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| Guests of Villa Eleana can have a private dinner prepared for them by the pool or upon the terrace. |
As if you really needed another reason to make plans for a French Riviera vacation, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc is giving you one. The hotel, right between Nice and Cannes, opened its new Villa Eleana in April. Guests of the duplex villa, which sits right next to the main property, are privy to all of the hotel’s services, yet they will have the feel of being on a private estate. All told, there are three bedrooms and bathrooms (each with separate bathtub and shower; one even has a steam bath shower), kitchen and a lounge area. Outdoors, there’s a private two-car parking space and a private swimming pool and garden.
What we love: Guests can request to have private lunches or dinners in the villa (ask for Chef Arnaud Poette’s sea bass with basil Eden-Roc). They also have the services of a dedicated staff, including a personal butler. (Nice Touch: Butlers and staff have their own private entrance to the villa, which we say is so important.) Other posh perks? Each bedroom has solid oak floors, and all bathrooms and common areas are outfitted with Portuguese stone.
For fresh-air fans, the suite has a balcony that’s bigger than many apartments in Paris—about 400 square feet. (Perfect for cocktail parties, we say!) For VIP or celebrity guests, special security can be arranged by request. (When a hotel’s guest log includes such famous names as Winston Churchill, Marlene Dietrich, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, good security is a must!)
Best perk of all: Use of an electrical car that travels up to 24 miles per hour is included with the villa rental.
Then there’s the use of Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc’s hotel services. For example, the La Prairie spa has four treatment rooms, but guests can also be pampered in the gazebo under the Wisteria trees, or the wellness cabana overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The spa also has a sauna and a hammam for heat therapy. Contact Spa Director Valerie Dalmayrac ([email protected]) in advance for bookings.
Getting There: The Nice Côte d’Azur International Airport is only 20 minutes away from the hotel. The Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc provides a special “Meet and Greet” service that whisks guests directly from the door of the plane, through security and straight to the hotel.
When to go: We hear the hotel is especially difficult to book during the Cannes Film Festival and the Monaco Grand Prix Formula 1, so reserve the villa early around these times.
Luxury travel advisors can contact Reservations Manager Julie Debas ([email protected]) for insider information.