Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, A Four Seasons Hotel

A funicular runs from a white Belle Époque hotel down through a park of umbrella pines to a seawater pool at the water's edge, at the southern tip of Cap-Ferrat. The Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, A Four Seasons Hotel, in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat opened in 1908, when the peninsula was the winter address of King Leopold II of the Belgians and the villas were few.

History

The hotel was built as the Grand Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat on the last stretch of land before the lighthouse, with its park laid out on the slope towards the sea. Leopold II had assembled estates on the cape, and the hotel served the society that followed him. Between the wars it added the pool and the Club Dauphin beach club at the bottom of the garden, reached by the funicular that still runs. Somerset Maugham lived at the Villa Mauresque on the cape from 1926, and the hotel's guest lists of the mid-century hold names such as Charlie Chaplin, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

A two-year closure ended in 2009 with a full renovation, interiors by Pierre-Yves Rochon and a new private villa in the grounds, the Villa Rose-Pierre. The hotel then received the French Palace distinction, the official rank above five stars. Four Seasons has managed it since 2015.

Architecture and design

The main building is a long white block in the manner of the Riviera's Belle Époque palaces, with the park falling away below it in terraces. A straight alley of pines leads the eye from the terrace to the sea, and the funicular runs beside it. Rochon's interiors use pale stone, white and grey with touches of blue, and keep the volumes of the original salons. The Villa Rose-Pierre, a four-bedroom house with its own pool, stands apart in the grounds. At the foot of the park, Club Dauphin holds the heated seawater pool, cabanas and the summer restaurant.

Rooms and suites

The 74 rooms and suites are divided between the historic building and the wing added during the 2009 works. Rooms face the sea or the park; the largest suites are on the upper floors of the main building, with terraces over the pines.

Dining

Le Cap, the dinner restaurant, holds a Michelin star for Mediterranean cooking built on fish from the coast and produce from the Niçois hinterland. La Véranda serves breakfast, lunch and dinner on a terrace over the park. In summer Club Dauphin runs a grill and bar beside the pool.

Wellness

The spa has an indoor pool and treatment rooms, with the outdoor seawater pool at Club Dauphin heated for most of the year. A kids' club keeps younger guests occupied, which matters at a hotel where families return every summer.

Weddings and events

Weddings take place in the park with the sea as backdrop, with receptions on the lawns and in the salons of the main building; the Villa Rose-Pierre is used for family gatherings that want a house of their own. The hotel also takes meetings and incentive groups, who have the whole peninsula for excursions.

Location

The hotel stands at the southern end of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, beside the Phare du Cap-Ferrat and the coastal path that circles the cape. The village and its harbour are to the north-east, and the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, with its gardens, sits on the neck of the peninsula. Beaulieu-sur-Mer station, four kilometres away, has TER trains along the coast to Nice and Monaco. Nice Côte d'Azur airport is about twenty-five kilometres west, forty minutes by road; Monaco is fifteen kilometres east. Among luxury hotels in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat this is the one at the end of the road, with the sea on three sides.