Hotel du Cap-Eden Roc's infamous cabanas have had a face lift

If you thought trying to book a room at the world’s most famous hotel was tricky just wait until you try to snag one of the 33 fabled cabanas. Rosie Paterson takes a sneak peek and rounds up the best of the rest beach hideaways.

WFRs884RHMRNaVLdqnSAd9.jpeg
(Image credit: Oetker Collection)

The legendary Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc has announced the refurbishment of its infamous 31 cabanas — just in time for the summer holidays.

The 33, roughly-hewn cabanas were originally erected in the 1930s — since then Marc Chagall has sketched in one and Monica Belluci (it is rumoured) permitted to sleep in another — generating a fierce competitiveness amongst guests to secure their own that shows little sign of abating. 

(Image credit: Oetker Collection)

Their new era has been ushered in at the hands of Francis Sultana (in collaboration with Sika Design) — the same interior designer behind sister hotel La Palma on the Italian island of Capri, which opened in 2023. Though indisputably chicer, Mr Sultana has thankfully retained the cabanas' gloriously laid-back nature. 

At the centre of each of the newly reimagined hideaways, there’s now a ceramic-top table — as well as easy-on-the-eye sage green and cream striped, rattan sun beds, matching curtains and cushions, and biscuit-coloured travertine floors. They wouldn’t look out of place as the backdrop to a 1950s film. 

(Image credit: Oetker Collection)

Nothing has been overlooked — the fence posts have been painted a matching shade of sage and the ceiling fans (the cabanas are open to the elements and don’t have air-con) updated with wooden blades. 

Local artist Gérard Crociani was commissioned to craft decorative plates in shades of blue and green which hang on the interior walls.

Rooms at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Rock from £592 a night. Visit www.oetkercollection.com/hotels/hotel-du-cap-eden-roc for more information.

Best of the rest

The Beverly Hill Hotels, Los Angeles, US 

(Image credit: Dorchester Collection)

Stripy sun beds and retro-tropical print cabanas line the swimming pool at this celebrity hangout.

Lido Villeggiatura, A Villa Sant’Andrea Beach Club, Taormina, Sicily

Lido Villeggiatura, part of Belmond's Villa Sant'Andrea hotel, is the first destination beach club of the Belmond portfolio (it opened June 2024). The six, mid-century inspired cabanas are described as 'personal sanctuaries' (well, there is dedicated butler service after all) — ask for lunch to be served alfreso underneath the tented veranda. 

Château Saint-Martin & Spa, Vence, France

Château Saint-Martin — another Hotel du Cap sister hotel, part of the Oetker Collection — has partnered with Minuty wine on a 'meticulously decorated' cabana. The 'Summertime with Minuty' package includes cabana rental, a three-course lunch for two people and a bottle of the palest Provençal Château Minuty Rose et Or.

Grand Hotel Son Net, Puigpunyent Valley, Mallorca

The pool-side, forest-green cabanas at Son Net provide a level of privacy that’s usually tricky to achieve at a hotel with more than 10 rooms (there are 31 here, including 16 suites). The best bit? The close-by snack bar serving up cocktails, house wines and tapas.

Rosie Paterson

Rosie is Country Life's Digital Content Director & Travel Editor. She joined the team in July 2014 — following a brief stint in the art world. In 2022, she edited the magazine's special Queen's Platinum Jubilee issue and coordinated Country Life's own 125 birthday celebrations. She has also been invited to judge a travel media award and chaired live discussions on the London property market, sustainability and luxury travel trends.

Read more
Birds eye view picture of people sunbathing under bright umbrellas, next to the beach
Riviera dreaming: Why this glamorous Tuscan seaside town isn't content to fly under the radar anymore
Y9PNvEF9c9NSxrQ68wseBk.jpg
Chalet Machapuchare: Does France's best ski chalet live up to its reputation?
Medieval French estate
Is L’Abbaye des Vaux de Cernay France’s answer to the very British country house hotel?
Aerial tennis court in tropical surroundings
Game, set, match: 12 of the world’s most beautiful tennis courts
voPXFYDhoVKayyJaHjxE56.jpg
'The one thing we'd change? Honestly, nothing.' Why The Mark hotel in New York ticks all the right boxes
Hotel bedroom with four poster bed
Where to go in 2025
Latest in Travel
Lego House at night
Art, architecture and plastic bricks at Lego House: 'It's as if the National Gallery set up easels and paints next to the masterpieces and invited you try your hand at creating a Van Gogh'
Green banks of the Mississippi
How to cruise in the wake of Mark Twain on the great Mississippi River of the American South
PoB Hotels
Great garden getaways
Basil's Bar in Mustique
From party island to arty island, Princess Margaret's private Mustique haunt announces burgeoning arts programme
Gondola boats infront of a cathedral in Venice
‘It is as real and lasting as any other relationship I know of’: Everything you need to know about Venice in time for the 2025 Biennale Architettura
Pretty stone house surrounded by lush gardens
The Barnsdale in Rutland: Is this the UK’s most dog-friendly hotel?
Latest in Features
Aquamarine and diamond tiara
How Cartier became ‘the jeweller of kings and the king of jewellers’
A villa in Rome on the Via Nomentana
A historic villa for sale on the Via Nomentana worthy of Rome's rich history
dogs on Country Life 26 March 2025
Country Life 26 March 2025
Jade tiled bathroom
A tub carved from a single block of San Marino marble — and nine more beautiful things for the ultimate bathroom
Images of Edwardian Ashton House, near Chard
Eight bedrooms of unlisted Edwardian elegance with sweeping views of Somerset
Iron Age artefacts
Archaeologists in North Yorkshire discover ‘the biggest and most important Iron Age hoard ever found in Britain’