Food & Dining, Top 10, Travel

The White Lotus Effect: Top 10 Best Luxury Hotels in the South of France

BOOK YOUR TRAVEL TO THE SOUTH OF FRANCE WITH EXPEDIA.CO.UK

It’s official! The White Lotus Season 4 is coming to France! So, if you’re like me and you are both a White Lotus fan and a South of France fan, we are all hoping it will be in the South of France!

The French Riviera is experiencing a full on revival post-pandemic with a slew of luxurious 5 star hotel and restaurant openings; many hotels have had facelifts and new restaurant openings have us salivating… Zuma and La Petite Maison in Cannes are putting it firmly on the map of jet-setters and Luigi’s, Bella and Salama brings a younger, more party vibe to Cannes. Hotels are upping their game to compete with Ibiza, Mykonos and Sardinia, and I have to admit, they are succeeding. Now that we know Season 4 of the White Lotus is taking place in France, I am obviously hoping it will be in the South of France. Here are my 10 Top ultra luxurious hotels in the South of France:

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1. Hotel du Cap Eden Roc:

Best for: the ultimate, once-in-a-lifetime luxurious hotel and to rub shoulders with superstars.

The Grande Dame of all the hotels in the South of France, none can really compare with the Hotel du Cap, Eden Roc. Always a favourite for celebs during the Cannes Film Festival and loved by Americans, this stalwart has never lost its appeal but now has added a lovely new restaurant to keep up with the times: Giovanni’s is a charming Italian under a pergola with a perfect Mediterranean backdrop, exclusively for guests

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2. Chateau de La Messardiere:

Best for: The ultimate luxury family holiday in Saint Tropez

Chateau de La Messardiere has definitely upped its game with its recent multi-million pound renovation making it an impossible-to-book hotel in St Tropez right now. It gets so many things right, it’s hard to find any faults. The lunch buffet is positively extravagant and delicious, the new kids club has its own bastide and private pool, and the hotel’s private beach club, Jardin Tropezina, is one of my favourites (the shuttle service is priceless). And let’s not forget Matsuhisa, the Japanese restaurant, has one of the best views in St Tropez. If you can afford it, it’s so good, you’ll never need to leave. It will soon become your kids’ favourite hotel too, and yours as well.

BOOK CHATEAU DE LA MESSARDIERE HERE

The Maybourne Riviera | Fine Hotels + Resorts | Amex Travel KR

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3. The Maybourne Riviera:

Best For: Modern design for architecture aficionados

This hotel’s vertiginous views over Monaco are as stunning as the hotel itself; its clean, sleek, modern lines are for those who love a design hotel, but with top hospitality service to match it (it is part of the same hotel group as the Dorchester and the Berkeley). It is literally build in the rocks over Monaco and is an architectural masterpiece. It has quickly climbed the ranks as one of the top hotels in France.

BOOK THE MAYBOURNE RIVIERA HERE

Photo Courtesy of NHYM. Copyright 2025

4. Lily of the Valley:

Best for: Wellness holiday without starving

This new(ish) hotel designed by Philip Stark is not only aesthetically beautiful on a gorgeous spot along the coast, it also offers a weekly schedule of wellness activities from yoga, to hikes, to bike rides. Not only that, but you don’t need to starve and can eat a real steak for dinner! The bar next to the restaurant is one of the highlights with roaming musicians who will sing whatever song you ask them. Perfect for a couple’s weekend wellness retreat.

BOOK LILY OF THE VALLEY HERE

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5. Chateau Chevre d’Or:

Best for: Romance

This boutique hotel in Eze remains one of my all time favourites with the best views of the Cote d’Azur. The terrace lunch is divine, so even if you can’t stay, it’s worth the detour. The best place for young and old love. The winding medieval streets of Eze just adds to the romance; a perfect place for an engagement or honeymoon.

BOOK CHATEAU CHEVRE D’OR, EZE HERE

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6. Hotel du Couvent:

Best for: Historical hotel with minimalist interiors

Only just opened in 2024, it has started making Nice cool again. It is a beautiful hotel in an old convent with its own bakery and daily bread, a welcoming terrace to while the nights and days away. The decor is are bare and peaceful, it was a convent after all, but somehow manages to stay warm and inviting. The outdoor terrace in the courtyard is fantastic for a pre-dinner drink, and its private terraced swimming pools feels like Nice’s best kept secret. One to check out if in Nice!

