Château de la Messardière

The château was built in the 19th century as a wedding gift from Gabriel Dupuy d'Angeac, a wealthy cognac merchant, to his daughter Louise and her husband, the cavalry officer Henry Brisson de La Messardière, whose name it carries. After Henry's early death in 1905, Louise turned it into a luxury hotel, which the Parisian aristocracy made a favourite address during the Roaring Twenties. Years of abandonment preceded its restoration in 1989 by Jean-Claude Rochette, a Monuments Historiques architect.

That restoration mixed Anglo-Moorish, Oriental, Mediterranean, Florentine and Provençal styles. Bought by the Gibier family in 1992, the château became an emblem of luxury in Saint-Tropez, with its semi-circular pool looking out over Pampelonne Bay, and in June 2012 it received the official Distinction Palace label. Major renovations followed its move to the Airelles collection in 2019, and it reopened in July 2021. Outside, it is part castle and part Mediterranean-style villa, with fortified towers and Italian red tile roofs. Inside, the rooms and suites pair clean lines and soft, Provence-inspired tones with backlit mirrors, generous bathrooms and fine materials.

The château stands at 2 Route de Tahiti, a few kilometres from the lively village of Saint-Tropez. Its park of 12 to 13 hectares is planted with stone pines and cypresses and classified by the Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux (LPO), the league for the protection of birds, and the view takes in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez and the surrounding countryside.

Guests arriving by train can use the TGV stations at Saint-Raphaël, 1 hour 15 minutes away, or Toulon, 1 hour 30 minutes away. Nice airport is 1 hour 30 minutes from the château and Marseille Provence airport 2 hours 30 minutes, while a helicopter flight from Nice airport takes 20 minutes.

Included transfers by Rolls-Royce and Mini-Moke run to Jardin Tropezina, the hotel's beach club on Pampelonne Bay, and to the Salon Messardière in the town centre, and electric bicycles are on hand. A day at the beach club runs from sunbathing facing the bay and lunch to a sunset cocktail at the bar, with live music and DJ sets, and a Vanille & Lilas boutique sells ready-to-wear, jewellery and rare crafts. In town, Cedric Grolet's boutique at 19 rue des Feniers, open Wednesday to Sunday from 09:00 to 17:00, sells fruit trompe-l'oeil, pastries, viennoiseries, frozen desserts, a savoury selection and drinks created by the chef's barista.

The Chambre Supérieure, 20 m² for two, has a balcony and a view of the gardens and the Ramatuelle countryside, with a large bathtub and a double vanity in the bathroom. At 30 m², the Chambre Supérieure Vue Mer and the Chambre Deluxe Piscine are set apart by what lies outside. The first, at the centre of the château, has a private balcony and a view of the sea and the Ramatuelle countryside, with a whirlpool bath, a walk-in shower and a double vanity in the bathroom. The second has privileged access to the pool and its own private cabana, a private terrace looking over the gardens and vineyards, a king-size bed, and a bathroom with a bathtub, a walk-in shower and a double vanity. Choose the first for a sea view, the second for the pool.

Among the suites, the Suite Junior Pampelonne, on the ground floor or an upper floor, has a living room, a bedroom with a king-size bed and a private terrace or balcony facing Pampelonne Bay. The Suite Terrasse, 50 m² for two at the centre of the château, faces south and overlooks Pampelonne Bay; its terrace, at more than 70 m², is larger than the suite itself. Inside are a bedroom, a large dressing room and a living room with a sofa. Both suites have bathrooms with a whirlpool bath, a walk-in shower and a double vanity.

La Bastide 4 Chambres works on another scale. Spread over two levels for up to eight guests, it has four separate bedrooms, each with a king-size bed and a private bathroom, a large living room with a dining room, and a fully equipped kitchen for family meals. Outside, the large terrace has an open-air fitness area, and the garden has a private 12 m² pool with a view of the Gulf of Saint-Tropez.

La Table de La Messardière covers both ends of the day. Breakfast is a gourmet buffet with pastries by Cedric Grolet, among them flan pâtissier and pain aux raisins, and an açai bowl created for the buffet; in the evening the menu takes its cue from the French bistro, moving between French classics and Mediterranean accents. Its terrace looks over Pampelonne Bay. Palladio, the Italian restaurant, serves dinner al fresco every evening from 19:00 to 22:30, set among greenery with a view over the hills. The menu runs from beef carpaccio and spaghettone alle vongole to veal Milanese and aubergine parmigiana, with bluefin tuna tartare prepared at the table and a house tiramisu by Cedric Grolet's team.

The Bar 1904 is a cocktail bar open daily from 10:00 to 01:00, a relaxed lounge by day and a speakeasy after dark: guests settle on its shaded terrace at sunset, then the lights dim and the candlelit alcoves take over. Since it needs no reservation, it suits an unplanned drink. Matsuhisa serves Japanese-Peruvian fusion cuisine with a view. At Jardin Tropezina, the hotel's beach club, Jean-François Piège's restaurant serves his Mediterranean cuisine with feet in the sand and the sea in front, at lunch and again in the evening.

The Spa Airelles covers 1,000 m², with an indoor swimming pool, nine treatment cabins, a hammam and a sauna. The Louise suite adds a cold plunge, with a private hammam and sauna, and the Iyashi Dôme, a Japanese infrared sauna, is used for detox sessions. Treatments are by Laboratoires Botanique Avancée (LBA) and Valmont, and massages can be taken on a private terrace surrounded by cypresses, stone pines and century-old olive trees. The hotel's osteopath, Tom Pichaud, specialises in paediatrics, headaches, maternity and women's health.

Outside, a heated mirror pool on the panoramic terrace overlooks the gardens and is reserved for hotel guests. A swimming lane for early-morning lengths is tucked into the terraced garden near the château's main terrace, and a new 25-metre pool in the gardens looks out over the Gulf of Saint-Tropez.

The open-air fitness area, fitted with Technogym equipment, looks out over Pampelonne Bay. Yoga and Pilates sessions are held on a platform overlooking the gardens and the Mediterranean, and Fabio Pinca, a multiple world boxing champion, gives tailored boxing sessions on the same open-air platform.

A golf cart takes players through the gardens to the two tennis courts set below the estate, where professional coaches are available on request, with parasols around the court, changing rooms and refreshments after play. Access to the tennis courts is free and reserved for resident guests, with rackets and balls provided. The two outdoor padel courts suit a first lesson or a match among family or friends, and the hotel advises booking a session of at least 90 minutes.

The concierge can arrange tennis tournaments, boxing lessons with a champion, electric bike rides, outings by Rolls-Royce or Mini-Moke, an introduction to polo and pastry workshops that reveal the secrets of the tarte tropézienne. The hotel's own programme includes open-air cinema, aperitif and pétanque evenings in the park at dusk, and a visit to La Maison des Papillons.

Pets are looked after with a bed, treats, a personalised menu, pet-sitting and surprise gifts. Children have the Airelles Summer Camp, a dedicated space with its own pool, where inflatable games and toys fill the water under the staff's watch and swimming lessons can be arranged on request. In 2026 the Kids Club programme ran from 24 April to 11 October.