The South of France Hotels List

I’ve never taken a proper long holiday in the South of France. Sure, I’ve been plenty of times—from picking up a vintage Fiat Panda on Lake Garda and driving it to the Médoc in the height of summer, to a last-minute winter getaway at my favorite La Colombe d’Or, because we could actually get a reservation. There have also been plenty of 3-to-4 day trips to some of the chicest hotels I’ve been to: the Maybourne Riviera, Hotel du Couvent, Hotel La Ponche, and La Reserve Ramatuelle, to name just a few on the coast. And I’ve spent some cold (and hot) weather weekends in Avignon, Bonnieux and Arles. But still, no matter how many times I’ve traversed this area or studied its maps, I still feel geographically challenged remembering what town is next to which bay or beach, and the distances between everything. Selfishly, I wanted to do this Shortlist (which isn’t really short at all!), because I inevitably end up in this region last-minute, and I get asked about it all the time. 

So we buried ourselves in the research, compiling notes from contributors, scouring our digital archives and South of France Planner (a great resource if you’re planning a trip and need to sort out logistics) to put together this great list, which is geographically organized from East to West, and broken out by inland and coastal subregions. Plus it includes some good Costa Meno (affordable!) options—anything marked with an asterisk has rooms available for under €350 in July.

Now that I’ve got this in my pocket, maybe I’ll consider driving the coast in a vintage car again… maybe. Or, I’ll finally commit to spending a proper week in one of these glorious places you’ll read about below. —Yolanda