COMO Le Beauvallon does not announce itself the way a grand hotel usually does. The entrance features only a simple desk, a red tasselled key ring, and then, a few steps in, the first of the artworks that fill this Belle Époque palace on the Gulf of Saint-Tropez. Guests can opt to arrive by car, helicopter or boat, gliding across the bay before the coral-pink facade comes into view, raised just enough above the shoreline to be the tallest thing in sight. The building opened its doors in 1914 and has lived several lives since. Its latest, under COMO, is among its most intriguing.
A palace with several past lives
The story behind COMO Le Beauvallon stretches back more than a century. It first opened in 1914 as Le Golf Hôtel, a 100-room palace built in classic Belle Époque style above the bay. During both World Wars the French government requisitioned it as a military hospital, and on each occasion, it was fully restored to its former purpose once peace returned. In the decades that followed it became a Riviera fixture for writers, aristocrats and Hollywood names.
Colette and F. Scott Fitzgerald stayed here, as did Winston Churchill, and in the 1960s the property appeared on screen in Two for the Road with Audrey Hepburn. After nearly two decades spent as a private events venue, it has reopened to hotel guests, and the feeling of a much-loved house rather than a corporate hotel still runs through everything. COMO, a group hailing from Singapore, has taken the project on with a light hand.
Living inside the art collection
More than 300 art installations are scattered across COMO Le Beauvallon, inside and out, and they are the single most distinctive thing about a stay here. They run from a vast driftwood sculpture that climbs around the columns of one salon to bold abstract canvases lining the corridors, a relocated Serpentine Gallery pavilion out in the grounds, and a silver, dripping sculpture inspired by a French poem in the main foyer, where a grand piano and a small stage complete with a harp set the scene. One salon pairs white wing chairs with a chequerboard marble floor and a curved artwork shaped like a ping-pong table, the sort of piece that rewards a second look.
Rather than hand guests a printed factsheet, the hotel offers a dedicated app that explains each piece, so a wander through the public rooms doubles as a self-guided gallery visit. It is a clever idea, and it turns idle curiosity into something more rewarding. The overall effect feels like you’re staying inside a private museum rather than a hotel, full of unique pieces that take years, not budgets, to assemble.
Glass, light and a clever bed
The suite continues the conversation between old and new. A set of original French doors opens onto a private terrace with views across the bay, while inside the mood turns sleek and contemporary. The bed is a generous cream leather affair with side panels for drinks and a remote control that raises the head and feet, a little like a chic and comfortable hospital bed.
The bathroom is the real talking point, built almost entirely from transparent materials, with a glass bathtub, an acrylic dressing table and an open shower box fitted with twin heads and a large central rainfall fixture. The pressure is excellent, one setting even sends the water dancing in rhythm overhead, and despite all that glass the room manages to stay dry. A walk-in wardrobe is tucked discreetly behind, keeping suitcases and clothes out of sight.
One quirk divides opinion. In keeping with the feel of a private home, rooms at COMO Le Beauvallon come without a minibar or coffee machine. Instead, a shared pantry sits on each floor, close to the rooms and stocked for guests to help themselves. It adds to the communal mood and keeps the rooms uncluttered, though anyone hoping to chill a bottle of wine will miss having a fridge to hand. A small in-room cool box would not go amiss.
Dining across COMO Le Beauvallon
Dining at COMO Le Beauvallon centres on two very different rooms. The Winter Garden is the all-day restaurant, set in a sunlit conservatory with a wall of books, a patterned tiled floor and doors opening to a pergola that the team is slowly training vines across.
Breakfast is a relaxed spread of cold cuts, yoghurts, fruit and pastries laid out on communal tables, with eggs, waffles and French toast cooked to order. The ingredients are a cut above, especially the fresh passionfruit and local honey. The one weak spot is the coffee, which never quite reaches proper cappuccino territory, a frustration sadly common in most French hotels rather than a fault of this one alone.
Dinner here is comforting and well sourced. A tuna spread served with thin, crisp flatbread is a particularly good way to start, and a chilled gazpacho and a tuna tartare with parmesan and pine nuts follow nicely. The warm bread and olive oil are excellent, and a rich beef in red wine sauce with olives and mashed potato is the standout. A lobster pasta arrives a shade past al dente on one evening, though the flavour itself is faultless.
Yannick Alléno takes to the beach
Down by the water, Beauvallon Sur Mer by Yannick Alléno is the headline restaurant at COMO Le Beauvallon and the first beach club concept from the most decorated chef in the Michelin Guide. The surprise is the menu. Rather than the classical French cooking Alléno is known for, it leans into Asia, with sushi, maki and noodles sitting alongside Mediterranean plates, all built for sharing. A yellow and azure palette, a resident DJ and rows of parasols give the place an easy, sociable energy that builds as lunch slides into the evening.
Tuna and salmon maki are fresh and clean, beef skewers with black garlic are excellent, and the seasoned fries are hard to stop eating. A black cod miso is the only real miss, arriving a touch underdone and without the buttery flake the dish wants. The restaurant is open to non-guests too, and at lunch it draws a steady local crowd, which only adds to the atmosphere.
A tunnel, a pool and a boat to Saint-Tropez
The grounds run to 10 acres of terraces and gardens shaded by tall umbrella pines, with a broad lawn rolling down from the main terrace. Reaching the beach club at COMO Le Beauvallon involves one of the more memorable touches here. Rather than crossing the coast road, guests pass through a century-old private tunnel built beneath it, emerging on the other side at the sand. The beach club shares the sunny yellow scheme of the restaurant, with striking sunbeds and a handful of unusually high daybeds topped with proper mattresses, a welcome change from the usual low loungers.
The 25-metre pool sits right beside the beach. It is unheated, so early in the season it is bracing, though it should come into its own through summer. The standout, and a genuine point of difference, is the complimentary speedboat. An eight-minute crossing carries guests straight to the port of Saint-Tropez, sparing them the long drive around the gulf and the traffic that comes with it. On the way back, the property’s coral-hued facade stands out clearly against the hillside. Over in Saint-Tropez, the old town, the market and some of the clearest water on this stretch of coast are all within easy reach.
Who COMO Le Beauvallon suits
COMO Le Beauvallon will suit travellers who want Saint-Tropez within easy reach but would rather not be in the middle of it. The setting is private and green, the service is warm and quick to help with bookings beyond the hotel, and there is a real sense of settling into a home rather than checking into a property. It is also a natural choice for weddings and events, given the scale of the public rooms and the gardens. The art is what lingers longest, the kind of personal, hard-won collection a chain hotel could never put together.
There are a few things to weigh up. The lack of an in-room fridge or coffee machine takes adjusting to, the breakfast coffee could be better, and the pool is one for high summer rather than the shoulder season. None of it detracts much. For couples, art-lovers and anyone after the best of Saint-Tropez without the crush, COMO Le Beauvallon makes a strong case.
Quick summary – COMO Le Beauvallon
⭐ Style: Belle Époque palace reborn under COMO
📍 Location: Grimaud, on the Gulf of Saint-Tropez, France
🔑 Key feature: more than 300 art installations with a dedicated app
🚤 Access: complimentary eight-minute boat transfer to Saint-Tropez
🍽️ Dining: Winter Garden (all-day) and Beauvallon Sur Mer by Yannick Alléno
🏊 Pool and beach: 25-metre pool and a private beach club via a garden tunnel
✨ Ideal for: couples, art lovers and travellers wanting Saint-Tropez without the crowds
