On a hill overlooking the Bay of Saint-Tropez, inside a spacious mansion on the French Riviera, recently reopenedCOMO Le Beauvallon– A hotel that combines the splendor of the early 20th century with a contemporary hospitality concept.The hotel is located in Grimaud, southern France, inside a palace that first opened in 1914 as Le Golf Hôtel. The original building was designed by Swiss architect Julien Flegenheimer at the bernheim brothers’ request, and was built in the spirit of the Belle Époque period – years when the French Riviera established itself as an elegant vacation destination for the nobility, artists, and intellectuals.Ofri Paz | STANNELThe story of Le Beauvallon is largely the story of a place that repeatedly returns to its original purpose. Over the years, the building served as a military hospital in both world wars, and after each one it was renovated and reopened as a luxury hotel. It later became one of the hospitality centers associated with the glamour of Saint-Tropez: its guests included the writer Colette, Winston Churchill, and the French poet Paul Géraldi, and in the 1960s it even served as a backdrop for films and series that became part of local mythology.

The current renovation does not attempt to erase this history, but rather to bring it back to contemporary use. The central structure maintains its harmonious presence: a symmetrical facade, arches, balconies, wide terraces, and an open view of the sea. Around it, an area of about 40 dunams spreads out, connecting the Provençal hill with the waterfront. The gardens, palm trees, and pine trees do not serve merely as a pastoral backdrop, but as an integral part of the experience design: a gradual movement from the hotel to the pool, from the terraces to the beach, and from the beach to the private pier from which a short cruise to Saint-Tropez departs.

In this sense, COMO Le Beauvallon functions less as an urban hotel and more as a Mediterranean mansion. The map of the complex reveals a set of different areas: the historic building, the winter garden, the Riviera terrace, common guest rooms, north and south gardens, a pool, a beach club, a restaurant, an open roof and a private pier. Alongside these, the hotel has also preserved the original ballroom – a rare detail that connects the building to the historic hospitality culture of the Riviera, and continues to be used as part of the venue’s event lineup. Each of the spaces offers a different pace of stay, but all are connected to the same view – the bay, the light and the precise distance from Saint-Tropez: close enough to be part of it, far enough to remain quiet.

One of the main focuses of the project is Beauvallon Sur Mer, the beach restaurant and beach club designed by French designerDorothée DelayeAnd designed as a contemporary interpretation of the Riviera of the 1950s. The design combines historical refinement with coastal lightness: curved iron lines, woodwork reminiscent of the woodwork of luxury boats, sunny shades of yellow, blue and sea, and a transition between a circular and bright space, an open terrace and a graphic mosaic pool on the shoreline. The result is not nostalgic in the direct sense, but a retranslation of Riviera glamour into a contemporary, relaxed and bright language.

The hotel itself also retains the quiet grandeur of a historic resort palace. The rooms and suites mostly face the sea or the gardens, and combine wide proportions, high openings, light textiles and furniture that favors softness and restraint over dramatic statement. The hotel has 42 rooms and suites, including 28 suites facing the sea. The COMO Suite, which covers 199 square meters, functions almost as a penthouse apartment open to the view, with columns, large windows and the feeling of a private living room above the bay.

The public hospitality spaces continue the same line of effortless elegance. The Winter Garden, a bright glass space, offers a daily dining area where the boundary between inside and outside is blurred by natural light, vegetation and views. The Riviera Terrace, overlooking the bay, continues the tradition of hospitality in the area as an afternoon and evening ritual: cocktails, sea breeze, meticulous outdoor furniture and an open view of the horizon. The hotel’s hospitality concept is built precisely from these connections, between tranquility, health, cuisine and design. Alongside the restaurants and the beach, there are also COMO Shambhala’s wellness areas, treatment rooms, yoga classes, a gym and a healthy menu served in the Winter Garden. Here too, the experience is not disconnected from the architecture: it relies on the proximity to the sea, the spacious gardens and spaces that invite slowing down rather than excess stimulation.

Beyond the architecture and materiality, one of the hotel’s most striking elements is its art collection. The hotel displays more than 300 works of art, creating a dialogue between contemporary art from China and Southeast Asia and the artistic heritage of the French Riviera. The collection is not presented as an official museum, but as part of the stay experience: works scattered throughout the spaces, corridors and hospitality areas, adding a cultural layer to the hotel that connects place, journey and time.

 

Among the gardens, along the shore, is also the Ito Pavilion – a pavilion originally designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Toyo Ito for the Serpentine Gallery’s summer pavilion in 2002. Its placement within the complex adds a contemporary and lighter, almost transparent architectural presence to a mansion that is primarily associated with historical grandeur. This creates an interesting encounter between two types of luxury: one historic, heavy and symmetrical; the other experimental, open and modern.Original architecture |Julien FlegenheimerDesign Beauvallon Sur Mer |Dorothée DelayePhotography |COMO Hotels and Resorts

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