Stay at the famous Hotel Byblos in Saint-Tropez: the most luxurious hotel in France

This nightly ritual occurred during the several-week residency the Commodores had secured at Byblos’ underground nightclub, Les Caves du Roy, a venue as full of legends, myths and first-rate private debauchery as any what other in France.

LaPread, Lionel Richie and the rest of the Commodores would enter that world of prominence themselves just two years later when Machine gun began a record run on the charts (sweet love, Just to be close to you, Easy, Brick house, Three times a lady, Always, Browse, Lady, you raise me, Night shift etc.) which would last more than a decade.

Richie is known for crediting Byblos as his career’s lucky charm, but he’s not the only one who is extremely famous and hugely fond of Byblos.

It is, after all, the place where Mick and Bianca Jagger honeymooned in 1971, where young Jack Nicholson and Cher preferred to party, where Grace Jones once rode a motorbike in the Caves du Roy and where everyone from Rihanna to George Clooney to Lady Gaga. Elton John always chooses to stay in the south of France.

And me.

In Byblos, it doesn’t matter whether you suffer from imposter syndrome or an inflated conception of your own importance, you will be treated the same.

That is to say, you will be treated like a star, whether you are Timothée Chalamet or Timothy Roxborogh. Or rather, you will feel a warm welcome regardless of your status. And yet, “status” has been part of the legend of Byblos since its opening in 1967.

Built by lovestruck Lebanese billionaire Jean-Prosper Gay-Para in a failed attempt to woo Saint-Tropez’s most famous girl, actress Brigitte Bardot, Gay-Para had the courage – and money – to bringing to life his idealized vision of the most idyllic Lebanese village.

With 91 rooms and a series of interconnected tile-roofed buildings that span an entire city block, Byblos is within walking distance of the shops, restaurants and superyachts of Saint-Tropez.

Byblos, architecturally ostentatious, is not. Architecturally beautiful; impeccable even, yes. But ostentatious? No.

It’s not a domed palace visible from miles around, and perhaps that’s why elegant but deep-pocketed people love it so much. This is the place you stay when you don’t want to get caught by the paparazzi, which is something I often had to think about.

With fewer than 100 rooms – all of different proportions and designs, including 50 suites – Byblos is large enough to get a little lost in for the first few days, but small enough to feel secluded and private.

And anyone not staying at Byblos won’t be able to see you sunbathing in that iconic central courtyard pool, the same pool still overlooked by the Jaggers’ old honeymoon balcony.

Likewise, the Byblos staff need not tell you that if you spot other Byblos regulars like Paul McCartney, Beyoncé, David Guetta or even Bill Gates on a lounge chair, that would be the opposite of refined French chic to take a photo of. a photo.

Before you ask, no, I didn’t see any celebrities during my stay in Byblos, but rumor had it that Clooney was returning to his favorite suite just a week after my stay.

George and I would have definitely hung out by the pool, ordered our €45 burgers (I’m not kidding, these Byblos burgers cost around $80 depending on the exchange rate) and swapped stories of how awesome they were.

As it was, I was here to sample everything Byblos had to offer, even if it meant eating an enthusiastically priced burger alone. It came with fries. And more importantly, it came with Byblos, because I could have wandered down the street trying to find somewhere cheaper to dine, but as a hotel nut on pilgrimage, Byblos was my reason for being in Saint-Tropez. .

So I ate the hamburger. I also purchased the Byblos brand frisbee and the Byblos brand multi-adapter socket. I’ll also tell you how much it costs, but my wife is reading this and she’s just starting to accept the burger.

Which raises an obvious question: why do it? Why splurge on this hotel some 11,000 miles from home when my resume (and bank balance) suggests I’m missing out on several Grammys and Oscars compared to their usual clientele?

I’ve long said that the best hotels are full of stories. They don’t have to be marbled five-star luxury with exquisite gardens and artwork like Byblos, but it’s certainly fun if they are. But the stories of why and how they were built, who stayed there, and the history these walls have witnessed have always attracted me.

Byblos successfully walks a tightrope in celebrating his decades-long associations with the showbiz elite without it ever feeling crass, or like a betrayal of privacy.

For me, standing on Jagger’s balcony, swimming in that pool, going into that nightclub (where around 1,000 bottles of champagne are sold every night during the peak summer season) was crazy.

Recreating the climb up the hill to the citadel that LaPread, Richie and the Commodores would do – without spending several hours dismantling the house at Roy’s Caves as they did – was part of the pilgrimage.

I guess I always wanted to be a pop star. For a few days in Byblos, I felt like I was.

Check-list

SAINT-TROPEZ, FRANCE

GETTING THERE

Fly from Auckland to Nice Côte d’Azur Airport with a stopover with Emirates and Qatar Airways. Saint Tropez is approximately 1.5 hours by car from the airport.

DETAILS

byblos.com

Tim Roxborogh stayed as a guest of the Byblos Hotel. Learn more about byblos.com.