The New Hotels To Check Into In France This Summer

10.05.2024 - 19:35 / forbes.com / Francis Mallmann

More travelers than ever will be heading to Paris this summer as the 2024 Olympics unfold. These new hotels across France are worth taking a diversion for.

This April, the historic town long frequented by artists and writers, Hyères-les-Palmiers, welcomed Hotel Lilou. Embodying the charm of a grand hotel, the property revives the historic site of a former property. The façade of this hotel has been restored to its original glory and the interiors combine the hotel’s heritage with a contemporary look and feel. Designed to feel like a private mansion, the art-filled retreat is now home to 37 rooms and suites with the ambience of a modern winter garden, a library, terrace and white-tiled swimming pool. The salon, restaurant and bar also reinterprets the winter gardens of great 19^th-century hotels, while the private tasting room provides up to 12 guests with a culinary experience right by the kitchen, which has opened up to a series of guest chefs, with wines from the hotel cellar.

The July-opening Hotel Bleu is designed as an ode to the sea in its prime setting on the waterfront of Carry-le-Rouet in the south of France. Shades of blue referencing the sea and sky run throughout this contemporary retreat housing 45 guest rooms (referred to here as cabins) and suites imbued with the yachting spirit, along with the Mediterranean restaurant l’Oursin, which overlooks the port of Carry-le-Rouet and in its menus places the focus on local seafood. The indoor jazz bar Le Nina is a tribute to the singer Nina Simone, while the outdoor bar Le Fernand comes with a sea-view pool. Spa Phytomer draws on the ingredients of the sea for its wellness therapies and comes complete with thermal facilities and a hammam.

April marked the arrival of the new addition to the 600-acre Château La Coste estate, Auberge La Coste, in the Aix-En-Provence countryside. Within this estate celebrated for its vineyards, culinary offering, architecture and contemporary art, Auberge La Coste provides inviting accommodation, across 76 rooms, with minimalist décor and Provencal touches, along with an introduction to local flavours in the terraced restaurant. Settle into a lounge area featuring bookshelves and an open fireplace, take part in wine workshops and follow a tour through the scenic grounds that takes in the estate’s abundance of art installations. Other restaurants found on the estate include the Tadao Ando Café Restaurant, an Argentinian restaurant by Francis Mallmann and Hélène Darroze at Villa La Coste.

On track to opening in June 2024, Hôtel du Couvent, a Luxury Collection Hotel, will host guests in a former 17^th-century convent turned luxury hotel at the heart of Nice’s old town. The newly transformed landmark set amid its own