Royal Riviera, St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France
Royal Riviera 4 Stars
"Grace Leo-Andrieu inspired this revamp of a Riviera grand dame, a luxury hotel that boasts a private beach and glamorous pool area."
Hotel Overview
Review of Royal Riviera, by Jamie Dunford Wood
Although this luxury hotel has a St Jean Cap Ferrat address, this grand Edwardian structure is really on the edge of Beaulieu, just as the road slopes up and around towards the Cap Ferrat peninsula.
The facilities
The luxury hotel Royal Riviera has had a substantial makeover and garnered a lot of press, due mostly to its modernist-meets-art deco lobby and restaurant, with its linear furnishings and subtle colour ways. Its garden and pool, too, are impressive, with massage beds hidden about the grounds and plenty of space to lounge around - however there is no seaside terrace at the luxury hotel, just a small private beach outside the grounds across a public footpath.
The rooms
The best rooms at the luxury hotel, doubtless to say, are those with sea views - next best the Orangerie rooms with views of the gardens. The rooms themselves do not quite live up to the promise of the sharply decorated reception rooms of the luxury hotel - their greys, pinks, browns and pale blues have a somewhat insipid, corporate feel - but the enticing gardens will help tip the balance for some.
Facilities
Rooms
96Who stays here?
Guests are often those looking for a romantic retreat.
Come for...
- The hotel's private beach
- The Wellness Centre
- Contemporary glamour
Not Suitable for...
- Anyone who looks twice at the bill at check-out.
Children
The hotel welcomes children, and a babysitting service is available on request.
Eating in
Provencal flavours presented for jet-set tastes dominate the menu at The Panorama restaurant where chef Bruno Le Bolch presides. Pergola serves light salads, meat and fish from the grill and healthy lunches poolside during the summer months.
The Press Say
"This is a Côte d’Azur classic, and Brits and Frenchies alike clamour to get a room in August…It’s elegant, refined and right on the sea, with a private beach..." The Sunday Times 06"…the vast pool and terraces, with their white parasols and private sandy beach, create an idyllic outdoor environment" The Independent 06
Reviews
Review of Royal Riviera, by Gemma Pitcher
The Royal Riviera epitomises the resurgence of interest in the French Riviera, once the playground of the beautiful before the posing pouch and fake tan brigade moved in. Constructed in 1904, the hotel has been reinvented and returned to Grande Dame status by famed hotel consultant Grace Leo-Andrieu.
She redid the interiors along clean, airy lines with an ancient Greek theme, and arranged for a new 'Jardin Renaissance' designed by renowned landscape architect Jean Mus, which today draws visitors in its own right who come to wander under the orange trees and around the lavender bushes, smell the lime-verbena, and stroll along the olive trees to the belvedere for a breathtaking view on the Baie des Fourmis and the Villa Kerylos.
Bedrooms are clean and uncluttered, with bleached wood furniture and wall hangings of urns and Grecian warriors. Deep in the gardens is the Orangerie, a villa containing 14 rooms and two suites, each with a large terrace overlooking the garden and pool, or a balcony with a partial sea view, and decorated in a palette of lavender and orange sherbet. The garden pool has a partial view of the sea, a path to a private sandy beach, and a spa.