Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc
Just mention the name Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc to any travel advisor and you’re bound to get a reaction from even an amateur. It’s no great secret that Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc is one of the most luxurious and glamorous hotels in the world.
It’s not always easy to get a reservation but there are several ways you can. If your someone with a high enough profile or pedigree that helps. If you have a bad “rep” they may decline your reservation request. The hotel doesn’t like those that misbehave and there have been a few that have been asked not to return. Another way to secure a reservation is to have friends who are regulars and will recommend you. The last is having a travel advisor who is connected and who is known by the Oetker group (the company that owns the hotel). This is of course assuming you’re advisor is in fact known and will recommend you. The toughest time to get a reservation is during the Cannes Film Festival. Even the smallest room during this period is coveted.
The hotel is located midway between Nice and Cannes on a promontory and on a rugged pine-forested area on the Riviera. The impeccable gardens slope down to the rocky coast of Eden Roc. The setting is pure magic and like no other in the world.
The hotel was originally built by the owner of Le Figaro newspaper. The hotel was frequented by writers back in the F. Scott Fitzgerald era and was referred to as Hotel des Etrangers in his novel “Tender is the Night”.
The majority of the common areas and rooms are housed in the main palace like building. There are a few annexes and several even more luxurious villas, some with private pools, scattered around the grounds. These, of course, afford the most privacy.
A recent renovation has made the hotel more comfortable and include extra large flat-screen TV’s and minibars. Excellent Wi-Fi for which there is no charge.
The main chateau building is like walking onto a set. A set of a fairy-tale story where the concierge completes the picture by perform their duties in an efficient if not dramatic way. In the bright reception room there is grand circular staircase which envelops an antique elevator. The adjoining lounge is soothing with bright upholstered covered chairs. Here there is also a white marble bar where fresh Bellini’s are served throughout the day by white-coated servers.
Just a short walk from the main building is Eden-Roc. It is here where the sea-view restaurant, snack bar and beautiful salt water infinity pool are. It is also here where much of the action happens during the day, weather permitting. Lunch and dinner is served here during the warmer months and it’s not uncommon to spot a celebrity. There are also private cabanas dotting the rocks that you can reserve for a fee for more privacy.
The fitness club provides guests with a small but comprehensive paneled gym, a sauna, a mosaic-tiled steam room, a tanning bed and massage. Beauty treatments are an option as well as salon services.
Even though there is not a sand beach guests can swim off a dock where yachts deposit their passengers for lunch and a swim. There are floats to swim to, as well as diving boards cantilevered over the sea. The hotel offers a variety of water sports but the best known activity is the impeccably maintained five clay tennis courts.
The majority of the lodgings are in three buildings. Rooms in the main building have high ceilings, tasteful appointments with period, nautical or rustic detailing, and elegant marble baths with robes and lighted mirrors and are decorated in Louis XV style. A handful of suites here have terraces or balconies. The Eden-Roc wing of the main building houses the top choices. All of the accommodations here have private sea-view terraces. The 32 rooms in Les Deux Fontaines wing are air-conditioned and beautifully appointed with thick carpeting, refined fabrics in coordinated pastel colors, classic furniture and big, beautiful, well-equipped baths.
Room service is continuous and instantaneous. Pets are not preferred. A few rooms remain for smokers. The atmosphere is mostly understated. The only time this may change is during the Cannes Film Festival.
