france · May — September
The village in May, the village in August — two different cities, both ours. Five palaces at the top, three new tables, the courts at Beauvallon resurfaced, and the Pampelonne beach map redrawn for 2026.
Hotels
Book the room — handled personally.
Palace · 5★The LVMH operation on the quai, now in its seventh year and the most polished room in the village.
Palace · 5★The hill, the pines, the second pool that no one talks about, and the only true family palace in the area.
Palace · 5★The original Saint-Tropez palace, opened 1967, still the address Caves du Roy points to at one in the morning.
5★ · Maisons Pariente
5★ · WellnessPhilippe Starck's hilltop wellness resort above La Croix-Valmer, the serious option for a week of sleep and treatment.
5★ · DesignThe Christophe Pillet design hotel on Route des Salins, with Colette (1★ Michelin) and a long pool in the pines.
5★ · Old townThe oldest hotel in Saint-Tropez, reopened by the new ownership in 2022 and the only true village address that still feels lived-in.
Festive · clubs, line-ups, long lunches
Reserve the table for the night out — handled personally.
Club · Iconic
Beach restaurantThe Bagatelle Group's romantic Pampelonne table, currently supervised by Gucci — playful, chic, and unmistakably IT-spot.
Cabaret · Dinner-showThe Bagatelle Group's cabaret-dinner on the harbour — French cancan in the village register, the late-evening switch from table to dancefloor.
Beach restaurantThe Pampelonne beach extension of La Réserve Ramatuelle, with Jean-Michel Wilmotte's understated wood and Eric Canino's kitchen.
Authentic · the quiet rooms
Reserve the quiet dinner — handled personally.
3★ MichelinArnaud Donckèle's three-star room inside Cheval Blanc Saint-Tropez — the most ambitious dining room on the Mediterranean coast.
1★ Michelin
Beach restaurantThe Carluccio brothers' green-and-white operation on Pampelonne, with Julien Lee (ex-Ducasse) holding the kitchen since opening.
Local · SeafoodThe Bonne Terrasse fish shack at the far end of Pampelonne — the bouillabaisse address that has nothing else on the menu.
Village classicThe Belaïch family Provençal courtyard in the village — open since 1942, the most consistent dinner inside the walls.
Beaches & beach clubs
Reserve the cabana — handled personally.
Beach clubThe Greek-leaning beach club on Tahiti — Mediterranean grill, soft music until late afternoon, and the smartest sunbed layout on the strip.
Beach clubInstitutionThe original Pampelonne address, opened 1955 — still the lunch reservation that confers status without needing to.
Beach clubThe Bagatelle Group beach — fifteen sister addresses globally, the reliable Pampelonne option for the long-second-service crowd.
Sport · tennis, padel, polo, golf
Book the court · the green · the chukkers — handled personally.
Polo · summer seasonSixty-five hectares of clay-floor fields a fifteen-minute drive inland from the gulf, the home of the international cup each July and August.
Tennis · MembersSix clay courts in the pines fifteen minutes from the village, the most serious tennis option in the Gulf.
Golf · 18 holesEighteen holes on a headland above the gulf, sea on three sides, the round with the view that the inland course does not offer.
Padel · Tennis · MembersThe century-old racquet club on the village edge, with the only proper padel courts inside the Saint-Tropez perimeter.
Golf · 18 holesEighteen holes in the pines on the inland side of the Gulf, the only serious round in the immediate Saint-Tropez area.
Boats · charters & day trips
Charter the boat — handled personally.
Half-day · Full-dayThe half-day to the Îles d'Or, the full-day to Pampelonne and back — the boat is the only correct way to lunch at Club 55.
Classic · 33 ftThe wooden icon of the Riviera — restored mahogany, chrome cleats, half-day on the gulf with a captain who knows the anchorages.
Sport · 30 ftThe Prado day-boat for a beach-club loop of Pampelonne — fast, dry, the right hull for the chop after the mistral.
80m+ · Benetti · LürssenThe week aboard a 80-metre — Saint-Tropez to Portofino, Corsica, the Aeolian Islands. Crew of twenty, chef, tender garage.
Transfer · 15 minThe fifteen-minute hop from the Vieux Port to the beach club — Zodiac, two crew, no waiting for the tender.
Private aviation · jets
Charter a jet · point to point — handled personally.
VistaJet · NetJets · FlexjetDirect to La Môle (LFTZ, 10 minutes from the village) or Cannes-Mandelieu — VistaJet, NetJets, Flexjet on demand.
Helicopter transfers
Book the transfer · airport, peak, port — handled personally.
20 min · Heli Securité · MonacairTwenty minutes from Nice Airport to La Môle — the only correct transfer in July and August. Heli Securité, Monacair, Blade.
15 min · point to pointFifteen minutes from La Môle to Monaco heliport — the right way to do the Grand Prix Sunday or the Friday night at Jimmy'z.
Spas & wellness
Book the treatment — handled personally.
Spa · Tata HarperThe only Tata Harper spa in Europe, inside Lou Pinet — Vermont-grown botanicals, four treatment rooms, and a serious facial protocol.
Spa · GuerlainThe Guerlain-operated spa inside Cheval Blanc Saint-Tropez — discreet, technical, the most consistent treatment protocol in town.
Events · what's on this season
Book the experience — handled personally.
August · ShoppingThe August village shopping ritual — three days when the rue Gambetta and the place des Lices open the cellars and the new collection at the same time.