Fodor's Expert Review Hôtel du Cap–Eden Roc

Open since 1870, this extravagantly expensive hotel reminiscent of The Great Gatsby era is still the mainstay for A-Listers and those with deep pockets for good reason—with 22 acres of immaculate gardens bordered by rocky shore, it embodies the fantasy of a subtropical French Riviera idyll. The Villa Soleil joined forces with the neighboring Eden Roc tearoom in 1914 and expanded its luxuries to include a swimming pool blasted into seaside bedrock. After the Great War, two stylish American intellectuals—Sara and Gerald Murphy—rented the entire complex and invited all their friends, a stellar lot ranging from the Windsors to Rudolph Valentino and Marlene Dietrich. Their most frequent guests were Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, who used it as the model for Hôtel des Etrangers in his Tender Is the Night. Large, sun-drenched rooms are thickly carpeted and furnished with antiques in the main Second Empire mansion; the waterside Pavillon Eden Roc wing is more modern and has sheer-horizon views. Everyone dresses formally for dinner in the Eden-Roc restaurant, the Champagne Lounge, and historical La Rotonde piano bar. To celebrate its 150-year-anniversary, the hotel opened the private Villa Sainte-Anne, which has its own infinity pool. In 2023, 46 suites were reimagined; the Dior spa was launched; and Michelin-star restaurant chef Sébastien Broda shared the limelight with 33-year-old Gabriel Le Quang, the hotel's pastry sous-chef, who won the 2023 title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France Pâtissier-Confiseur, making him one of France's best pastry chefs.