Villa Miraé – Cap d'Antibes dreams again, with Colagreco at the stove

On the pine-scented tip of Cap d'Antibes, a few hundred metres from the lighthouse at La Garoupe, Villa Miraé occupies grounds long known to Riviera regulars as the Hôtel Impérial Garoupe, a historic member of Relais & Châteaux. Bought in 2023 by the Inwood Hotels group, the house was given over to architect and designer Oscar Lucien Ono of Maison Numéro 20 and reopened in spring 2025 under its new name. Behind powder-pink Provençal façades screened by maritime pines, 35 rooms and suites open onto private terraces facing garden or pool. Food is the house's other great draw: two restaurants bear the signature of chef Mauro Colagreco, whose Mirazur in Menton holds three MICHELIN stars and was named the World's Best Restaurant in 2019. The MICHELIN Guide has itself selected Villa Miraé for its 2026 edition, confirmation that this once-quiet Garoupe address has entered a new, closely watched chapter of the Côte d'Azur's hotel landscape.

01The house

Before it became Villa Miraé, this address was the Hôtel Impérial Garoupe, a long-standing member of Relais & Châteaux on the Côte d'Azur and a discreet favourite of Cap d'Antibes regulars. Acquired by Inwood Hotels in 2023, the property closed for a lengthy renovation before reopening in spring 2025 under its present name, a rebirth orchestrated by architect and designer Oscar Lucien Ono of the Paris studio Maison Numéro 20.

The brief, by the group's own account, was to frame the elements that have always made Cap d'Antibes what it is — sun, sea and dense Mediterranean greenery — rather than compete with them. The result leans on noble, tactile materials: Burgundy stone, Murano glass, natural linen, rattan and carved wood, set against gold-flecked artisan mosaic frescoes. Behind the blush-toned walls, the architecture still recalls the grand Provençal villas of the headland, tucked beneath maritime pines and cypress that keep the whole compound discreetly screened from the road.

02Rooms and suites

The hotel counts 35 rooms and suites in total, including eight suites, and every category opens onto its own balcony or terrace overlooking either the gardens or the pool. The room ladder runs from Classic, Executive and Premium through Deluxe to the Junior Suite, Junior Terrace Suite, Terrace Suite and, at the top, the Garden View and Pool View Suites, both of which sleep up to four across separate living areas.

Insider tip

Seasonal hotel; closes for winter, reopening 7 May 2027. Private solarium across the road.

The Pool View Suite looks straight down onto the swimming pool from its own private terrace and pairs a king-size-plus bed with a separate bath and shower; the Garden View Suite instead frames the lush Mediterranean planting, with artworks chosen to echo the landscape outside. Across the categories, finishes run to Bang & Olufsen speakers, Dyson hairdryers, Terre de Mars welcome amenities and a dedicated guest app, with Canal+ and beIN Sports on the in-room televisions — small, consistent signs of a five-star house rather than a boutique one coasting on its postcode.

03Where to eat

Villa Miraé built its reopening around a single name: Mauro Colagreco, the Menton-based chef whose restaurant Mirazur holds three MICHELIN stars and was crowned the World's Best Restaurant in 2019 by The World's 50 Best Restaurants. He is also a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for biodiversity and vice-president of the Chefs' committee at Relais & Châteaux, credentials that explain the strong emphasis on seasonality and responsible sourcing running through both of the hotel's restaurants, which he oversees alongside executive chef Can Kurt.

Amarines by Mauro Colagreco is the gastronomic table, set in its own pavilion within the hotel gardens, its sea- and nature-inspired dining room opening onto a terrace planted with mulberry plane trees and seating around fifty guests. The cooking is built on simple, pure Mediterranean produce from sustainable farming and fishing, treated with a finesse meant to touch the senses rather than simply impress them.

Miraé by Mauro Colagreco is the all-day, more relaxed counterpart, its terrace looking over the hotel's turquoise lap pool. The kitchen follows the coastline from Genoa to Saint-Tropez, reworking dolce-vita staples — spaghetti alla Genovese, fish of the day alla Ligure, stuffed courgette flowers, socca and tarte Tropézienne — with a contemporary, locally rooted touch, served from breakfast through to dinner.

04Pool, solarium and spa

The heated outdoor swimming pool is, by the hotel's own description, the jewel of the villa: ringed by gardens, open daily from 10am to 6pm across the warmer months, with water and sky seeming to merge into one on a clear Cap d'Antibes afternoon. Poolside service links directly to the kitchens of Miraé, so a late breakfast or a light lunch can be taken without leaving a sun lounger.

A short walk across the road, Villa Miraé keeps a private seafront solarium near Plage de la Garoupe, open the same hours in season, with preferential in-house guest rates of €10 for a half day and €20 for a full day; the solarium typically closes for the season from 1 October. Indoors, the wellbeing area runs to a treatment room and sauna, with massages, body wraps and scrubs, reflexology, manicures and pedicures completing the slower side of a stay.

05The neighbourhood

Villa Miraé sits on the quieter, eastern flank of Cap d'Antibes, a stone's throw from Plage de la Garoupe and its small sandy cove, with the Phare de la Garoupe and the pilgrimage chapel of Notre-Dame de la Garoupe both an easy walk uphill through the pines. Antibes' walled old town, with its Picasso Museum and Provençal market, and the beaches of Juan-les-Pins are a short drive away, close enough for an evening out without ever feeling like the hotel's own sense of seclusion has been broken.

06Making the most of a stay

Villa Miraé operates seasonally rather than year-round: the villa pauses for a winter break and is scheduled to reopen on 7 May 2027 for its next Côte d'Azur season, so dates should be checked well ahead of any visit outside the summer half-year. Within the Inwood Hotels collection — thirteen addresses spanning Paris, Bordeaux, Arcachon, Nice, Cannes and the Cap — Villa Miraé is the group's flagship on the Riviera, and its status as a Relais & Châteaux member and 2026 MICHELIN Guide selection makes it worth booking the solarium and Amarines' dinner table well in advance, particularly in high summer.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.