Sezz Saint-Tropez – one storey, one star, one quiet pool

On the Route des Salins, in the quiet L'Estagnet quarter 250 metres from Plage des Canebiers, Sezz Saint-Tropez has never tried to compete with the town's more theatrical addresses. Opened in July 2010 for owner Shahé Kalaidjian, the resort was built low and flat into its own garden, designed by Christophe Pillet with architect Jean-Jacques Ory, a Provençal answer to Kalaidjian's original Hôtel Sezz in Paris's 16th arrondissement. Thirty-seven rooms and suites, each opening onto its own terrace and outdoor shower, sit on a single storey around a 200m² heated pool shaded by olive and palm trees. At the centre of it all is Colette, the gourmet restaurant named for the novelist who once kept a house next door, holding a MICHELIN star since 2021 under chef Philippe Colinet. The hotel itself is listed among the MICHELIN Guide's selected addresses, alongside a Susanne Kaufmann spa and the Dom Pérignon Bar - a quietly confident, unhurried version of Saint-Tropez glamour.

01The house

Sezz Saint-Tropez opened its doors in July 2010, commissioned by owner Shahé Kalaidjian as the seaside counterpart to his original Hôtel Sezz in Paris's 16th arrondissement. Architect Jean-Jacques Ory and designer Christophe Pillet created the contemporary architecture and design running through the rooms, villas and common areas. The hotel owes its particular calm to a third collaborator too: landscape designer Christophe Ponceau, whose palm, olive and pine gardens wrap the central pool and keep every room feeling separate from its neighbours.

Pillet's palette runs toward restraint: the restaurant and bar are built from local sandstone in pale grey, embossed cement and panels of aged, stained wood, while interiors throughout reflect a 1950s colour code of white, light grey, dark brown, light blue and saffron. The hotel was built into an existing park rather than cleared for one, and its mature trees - the same olive and eucalyptus that now shade the car park - were kept standing rather than replaced.

02Rooms and suites

The 35 rooms and two villa-style suites split into four categories: five 30m² Bungalows, nine Cocoon Queen and eighteen Cocoon King rooms of 40m², and three Cocoon Plunge Pool rooms with their own heated plunge pool - each with a 20m² terrace, a private garden and a 10m² outdoor shower. The two Villa-style suites, at 90m², add a private pool of their own.

Insider tip

Closed for winter; reopens 7 May 2027. Free shuttle to Place des Lices and Pampelonne beaches.

Floor-to-ceiling bay windows rise almost five metres, blurring the line between room and garden; bathrooms are clad floor-to-wall in a single natural stone, finished with Pillet's signature sunken bath, and stocked with Acqua di Parma toiletries, a Sezz bathrobe and flip-flops. Families travelling with children can add a free baby cot or, for under-fourteens, an extra bed for €150.

03Where to eat

Colette takes its name from the novelist who, as local lore has it, once owned the house next door. Chef Philippe Colinet took over the kitchen in 2020 and won a MICHELIN star the following year, holding it since, alongside two Gault & Millau toques. Trained under Jean Bardet in Touraine, he cooked at La Roche le Roy in Tours and under Roger Vergé in Mougins before heading the kitchen at the MICHELIN-starred Relais & Châteaux L'Auberge des Templiers in the Loiret and regaining a star at La Bastide in Saint-Tropez; he has been based in the Gulf since 2014. Dinner only, the room and terrace run from 7.30pm to 9.30pm, Thursday to Monday through the shoulder months and Wednesday to Sunday across July and August.

Le C, the hotel's bistro, sits on a terrace shaded by palm and olive trees looking over the pool and serves a generous Mediterranean menu from the same chef - grilled octopus with chickpea purée, Charolais steak with garlic butter, flame-cooked Japanese aubergines, a traditional vanilla caramel cream - with dishes running from €17 to €78. Breakfast is served daily from 7.30am to 10.30am in the Colette dining room and on the terrace, and twice a month a Sunday brunch runs from 11.30am to 2pm.

04The bar

The Dom Pérignon Bar faces the pool, a dark lacquered counter that turns the hotel's one concession to glamour into something intimate rather than loud. It opens daily from 11am to midnight, moving from cocktails and a snacking menu by day to champagne and lounge music once the sun drops, with a signature cocktail or a glass of Dom Pérignon starting at €25.

05Spa

The Spa Sezz by Susanne Kaufmann occupies a bright, garden-facing wing: two treatment rooms, including a duo cabin, a jacuzzi, a steam room and a 'secret' relaxation garden, with yoga classes at sunrise and sunset by reservation. The spa opens from 10am to 8pm for treatments, with the hammam and jacuzzi accessible until 9pm, and welcomes non-residents - one booked treatment includes free use of the hammam and jacuzzi, though not the pool.

06The neighbourhood

Sezz sits in L'Estagnet, 250 metres from Plage des Canebiers and a quieter stretch of coast than the clubs of Pampelonne. The centre of Saint-Tropez and the Place des Lices are 2km away - about five minutes by the hotel's free shuttle, which also runs out to the Pampelonne beaches, roughly ten minutes further on. The coastal footpath past Les Salins starts almost at the gate, useful for an early walk before the day's heat sets in.

07Making the most of a stay

The property closes for winter and reopens for its next season on 7 May 2027; outside that window, the team can still be reached by email to plan ahead. For a longer evening, book the seven-act Sens menu at Colette and finish with a last glass at the Dom Pérignon Bar; for a slower morning, a sunrise yoga class at the spa before the pool fills is the best use of the hotel's single, uncrowded storey.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.