, apart? The breathtaking views of Cap Canaille and its four infinity pools that seem to float above the Mediterranean. The most recent addition is a spectacular 20-meter lap pool, a jewel of purity that appears to merge with the deep blue sea. Its sleek design, down to the pearlescent black enamel tiles and the understated elegance of its stoneware decks, is so refined that you almost hesitate to disturb its surface.
Cap d’Antibes Beach Hotel
Before becoming this 5-star Relais & Châteaux, it was its mythical, Michelin-starred restaurant, Les Pêcheurs, that made the site famous. Cary Grant and Brigitte Bardot used to be seen there. A crazy view of the Lérins Islands, a private beach, and nestled discreetly in a corner, this heated, infinity freshwater pool overlooking the sea.
La Messardière
It's not just the Château de la Messardière, one of the prestigious addresses of the Airelles group, that overlooks the Gulf of Saint-Tropez: its mirror pool does too! With a mosaic-tiled bottom, enviable dimensions, and heated to 28°C, it is surrounded by a very beautiful terrace adorned with lemon and olive trees.
Hotel Cap Estel
It's a Russian prince who, in the 1950s, had this elegant Florentine-style residence built, nestled on a private peninsula at the foot of the cliffs of Èze. You must go to the tip of the estate to discover the sublime saltwater swimming pool. And immerse yourself to contemplate the Mediterranean: time, like the view, seems to be suspended.
Lily of the Valley
Two swimming pools at this 5-star hidden gem on the Saint-Tropez peninsula. The most central one attracts all eyes with its more than respectable size – 25 meters long. Dotted with sun loungers and umbrellas, decorated with pine trees, it seems to ignore the Mediterranean while still offering the most beautiful panorama.
