Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat

Class: Deluxe

Style: Sexy

Rooms: 74

Sitting in landscaped gardens above the rocky tip of the Cap-Ferrat peninsula, this stately palace reopened in May after a €75-million makeover by designer Pierre-Yves Rochon. The fussy, gilded, belle époque decor has been replaced with simple, clean lines and a sense of understated chic. And it works: the vast lobby - featuring a pale Lalique crystal table and a silver chandelier by Tisserant - sets off the splendour of the early-20th-century architecture. Upstairs, the deeply comfortable, sea-facing bedrooms (some with vast terraces) are now decorated in pristine white with a touch of sky blue. The floors are of polished oak, and the creamy-marble bathrooms are stocked with Bulgari products. But the biggest draw is the new contemporary wing of 16 rooms and suites and a 750-square-metre spa built into the rock. Once frequented by Somerset Maugham, Charlie Chaplin and Aristotle Onassis, the hotel now attracts a younger international set en famille (the kids' club offers everything from swimming to pastry classes), who prefer discreet service to trendy decor. Highly acclaimed chef Didier Anies excels in refined Provençal specialities, served on the peaceful garden terrace or in the cosy, revamped dining room lined with Cocteau-inspired frescoes.

Source: Conde Nast Traveller The Hot List 2010.