Making of
Making of Hôtel Les Roches Rouges Text Charly Wilder Photography Stephanie Füssenich
Every great hotel is experienced as a totality, an immersive environ ment that functions seamlessly, organically — a unified vision. Yet a hotel is also a collaboration, honed by many hands and diverse sensibilities. It’s an ever-shifting, living thing, born from an idea and a place in time. And it’s a story, the kind best told by a multitude of voices. What follows is one such story, depicting the creation from conception to completion of a great hotel — Hôtel Les Roches Rouges, a sanctuary of
barefoot Riviera luxury housed in a renovated late-1950s structure within a natural reserve in the coastal commune of SaintRaphaël between Saint-Tropez and Cannes. We spoke at length to the core team behind the property, opening in May 2017, including Valéry Grégo, the visionary hotelier who masterminded the project and founder of the Perseus hotel group; Perseus brand manager Vanina Kovarski, who was instrumental in shaping the guest experience; architect Hugo Sauzay of 42
renowned Parisian design firm Festen, who led the renovation with his partner, Charlotte de Tonnac; art director Antoine Ricardou, responsible for the hotel’s visual identity and arts programming; and gardener Stan Alaguillaume, who worked in conjunction with Paris-based landscape architect Gwenaelle Grandjean to develop the property’s four distinct garden plots. The result is a behind-thescenes account of how this singular destination set among the rocky coast of the Côte d’Azur came to be.
