Hôtel La Tartane Saint Tropez: My Hotel Review
Saint-Tropez, France · Five-star hotel · 27 rooms and suites · Best from late May through June, or in September
La Tartane sits on the Chemin des Salins, between the village of Saint-Tropez and the Pampelonne beaches. The hotel is arranged like a small Provençal hamlet, with separate stucco houses, gravel paths, citrus trees, and a pool at the center.
The houses are named after figures associated with the Riviera in the 1920s: Ernest, Peggy, Pablo, Gabrielle, Sara, and Scott. With only 27 rooms and suites, the property leans quieter and private.
Stay here if you want to be close to Saint-Tropez but would rather come back to gardens and a quiet terrace than a hotel with heavy nearby traffic and noises near the port.
The room
My room opened directly onto a short pathway to the pool. I could step outside in the morning and be in the water in under a minute, which ended up being one of my favorite parts of the stay.
The mint green rooms are decorated with timber beams, warm floors, vintage mirrors, linen, and coral accents.
Most rooms and suites have a patio or terrace, many shaded by olive trees. Some entry-level rooms open onto a shared terrace, so ask for a private one when booking if that matters to you.
The hotel does not have sea views. What you get instead is privacy, gardens, and a quieter more relaxed atmosphere than you would find closer to the port.
Breakfast
Breakfast is included and it is served outside, and it is one of the more generous hotel breakfasts I have had in France. A highlight on the menu for me is tarte tropézienne, the brioche and cream cake invented in Saint Tropez in the fifties, which almost nobody serves you at eight in the morning and which I think everybody should. It reminds me of a french version of a Boston cream donut and it's probably my favorite pastry at the moment. Beyond that theres a large arrangement of pastries, granola, fruits, and smoothies.
The pool bar
The pool bar sits at the center of La Tartane, under a reed pergola and behind a row of unruly flower boxes. Brazilian artist João Incerti painted the walls by hand.
I had an Aperol spritz there that was made exactly right: lighter on ice, properly bitter, and a little sweet I drank it with wet hair, sitting beside the pool with my room in view. Best drink of the trip.
Saint-Amour
Saint-Amour is the restaurant La Tartane. Through the day it serves Mediterranean dishes including beach club food. Lite bites include Fried calamari, a truffle croque, a burger, sandwiches, and the crispiest fries. Food you eat with wet hair in a lounger wearing a swimsuit.
I am not someone who tries everything on a menu. I find the thing I love and then I order it again until the trip ends.
Try the fries, they were amazing!
Dinner, which is a different restaurant entirely
At seven the room turns over to a different vibe. The kitchen is handed to Maître Koy, a Cambodian chef, and the menu becomes pan-Asian. Sushi and sashimi built around tuna, salmon, flambéed beef. Dim sum. Ceviche done Thai instead of Peruvian. Tuna tataki, green curry, sea bream cooked in a banana leaf, crispy duck crêpes.
The room seats a hundred and twenty. There is live music, there are singers, the lights come down, the pool goes dark behind the flower boxes, and the place turns festive. After an afternoon spent on a daybed that sunset shift is a fun part of the trip.
Restaurant hours are Seven to eleven, every night through the summer. Book ahead, especially in June, because it fills with people who are not staying here. Evening dishes run roughly €30 to €60.
The bikes
They have bikes, and taking one out is a fun twenty minutes of the day and it costs nothing. I rode around the property and then out onto the streets past the gardens and the houses, no particular destination. The roads out this way are flat and green, and it is the closest I have come to actually living somewhere on a trip instead of visiting it.
Getting around
La Tartane is located between the village and the beaches, and the hotel provides complimentary transportation to both.
I did not rent a car. Parking and traffic can be difficult during the summer, and between the hotel shuttle and Uber, I did not need one.
The location works particularly well if you plan to divide your time between central Saint-Tropez and the Pampelonne beach clubs.
What it cost
Expect to pay around €800 per night in June.
It is expensive, but that price is not unusual for a five-star hotel in Saint-Tropez during the summer. The rate included breakfast, access to the hotel all day shuttle, and the level of service you would expect at this price point.
When to go
Late May through early June is my preferred time to visit Saint-Tropez. The gardens are at their best, the weather is warm, and the town is not yet as crowded as it becomes in July.
September is another good option. July is beautiful, but it is busier and louder. La Tartane is better suited to a quieter trip.
Would I stay again?
Yes. I often return to places I like, and La Tartane is one of the hotels I would book again.
La Tartane or Villa Belrose?
I have stayed at both, and they offer very different experiences.
Villa Belrose is in the hills above Gassin, with panoramic views over the gulf. It is the more formal and romantic of the two. Choose it if the view is a priority and you want a more traditional luxury-hotel experience.
La Tartane is greener and more relaxed. It does not have a sea view, but it has gardens, a pool close to the rooms, bicycles, and convenient transportation to the village and beaches.
For a first trip to Saint-Tropez, I would choose Villa Belrose for the view. For a longer, more relaxed stay, I would choose La Tartane.
Some links in this post may be affiliate links. I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
Comments