Set back on a sloping Bandol backstreet, this landmark room hotel was a hotspot in its heyday because of the unbeatable beachside location, and it remains one of the best bets for toes-in-the-sand bronzing and dining.
Modern rooms are deeply comfortable and the spa has many toning sea-water treatments year-round. At Les Oliviers restaurant, which was recently awarded a Michelin star, innovative dishes might include sweetbreads with algae butter, Swiss chard and morels, served in a dreamy beach setting.
This funky wooden hotel and restaurant, at the end of stone steps leading to a small cove near La Ciotat, is a quirky mix of wild splendour and playful Robinson Crusoe-spirited hospitality.
Rooms range from apartments with kitchens to tiny Spartan spaces for die-hard Med trekkers. At night, locals flock to Chez Tania restaurant to watch the pink-orange reflections in the sea while sharing platters of antipasti, followed by scallops and risotto with sea urchin. Gorgeously restored by architect Monika Kappel, this multi-level Cassis gem is set in a grove of windswept umbrella pines. Luminous Art Deco rooms are decked out in soothing sand and ochre, and all have sea-facing terraces with killer views of the coast.
This two-Michelin-starred Cassis restaurant, hidden away on a shaded inlet by a clear creek, is about as unstuffy as it gets. Above an impossibly scenic curved coastal road in La Ciotat, this Michelin-starred restaurant is the place to be for a leisurely lunch or dinner overlooking the azure bay and towering trees. In the kitchen Nans Gaillard is a whizz with classics such as fish soup, braised beef and grilled fish drizzled with olive oil.
