6 Sumptuous European Hotels for Summer Travelers
If you’re planning to attend the Paris Olympics and see a bit of Europe this summer, you have a variety of plush new hotels from which to choose (though they’re likely to fill up quickly). Whether you’re going to the Games or simply going on vacation, you’ll find fresh boutique properties in Paris and many more that are an easy flight away, be it to the French Riviera, Rome, or fittingly, an island in Greece, the birthplace of the ancient games.
Paris
Hôtel Balzac
Beginning June 1, after a two-year renovation, Hôtel Balzac, a member of Relais & Châteaux, the luxury hotel and restaurant network, is planning to open in the Eighth Arrondissement, within walking distance of the Champs-Élysées. Meant to feel like a Parisian home and inspired by 1930s style, the hotel is a sister property of the cozy Relais Christine in the Sixth Arrondissement, as well as the Saint James Paris in the 16th Arrondissement.
With interiors designed by Festen Architecture, there will be 58 rooms and suites in soothing neutral hues, some with views of the Eiffel Tower. Beyond your room you’ll find a lounge where you can enjoy breakfast before strolling the famous boulevard; a Japanese-inspired spa for treatments upon your return; a cocktail bar; and Pierre Gagnaire, a Michelin-starred restaurant with modern French cuisine. Prices from 590 euros, or about $630 a night.
Maison Proust
Like several of the latest hotels in Paris, such as Hotel Norman and Le Grand Mazarin, this hot spot in the Marais is an intimate affair with just 23 rooms and suites. A homage to the novelist Marcel Proust, the hotel features sumptuous spaces that conjure the Belle Époque and in them you’ll discover objects linked to the hotel’s namesake, including an autographed copy of “Swann’s Way.”
Designed by Jacques Garcia, the French interior decorator known for luxurious spaces like the Hôtel Costes in Paris and La Mamounia in Marrakech, Maison Proust is a member of the Collection Maisons Particulières, a group of hotels designed to feel like mansions. Each of the glamorous rooms are inspired by personalities from Proust’s world, including Colette and Monet.
If you can’t manage to nab one, you can still visit the bar where on Fridays, Colin Field, formerly the head bartender at Bar Hemingway at the storied Ritz Paris, is now creating cocktails (from 25 euros, or about $27) like L’Élixir de Proust, with raspberry essence and Champagne. You can also unwind at Spa La Mer, where there’s a hammam and pool.
Yet even without all that, the hotel’s location in the Marais — amid restaurants, shops and destinations like the Musée National Picasso-Paris and the Musée Carnavalet — makes it an enviable spot from which to step out and explore one of the world’s most walkable cities. Prices from €950 (with slight seasonal variation).
AREV Saint Tropez
Within walking distance of the colorful village of St.-Tropez, this 43 room-and-suite hotel opened in March with flowering trees, a pool surrounded by striped umbrellas, and an outdoor bar where frozen rosé awaits. The popular Pampelonne Beach and its beach clubs are a brief drive away, while smaller nearby beaches offer the opportunity for a quick dip. Or stay put and indulge in a massage at the spa, head outside for a sunrise Pilates or yoga class, or hop on a Peloton bike at the fitness center. Unlike the Olympics, games at AREV Saint Tropez, like pétanque and padel, can be played in between glasses of rosé.
The rooms (some with private terraces and patios with flowers) were designed by Luis Bustamante, with splashes of blue, white and red, creating a nautical feel even when you’re not lounging by the sea. Explore outside your room and you’ll come across the Strand Restaurant and Champagne Lounge. The original Strand, a local crowd-pleaser, closed years ago, though this reincarnation at AREV Saint Tropez hopes to bring back some of the joie de vivre of its predecessor with live music, French wines and contemporary takes on regional dishes such as thon de Méditerranée, red tuna atop crispy risotto. For dessert, try the rice pudding or the chocolate soufflé. Prices from €1,440 June through August, and starting at €590 from October through March.
Nice, France
Hôtel du Couvent
Set in a convent dating to the 17th century, this 88 room-and-suite hotel plans to open in June, when it will offer guests glimpses into its monastic past. The property’s restoration is being spearheaded by Valéry Grégo, who founded Perseus, a builder and operator of hotels, including Le Pigalle in Paris. There will be a vegetable and herb garden, a bakery and an herbalist shop where you can stop in for custom-made teas with herbs from the garden.
Vegetables, fruits and eggs from both the garden and an off-site farm in Touët-sur-Var may be served at the hotel’s restaurants: Le Restaurant du Couvent, Le Bistrot des Serruriers and La Guinguette Café, where you can sip a drink in the garden near the lap pool. Wander the grounds and take advantage of the studio for yoga, exercise and meditation, or partake of a series of thermal “Roman baths.” The baths are a nod to the remains of the Roman baths in nearby Cimiez, where you can also visit the Musée National Marc Chagall and Musée Matisse.
Return to the hotel, part of the Luxury Collection from Marriott, with interior design by Festen Architecture, and to the serene colors of your airy room. Prices from €390 a night.
Rome
Casa Monti
On May 31, Leitmotiv — the group behind the buzzy, garden-themed La Fantaisie boutique hotel in Paris — is planning to open their first property outside of France: Casa Monti, in Rome.
The hotel is in Rome’s Monti neighborhood, dappled with cafes and restaurants, and takes its inspiration from the area’s artists, encouraging guests to think of themselves as artists in residence. Past its 18th-century facade are frescoes and 36 rooms and suites that are awash with color and bold patterns by the interior designer Laura Gonzalez. You’re within walking distance of must-see sights like the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. And upon returning from a day of exploring you can drop by the spa, linger over dinner — indoors or al fresco — at the hotel restaurant and then watch night fall from your perch on the rooftop bar. Prices from €450 a night.
Avant Mar
Rising from the Greek island of Paros, this escape on Piperi beach blends soft sand with Cycladic cubic style architecture. The hotel has 38 rooms and suites, including some with private plunge pools. If you can manage to leave yours behind to explore the grounds, you’ll find the wellness area, where you can get a massage or body treatment outdoors in a private curtained chamber. Avant Mar’s name joins the French word for “before” with the Spanish word for “the sea,” highlighting the hotel’s location “in front of the sea,” and there’s an open-air theater that can be used for yoga and Pilates upon request, as well as an Olympics-worthy, 55-meter-long swimming pool.
Back on dry land, a gin-and-tonic bar called the Bridge plans to open the end of this month with views of the Aegean Sea. And mark your calendar for July 10 to 13 when the Japanese chef Nobu Matsuhisa will be at the hotel’s waterside restaurant, Matsuhisa Paros, for the Nobu Food Festival. (The restaurant is scheduled to open for the season on June 7). For Greek fare at the hotel, visit Thymes for breakfast, lunch or dinner by the pool. And don’t forget dessert. Stop into Figs, the hotel’s pastry shop, to get your fix of traditional Greek sweets. Prices from €715 a night.
Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram and sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to get expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places to Go in 2024.
