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Imagine you are an estate in the south of France. Stretch yourself out. Picture your feet dabbling in the azures of the Mediterranean and your arms reaching up into leafy palm trees, while up and down your body is the rill of fountains and the warmth of the eternal Sun on your skin. That’s the Cap Estel. If you were it.
It is a fool’s game to declare this or that property the cream of the crop when it comes to France’s Cote d’Azur, but choosing Cap Estel would not make a betting man sweat in his boots. A petit, private paradisiacal peninsula between Nice and Monte Carlo, the Cap Estel first came on the map as a 19th-century Russian dacha, but it was Frank Harris, contemporary and friend of Oscar Wilde, who turned it into a discriminating, and discreet, getaway for the upper crust. Shahs, kings, princes, and stars of the silver screen descended in a palimpsest of glamour and gorgeousness: Greta Garbo and Laurence Olivier through to Bono and Ashton Kutcher have all gotten away from the world here, and in 5-star style.
The boutique Cap Estel still clings to its roots as a French Riviera “retreat.” No attention-getting devices here; there are no signs directing to the hotel, no monumental architecture, the countryside around it isn’t particularly developed, and the wrought-iron gates keep the world very much at bay. The views of the sea, grounds, and sun-drenched shorelines are clear and free. This is not a place to escape the maddening crowd by throwing yourself into another one; with just 18 lusciously-appointed rooms, it is impossible for things at the Cap Estel to get particularly frenzied.
There is space to refresh, relax, recharge; even the coziest suite comes in at 500 ft, while the grand dame is a whopping 5,000 ft. The private beach is all well and good, but a real treat, and surprisingly intimate for such a tiny place, is a few yards away in the form of the Waterfall Walk, a fairytrail leading to hidden glades in the overlooking hills. At just 11 acres, Cap Estel is hardly sprawling, yet this is one of those weird instances where something looks bigger from the inside than from the outside.
One is, of course, allowed to venture out, but why would you? La Table de Patrick Raingeard, the Cap Estel’s Michelin-rated restaurant, is commendable in keeping guests close, what with creations such as Mediterranean tuna snacked with kumquats and flax seed and French Charolais beef fillet roasted in Los Boldos wine to tempt the palate.
Or to stay there for, you know, ever…
For more information, go to capestel.com/en or contact Steele Luxury Travel to organize all of your travel plans to the South of France