In the villa that became a hotel, F. Scott Fitzgerald began writing Tender is the Night in 1930. Today, Belles Rives is an art deco hotel with 43 rooms, a Michelin-starred restaurant and its own sandy beach in Juan-les-Pins.
In this story · 5 sections
On boulevard Édouard Baudoin in Juan-les-Pins stands a white house with terraces stretching right out over the water. Hôtel Belles Rives is one of the few hotels on the Riviera still owned by the family that opened it, and one of the few with a place of its own in American literary history.
Hôtel Belles Rives
Hotel · Juan-les-Pins
© OpenStreetMap contributors · OpenFreeMap
- Address
- 33 boulevard Édouard Baudoin, 06160 Juan-les-Pins
Villa Saint-Louis became a hotel in 1930. 43 rooms, a private beach and the restaurant La Passagère.
01Villa Saint-Louis and the summers of the 1920s
Before the house became a hotel, it was a private villa, Villa Saint-Louis. It was here that Francis Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald spent time with their friends Gerald and Sara Murphy and others from the Lost Generation, among them Ernest Hemingway. According to Wikipedia, it was at the villa that Fitzgerald began writing Tender is the Night, the novel about an American couple on the Riviera.
The Guide Michelin describes the hotel as a witness to Scott and Zelda's stormy love in the 1920s. Fitzgerald's old room is still there, and the bar now bears his name.
02The Estène family and the Art Deco hotel from 1930
In 1929, Boma Estène and his wife Simone bought Villa Saint-Louis and began converting it into a hotel. Belles Rives opened in 1930 in Art Deco style, according to Wikipedia. The hotel is still owned by the family through Groupe Belles Rives, which is led by their granddaughter Marianne Estène-Chauvin.
Insider tipOpen seasonally, March to October.
The Antibes tourist office today describes Belles Rives as an Art Deco palace with 43 rooms, direct access to a private sandy beach and a panoramic terrace overlooking the bay of Juan-les-Pins and the Lérins Islands.
03The Prix Fitzgerald – a literary prize with an overnight stay
In 2011, Marianne Estène-Chauvin established the Prix Fitzgerald, which is awarded to a book written in French or translated from English. The winner receives a cheque for 5,000 euros and spends one night in Fitzgerald's old room. The jury is led by Bertrand de Saint Vincent of Le Figaro, and its members include Frédéric Beigbeder and Éric Neuhoff.
The list of winners says a good deal about the house's tone. Jay McInerney received the prize in 2017, Quentin Tarantino in 2023 for Cinema Speculation, Joyce Carol Oates in 2024 and Richard Ford in 2025. In June 2026, when the prize was awarded for the fifteenth time, it went to Julian Barnes. Since 2018 the Prix Gatsby has also been awarded, and since 2021 the Prix Zelda.
04La Passagère, Bar Fitzgerald and the beach
The hotel's restaurant La Passagère has one star in the Guide Michelin 2026. The kitchen is led by Aurélien Véquaud from the Vendée, and the guide describes the food as creative, with the Mediterranean as its foundation. The terrace has views over the sea and the Estérel mountains. The restaurant is open Wednesday to Sunday evenings.
Down by the water, the hotel has its own sandy beach with water sports, and the building houses Bar Fitzgerald, a tea room, a piano bar and a Valmont treatment room. From June to August, evenings with a DJ are held under the name Les Villas Belles Rives.
05Juan-les-Pins and Cap d'Antibes around the hotel
Juan-les-Pins belongs to the municipality of Antibes, and the hotel stands where Cap d'Antibes begins. Further out on the cape lies the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc. Find more Riviera guides on metromode.co.
