La Réserve Estérel – a 2026 debut on the Corniche d'Or

On the Corniche d'Or, where the ochre rock of the Massif de l'Estérel meets the sea opposite the Île d'Or, La Réserve Estérel opened its doors in Boulouris-sur-Mer, within Saint-Raphaël, on 2 April 2026. The property belongs to Dalofi, a family hotel group from Lyon founded in 1980 and run by Philippe Dalaudière, and marks its first address on the French Riviera. Though the building had quietly circulated among locals under the name LuciaMar in the months after the pandemic, it had never previously operated, and the group has now given it a full renovation by Jean-Pascal Clément Architecte with interiors by Maison Carla. Thirty-eight rooms and suites, a private beach, a heated pool and a gastronomic restaurant sit within landscaped grounds surrounded by Saint-Raphaël's listed Belle Époque villas. The MICHELIN Guide lists La Réserve Estérel among its selected addresses, an early mark of attention for a hotel still in its first season.

01The house

La Réserve Estérel stands on grounds of some 7,000 square metres of greenery between the pinewood and the shore, on a stretch of coast ringed by Saint-Raphaël's protected Belle Époque villas. The hotel was developed and acquired by Dalofi, a Lyon-based family group that had never before owned a property on the Riviera; the acquisition took the group past 700 rooms across its eight hotels. Architect Jean-Pascal Clément reworked the building to open every possible angle onto the sea, while Maison Carla handled the interiors, favouring a restrained, sun-bleached palette over anything that might read as formal.

02Rooms and suites

The hotel counts 38 rooms and suites, including nine suites, with every one of them extended by a balcony or a private terrace looking out over the Mediterranean. Categories run from the Superior Garden Room and the Superior Room with Balcony, through the sea-facing Deluxe Room, up to the Junior Suite, the Family Suite, La Corniche Junior Suite and the top-of-range La Réserve Suite, the last two adding full panoramic sea views and their own terraces. Two rooms are adapted for guests with reduced mobility.

Insider tip

Open February–November; breakfast €29 (2026); dogs welcome.

03Where to eat

Lucia Mar is the hotel's gourmet table, a panoramic dining room that seats around forty guests for lunch and dinner, built almost entirely around the view of the sea. The kitchen is run by chef Thomas Carry, who started cooking at thirteen, shaped early on by a grandfather who was a baker and pastry chef, trained in Metz and has since spent more than twenty-two years in professional kitchens, including spells at the K2 Palace in Courchevel and the Belvédère in Porto-Vecchio. At Lucia Mar his cooking turns on the Mi Brasa grill, with fish and meat cooked over the embers in a dining room turned toward the water; in the evening, tables are also laid in the gardens for the same grilled repertoire beneath the open sky. Dinner runs to a seven-course tasting menu in the restaurant's panoramic room, and pastry chef Romain Malot West signs the dessert course. Down on the sand, Tortù Plage keeps things looser, open daily from nine in the morning until ten at night for fresh, unfussy seaside dishes and, as the light fades, cocktails by the water.

04Spa and wellbeing

Wellness at La Réserve Estérel is kept deliberately compact rather than sprawling: two treatment cabins and a sauna sit alongside a fitness room for an early workout with the coastline as a backdrop. The outdoor pool is heated, and guests have direct access to a private beach fitted with sun loungers, parasols and a sea-view solarium, the kind of set-up that lets a day slide without effort from a swim in the pool to an afternoon on the sand.

05The neighbourhood

The hotel looks directly across to the Île d'Or, the small islet with its Saracen-style tower that has watched over this coast for more than a century, and sits within reach of Cannes, Saint-Tropez and Nice, with the Italian border not far beyond. A few steps from reception, the coastal path of the Corniche d'Or threads through the Estérel's volcanic red rock on its way toward the Bay of Agay, one of the more dramatic walks on this part of the Riviera and a draw for hikers and snorkellers staying at the hotel.

06Making the most of a stay

La Réserve Estérel keeps a seasonal rhythm, open from February to November rather than year-round, which suits a hotel built so much around its gardens, its beach and its outdoor tables. Both restaurants, Lucia Mar and Tortù Plage, also take bookings from non-residents, so a lunch on the terrace is a reasonable way to try the place before committing to a night.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.