There are few hotel arrivals in Saint-Tropez quite as satisfying as approaching by water. From the port, COMO Le Beauvallon is an eight-minute boat ride across the Gulf, leaving the bustle of town behind for a ten-acre estate between a Provençal hillside and the Mediterranean. For guests, the complimentary boat service runs from the hotel’s private pontoon throughout the day, making Saint-Tropez feel close without sacrificing the pleasure of retreating from it.
The setting comes with more than a century of history. Opened in 1914 as Le Golf Hôtel, the Belle Époque palace was designed by Swiss architect Julien Flengenheimer and soon became part of the Riviera’s social landscape. Its guest list over the decades included Colette, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Winston Churchill and French poet Paul Géraldy; in the 1960s, the property appeared on screen in Two for the Road, starring Audrey Hepburn.
Today, intimacy is one of its greatest luxuries. There are just 42 individually designed rooms and sea-facing suites, culminating in the 199-square-metre COMO Suite. Outside, palms and umbrella pines frame the gardens, while a 25-metre pool and private beach encourage days that require very little planning.
Art is another unexpected element. More than 300 artworks and installations are spread across the estate, including the 2002 Serpentine Gallery Summer Pavilion designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Toyo Ito. Wellness, meanwhile, comes through COMO Shambhala, with treatment rooms, yoga and meditation, a gym and the brand’s holistic approach to wellbeing.
But the reimagined Beauvallon also has serious gastronomic ambitions. Culinary direction has been entrusted to Yannick Alléno. His influence extends throughout the hotel, but its most visible expression is Beauvallon Sur Mer by Yannick Alléno, his first beach club concept.
Yannick Alléno is one of the world’s most acclaimed chefs of his generation, with 18 Michelin stars across ten restaurants in 2026, including three-starred Alléno Paris and Le 1947 in Courchevel. His culinary footprint extends well beyond France, with restaurants and concepts in Monaco, London, Dubai, Doha, Seoul and Osaka, establishing his interpretation of contemporary French gastronomy on an international stage.
At the water’s edge, French designer Dorothée Delaye has created a restaurant in sunny yellows and Mediterranean blues. Two dining areas open towards the Gulf, while a central lounge gives the space a more social character. Open to both hotel residents and outside guests, it is designed to evolve naturally from lunch to aperitifs, dinner and late-evening drinks.
Alléno’s menu looks east without losing sight of the Riviera. Dim sum, nems, sashimi, crudos, sushi and rolls share the menu with noodles, rice, Asian-style salads and larger fish and meat dishes. Much of it is conceived for the centre of the table rather than individual, formal courses.
Local produce remains important, alongside the high sourcing standards associated with COMO. Among the signatures, a sea bream ceviche has the freshness the setting demands, while the nems provide a crisp, more playful expression of the Asian influence. A whole grilled sea bass for two brings the meal firmly back to Mediterranean waters and is perhaps the dish that best captures the restaurant’s philosophy: good produce, confident cooking and the pleasure of sharing.
There is none of the ceremony sometimes associated with a chef of Alléno’s stature. Beauvallon Sur Mer is intended for the Riviera, where lunch has a habit of continuing long after the plates have been cleared. The mood becomes livelier as the day progresses, while the Gulf remains the constant backdrop.
That balance between past and present now defines COMO Le Beauvallon itself. The Belle Époque architecture and storied guest list provide the history; contemporary art, COMO Shambhala and Alléno’s cooking give the property its new identity.
And perhaps its greatest luxury is geographical: Saint-Tropez is only eight minutes away by boat, yet from a table at Beauvallon Sur Mer, it can feel pleasantly distant.
Address: Bd des Collines, 83310 Grimaud
Phone: 04 94 55 78 88