When my grandparents visited Saint Tropez for their honeymoon in the early 1960s, air travel was still a real luxury, so they drove all the way there from Lancashire in their old Land Rover instead. My grandfather saw Brigitte Bardot in a bathing suit once, apparently, but other than her they like to tell us how they had the whole of Pampelonne Beach to themselves.
Nostalgic tales of Saint Tropez in the 1950s and 60s are still at the heart of the French Riviera’s allure. It was a time before mass tourism, when rosé still came in jerry cans and wooden pointus fishing boats came into harbour with the daily catch. This was the region’s heyday, or so the postcards and Slim Aarons coffee table books and film photography would have you believe. Before this, of course, the French Riviera drew Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet, Chagall and Matisse to its sun-drenched shores, the prismatic light inspiring generations of painters.
Today, there are still glimpses of Saint Tropez’s bygone simplicity around the edges of the town’s glitzy beach clubs and hotels. Through all the noise, those smaller places which manage to capture this unhurried, retro glamour tend to be well worth seeking out.
So it was with much curiosity that we checked into Lou Pinet, a charming Provençal-style villa in the heart of Saint Tropez village, which this year welcomes a high-profile seasonal art residency with contemporary gallery Aurélien Gendras, bringing with it a number of carefully curated pieces to sit in harmony with both the space and Saint-Tropez’s rich creative heritage. The hotel had been on our radar for a while, just steps from the historic Place des Lices and draped in jasmine that perfumes the air well before you see it.
Lou Pinet sits alongside a collection of four other exquisite five-stars across France (in Paris, Provence, Méribel and Courcheval), which form the family-owned Maisons Pariente group. There are some impressive industry names behind the property too: it was renovated in a classic 1960s style by architect Charles Zana, alongside landscape architect Jean Mus and restaurateur Riccardo Giraudi, who is responsible for the globetrotting Beefbar franchise.
Arriving by yacht, our first impression is that the place feels like a tasteful and joyfully bohemian holiday house, rather than a hotel. The new frescoes and paintings curated by Aurélien Gendras’ art residency certainly help this sense of personality, including ceramic sculptures by Laurent Dufour installed throughout the gardens. Our more artistically educated companion says the hotel’s colour palette and general aesthetic of the hotel reminds them of paintings by Chagall or Cocteau or even Matisse, who led the Fauvism movement on the Côte d’Azur with their use of bold, unnaturalistic hues.
Across the bedrooms and suites, the design plays on the same nostalgic memories of a 1960s villa. There are vintage knick-knacks dotted about the place alongside natural Provençal materials such as linen, ceramic, rope, terracotta and raw lime. All 34 rooms open onto a central garden, with the fragrance of lavender, jasmine and aromatic herbs wafting through the large open windows. There’s also a wistfulness in the chaise longues and soft cotton drapes fluttering in the breeze, and in the details like the mid-century lampshades and hand-painted crockery. The furnishings are soft, with a pleasing amount of yellow used in details from bathroom tiles to cornicing to lampshades. Again, the links to the Fauvist paintbox comes to mind, when Matisse and his disciples were drawn to the southern sunshine of the region.
The landscaped gardens are likely where you’ll spend most of your time, reading in a hammock or strolling slowly against a backdrop of pine trees. Lou Pinet has one of the largest pools in the area, pretty red parasols offsetting against the pinkish tone of the house with its avocado-green shutters.
The dining space (La Terrasse) opens out onto the gardens and towards the pool for convivial all-day Mediterranean dining under the Tropezian sun. The breakfast buffet is sublime, with a spread of artisanal French products as well as healthier options like detox juices. For lunch, we opt for grilled Provençal-style octopus, a sea-bass sashimi that’s almost buttery in texture, and a simple yet divine heritage tomato, feta and black-olive salad. The coastline borders the Italian region of Liguria, and the culinary overlap is strong: vitello tonnato, burrata with basil pesto and sundried tomatoes and prawn linguine all make the menu too. The wines are also good, naturally, with blush rosés produced only a few kilometres inland. By the pool after lunch, enjoy a Menton Basil Smash, named after the specific type of lemon that grows in the nearby Franco-Italian town. In the evening, the hotel’s Beefbar Saint-Tropez is an outpost of the aforementioned renowned restaurant group and a sought-after destination in its own right, with the same impeccable cooking you’ll find everywhere from Dubai to Megèves.
When you do venture out into Saint Tropez and beyond, there’s an ever-evolving selection of bespoke experiences the concierge team can arrange for you. Private wine tastings with local producers, a romantic Champagne picnic in a scenic vineyard, or a morning spent riding along trails through pine forests and down onto the beach are all on the cards. Last but not least, there’s the spa, a tranquil oasis set up like a secret hideaway at the bottom of the garden and using only the most natural and nature-first products — an unmissable part of any stay at Lou Pinet.
