Predicting the future has never been much of a speciality of mine, but after prophesying that season 4 of The White Lotus would be shot at French hotel Château de la Messardière in Saint-Tropez, I might add it to my CV.
It was reported a few days ago that the anthology would shoot at the property, but I’d already read the tea leaves for an article published last April, in which The Independent travel team all shared their destination speculations for the next instalment of the hit HBO series.
To help me pick a contender, I recalled all the luxurious properties I’d stayed in over the years as a travel journalist, and Château de la Messardière immediately sprung to mind — it had opulence, sea views, an exotic location and pools. All elements that the White Lotus location scouts seem smitten by.
There was just one fly in the soothsaying ointment — it wasn’t a Four Seasons hotel. So far, this upscale brand has featured heavily in all three seasons, with its properties in Maui, Hawaii (season 1), Taormina, Sicily (season 2), and Koh Samui, Thailand (season 3) becoming instant bucket-list stays.
Perhaps the team will opt for a change, I pondered. Plus, there’s Château de la Messardière’s inherent drama. The main building is a chateau — built in 1904 as a wedding gift from cognac merchant Gabriel Dupuy d’Angeac for his daughter Louise and her cavalry officer husband, Henry Brisson de La Messardière — and the property sits alone on a hill, surrounded by umbrella pine trees with superyachts anchored in glistening bays beyond. Perfect for a mesmerising opening aerial shot.
Writing last year in The Independent, I mused that the “actors would have their work cut out… because this hotel is a scene-stealer like no other — glamorous from top to bottom”.
No word of exaggeration. And my family stay at the property is filed away in my memory banks’ “unforgettable” section.
We enjoyed discovering how Château de la Messardière, part of the Airelles Collection, gained the “palace” rating from the French government, an honour distributed to hotels it believes enhance the nation’s global reputation.
The pools would certainly have helped. There are four, including a gorgeous shell-shaped mosaiced one in front of the turreted main building, a 25-metre lap pool, an indoor pool in the 10,700-square-foot spa complex and a fully supervised outdoor pool at the “Kids’ Club Villa”, which sits in what amounts to a children’s kingdom.
A cinema, mini-farm, trampolines, a tree house and arcade games complete this paradise for little ones, but they’re fussed over wherever they go in the property — in our sumptuous room, the staff had set up a little wigwam for our young daughter, complete with a goody bag and cuddly bee toy.
One of the flagship perks at the hotel (for all ages) is being transferred to a private beach, Jardin Tropezina, in a Rolls-Royce Cullinan SUV, but we found ourselves unwilling to move from the hotel’s dreamy environs.
Much time was spent lolling by that statement mosaiced pool, which had an enticing shallow section for the little one.
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Occasionally, we’d wander without purpose through the elegant gardens, or retreat from the sun and ensconce ourselves on a terrace sofa amid some of France’s plumpest cushions and sip something with watermelon in it as supercar-owning guests (the car park was full of Ferraris and Lamborghinis) panned their camera-phones around.
When hunger pangs needed to be sated, we turned to the likes of poolside beef with creamy mash, washed down by Crozes-Hermitage red wine, and delectable Japanese dishes and drinks at the hotel’s excellent Matsuhisa Saint-Tropez restaurant. Here we were presented with wagyu tacos, king crab tempura and sake cocktails as we stared, transfixed, at the boats bobbing below in Pampelonne Bay.
The stay was pure bliss from beginning to end. Which leads me to one more prediction — a lot of viewers will be second-screening season 4 of Mike White’s cult series with Château de la Messardière’s online booking page.
Rooms at Airelles Saint-Tropez, Château de la Messardière cost from £996/1,150 euros/$1,340 per night.
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