The South of France

The South of France is badly served by lists. The same palace hotels, beach clubs and restaurants circulate with little distinction between somewhere worth knowing and somewhere with an efficient publicity department. This address book moves from the Riviera into Provence, retaining the grand names where their reputation is still supported by the experience and making room for places with patina, local life and a reason to exist beyond the summer season.

Stay

Hôtel La Ponche (Saint-Tropez) — La Ponche belongs to the old fishing quarter from which it takes its name. Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre and Françoise Sagan stayed here before Saint-Tropez became a global category of spending. It is now more polished, but its scale and position among the narrow streets preserve something of the town before the cars begin queuing for Pampelonne.

Baumanière (Les Baux-de-Provence) — Baumanière opened beneath Les Baux in 1945 and now extends across a twenty-hectare estate of stone buildings, gardens and pools. Its principal restaurant, L'Oustau de Baumanière, carries three Michelin stars. The estate is spread across a scatter of old stone houses, so a first visit unfolds gradually, one building at a time.

Hôtel du Couvent (Nice) — A former convent in the old town restored as an 88-room hotel, with terraced gardens, restaurants and baths below the main building. Much of it remains concealed behind the original walls. Nice has bedrooms in abundance; few arrive with this degree of architectural thought.

Villa La Coste (Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade) — Thirty-one suites set within Château La Coste's 200-hectare organic vineyard. The hotel forms part of an estate devoted to wine, art and architecture, with works and buildings commissioned from figures including Louise Bourgeois, Tadao Ando and Richard Rogers. The money is visible in concrete pavilions, site-specific works and the long paths between them. The swimming pool is almost incidental.

Airelles La Bastide (Gordes) — A hotel built into the upper reaches of Gordes, looking across the Luberon from terraces cut into the hillside. The interiors are unapologetically Provençal and occasionally approach the limits of prettiness, but the setting, service and connection to the village earn it consideration. This is the Airelles property to include; Château de La Messardière can remain at the pool for now.