Hôtel Belles Rives

Juan-les-Pins, France. Located right at the water’s edge in Juan-les-Pins, on Cap d’Antibes: it was the Riviera’s very first “feet in the water” hotel.

Hôtel Belles RivesJuan-les-Pins, France

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Opened: 1929
Rooms: 43rooms and suites
City: Juan-les-PinsFrance
Setting: SeasideEurope

Practical information

Address: Hôtel Belles Rives
33 boulevard Édouard Baudoin
06160 Antibes – Juan-les-Pins
France
Telephone: +33 4 93 61 02 79
Official website: www.bellesrives.com
Best available rate: Check availability

At a glance

43 rooms and suites in an Art Deco setting.
The Michelin-starred La Passagère, the beach restaurant, Paseo and the Bar Fitzgerald piano bar.
Private beach and pontoon, the historic water-ski club, and a Beauty Corner by Valmont.
Located right at the water’s edge in Juan-les-Pins, on Cap d’Antibes: it was the Riviera’s very first “feet in the water” hotel.

History

12 dates, written by Grand Hotels of the World from the sources below.

1920s
As the Villa Saint-Louis, the house welcomes members of the Lost Generation and figures such as Picasso and Olga Khokhlova, Hemingway, Mistinguett, Rudolph Valentino and Gerald and Sara Murphy.
1925
F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald rent the villa; there the writer works on Tender Is the Night.
1929
Boma and Simone Estène buy the villa and turn it into a modest family guesthouse: the Hôtel Belles Rives is born.
1930 – 1931
The hotel officially opens in 1930 in Art Deco style; two extra floors and a new wing are added.
1932
At Juan-les-Pins, Léo Roman and Emil Petersen experiment with lengthened, widened skis towed by a motorboat, helping to pioneer water-skiing.
1942
Boma Estène, who is Jewish, closes the hotel. On reopening, German anti-landing tetrahedra are reused to support the beach and jetty slab.
1949
Léo Roman founds the first water-ski school in Juan-les-Pins, later the Belles Rives Ski Nautique Club; the first world championships are held in the resort.
1960
The Hôtel Belles Rives is rated four stars.
1970
On Boma Estène’s death, his son Casimir takes over the management with his mother.
2001
Marianne Estène-Chauvin, granddaughter of the founders, succeeds her uncle as owner.
2011
She creates the Prix Fitzgerald, a literary award presented at the hotel each year; the winner spends a night in Fitzgerald’s former room.
June 2026
The prize marks its fifteenth year with a ceremony at the hotel honouring Julian Barnes.