BOOK HOTEL DU COUVENT HERE

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7. Grand Hotel du Cap Ferrat, a Four Seasons Hotel:

Best For: Four Seasons Service

This is where the White Lotus Season 4 will likely take place, and I can assure you that the people-watching is better than the show. The management was taken over by the Four Seasons about 10 years ago, to match the sophistication of the hotel guests. Like all Four Seasons, it opened a fab kids club and offers swimming lessons in its pool. Great for families wanting a base in the South of France with all the Four Season trappings. I can’t wait for it to feature in The White Lotus Season 4!

BOOK GRAND HOTEL DU CAP FERRAT HERE

Photo Courtesy of NHYM. Copyright 2025

8. Les Roches Rouges:

For a boutique hotel experience with much more reasonable prices than the above properties, Les Roches Rouges opened a few years ago. It already has a Michelin star restaurant and a very cool pool dug into the rocks. It’s young and trendy against the Grandes Dames hotels above. For the design, cool crowd in media, the arts and tech. This year, they have added brand new rooms designed by ASL Architects.

BOOK HOTEL LES ROCHES ROUGES HERE

Hôtel & Spa Belle Plage ★★★★★, Cannes - VeryChic

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9. Hotel Belle Plage, Cannes:

Best for: A young, trendy vibe in Cannes without breaking the bank.

This new, well designed hotel in Cannes is a winner with its sea views, great spa, a rooftop restaurant by Eyal Shani and rooms designed by Raphael Navot. Bella, the rooftop restaurant, has a delicious Mediterranean menu with fresh fish and meats on the menu. With reasonable prices, it is a great choice for a style conscious crowd in Cannes.

BOOK HOTEL BELLE PLAGE HERE

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Regent Hotels & Resorts

InterContinental Carlton Cannes, in Cannes (French Riviera), 5 stars ...

10. The Carlton, A Regent Hotel, Cannes

Best for: The ultimate Cannes Experience

For one of the oldest ‘Grande Dame’ hotels in the South of France, the Carton Cannes still reigns supreme. Just recently given a two year facelift, it still attracts the rich and famous during the Cannes Film Festival and houses all the top supremos during all the conference weeks in Cannes. A word of advice: don’t go in August, but at any other time of year, try it out. It oozes history with Obama and Hitchcock connections and its inner courtyard is a secret garden to give you a break from the busy Croisette.

BOOK THE CARLTON, CANNES HERE

This list was very difficult to compile with plenty of charming, updated hotels and new openings like Le Chateau de Theoule, the Mondrian in Cannes, Le Mas de Candille, Anantara Plaza Nice, and La Reserve de Ramatuelle, but these top 10 are ones that bring something slightly different to the others along the coast and are changing the face of the French Riviera.

What are you waiting for? Go and enjoy before The White Lotus fans take over!

xx

NHYM

http://www.nottinghillyummymummy.com

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Reviews

Restaurant Review: Sexy Fish

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All photos are NHYM apart from this one, generously borrowed from the restaurant’s website. NHYM 2016.

Sexy Fish

Berkely Square

London W1J 6BR

0203 764 2000

http://www.sexyfish.com

Design: 4.5 stars

Food: 3 stars

Service: 3.5 stars

Atmosphere: 4 stars

Overall: 3.75 stars 

‘I have never seen a restaurant whose ethos is so clearly and comprehensively, so preeningly and unapologetically: ‘Fuck you, I’m rich and I want a golden cave and servants. I want a pony and all the hookers I can strangle. I want a pyramid of cocaine and an Audi -Quattro.’ It is like being punched in the face by Abu Dhabi.’

– quoted from the Spectator Review 28/11/15 http://www.spectator.co.uk/2015/11/sexy-fish-not-so-much-a-restaurant-as-a-museum-of-londons-rich/

After reading a review like that, well, you’ve just got to see it with your own eyes. Sexy Fish opened last year as one of the hottest new restaurants in town, trying to steal the celebrity limelight away from Chiltern Firehouse, and has seen everything from Popstars (Cheryl ex-Cole, ex-Versini), Models (Kate Moss at the opening), Rock Royalty (the Jaggers were there 2 days ago for Georgia May’s 24th), to a private party full of politicians including dear old David (Cameron). Rita Ora sang at its opening party and VIP keys were handed out in advance. All ingredients to make it the latest trendsetter in the restaurant world.

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Bronze cast Damien Hirst statue on the bar. NHYM 2016.

It is the latest venture by Richard Caring (RC for this post) and his ever expanding restaurant-empire-cum-restaurant-chain. He is trying to take over the Mayfair restaurant scene and he is certainly making a statement. Firstly, we’ve got to address that oxymoronic name: Sexy Fish. A fish will never be sexy, but RC manages to make his restaurant pretty sexy-slutty: sexy bronze mermaids by Damien Hirst at the bar, climbing crocodiles by Frank Gehry, a parterre of onyx from Iran, and an actual waterfall behind his bar. Ok, completely over-the-top ostentatious, but you’ve got to love it. Downstairs in the private room are two glowing aquariums with multitudes of glow-in-the-dark fish ready for an after-party.

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Main dining room NHYM 2016. 

The Design

The dining room is art-deco, brasserie style with a large crocodile on the back wall designed by Frank Gehry, whom you will recall did the fish sculpture next to The Hotel Arts in Barcelona. It is quite a large room where you can scan your neighbours easily, with Matisse-inspired patterns on the ceilings in burgundy and gold.

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The very friendly bartender. NHYM 2016.

But the bar is by far my favourite part of the restaurant. It is large, sexy and is framed by overhanging white delicately sculpted fish above and blue mermaids on either side and yes, there is a waterfall in the back. When we arrive at the touristy hour (i.e. anytime before 8pm), there isn’t much atmosphere and it is largely catering tourists. But by the time we leave, the bar is buzzing, the vibe is cool, and the DJ has started spinning. This is really the time to show up.

SexyFishMenuNHYM

The Menu. NHYM 2016.

The Menu & the Food

The menu reads like many of the Asian-fusion/Japanese restaurants that first emerged in the 90’s starting with Nobu and still keep coming (Kurobuta). There is nothing creatively new on this menu, it follows a tried-and-tested formula of Nobu-Zuma-Roka-Novikov dishes. We order a bunch of sharing plates including the yellowtail sashimi, the Sexy Fish roll, tuna tartare, maple glazed pork belly skewers, duck salad and the famous Miso Glazed Chilean Seabass.

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Miso Seabass and Maple-Glazed pork belly. NHYM 2016. 

The food is unfortunately a let-down. It all looks beautiful, sounds beautiful and should be beautiful, but sadly, there is something missing. It isn’t bad, but falls flat compared to the other restaurants I have aforementioned. Usually, when you go to Nobu/Zuma/Roka, you are enlivened by the tastes and combination of flavours, but not even the famed Miso Seabass could do that for me. The only standout dish for me was the maple glazed pork belly skewer which melted in your mouth and was perfectly sweet and salty. The rest was ‘good’ but unfortunately quite forgettable.

The service gets some low marks just because we were ‘evicted’ before we could order the molten chocolate cake which we wanted to try. Next time.

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Sexy Fish Kitchen. NHYM 2016.

The Verdict

We managed to spend 4 hours at Sexy Fish, which meant that something worked. Sexy Fish combines the right ‘menu,’ the right location, the right brasserie-style design and the right amount of slebs to make it a success. The food isn’t what you’re after here, the main attraction is the bar and of course the people-watching. It’s a fun, lively spot that starts to get going around 10pm, and if I were to go again, I’d probably skip the food and head straight to the bar for a martini while I ogle all the hedge-funders and their mistresses for entertainment purposes. After all, it’s cheaper than flying all the way to Dubai.

xx

NHYM

http://www.nottinghillyummymummy.com

@NHyummymummy

BlueLitcheeMartiniSexyFishNHYM

Sexy Fish Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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