Sleep and dream at the Sezz Saint-Tropez: the rooms and suites of a 5-star design hotel

Where can you stay in Saint-Tropez in a stylish, peaceful and truly luxurious setting?

There are hotels where you simply sleep. And there are hotels where you gain something: time, tranquillity, a way of being that’s a world away from everyday life. Le Sezz falls into the latter category.

37 rooms and suites. No more. Each with its own terrace and private garden. Some with a private swimming pool. The architecture, designed by Christophe Pillet, works with the Mediterranean light rather than against it. And there’s the distinctive tranquillity of the Salins neighbourhood, just five minutes from the centre of Saint-Tropez, yet in a world of its own.

Imagine this: you arrive one afternoon. The valet takes your car. You push open the door to your room. The 5-metre-high floor-to-ceiling windows open onto a private garden. Outside, the outdoor shower awaits beneath the Saint-Tropez sky. You have nowhere to go, and that’s exactly what you wanted.

To mark World Dream Day on 25 September, discover what makes our rooms so unique.

The Sezz Saint-Tropez, at a glance:

• Category: 5-star design boutique hotel

• Capacity: 37 rooms and suites

• Architect: Christophe Pillet

• Location: 151 Route des Salins, 83990 Saint-Tropez, 5 minutes from the centre, 10 minutes from the beaches of Pampelonne

• Rooms: with a terrace and private garden; some with a private swimming pool

• Dining: Colette restaurant (Michelin-starred), Le C bistro, Dom Pérignon bar

• Wellness: Sezz Spa by Susanne Kaufmann

• Services: free car park, valet parking, shuttle service, Wi-Fi

• Pets: allowed up to 10 kg

37 rooms: why does this figure make all the difference?

There’s one thing that big hotels can’t offer: the certainty that you won’t bump into the same crowds as in Pampelonne in August.

The Sezz has 35 rooms and 2 suites. This was a deliberate design choice. Shahé Kalaidjian, founder and owner of the Sezz, wanted a hotel that felt more like a holiday home than a luxury hotel. A place where every guest feels like a resident, not just a room number.

In practice, this makes a world of difference: the valet recognises your car from the second day onwards, the restaurant staff remember your preferences, and the 200 m² swimming pool is never overcrowded. And in the gardens, there’s genuine space between the different areas – between your terrace and your neighbour’s.

It’s a hotel on a human scale. Some guests have been coming back every year for the past ten years.

Christophe Pillet’s architecture: sleeping in a space designed to let in light

Christophe Pillet designed the Sezz around a simple concept: ‘In & Out’. The boundaries between indoors and outdoors are blurred. Mediterranean light floods into the rooms without being filtered by dark colours or heavy materials. Greenery extends right out onto the terraces.

In practice: clean lines, light-coloured concrete, wood and neutral tones that shift in texture depending on the time of day. In the morning, the low-angled light of the Côte d’Azur casts a warm glow over the terrace slabs. In the afternoon, the shadows of the palm trees cast shifting patterns. In the evening, the subdued lighting creates an effortlessly cosy atmosphere.

The rooms and terraces at Sezz offer perspectives that few other hotels on the Riviera can match, making them ideal for photographs: a private garden that seems to belong solely to your room, a 200 m² swimming pool reflecting the sky at dawn, and the shadow of a palm tree cast upon the light-coloured concrete at 10 o’clock in the morning.

Room categories: what’s really changing

At Sezz, every room has a terrace and a private garden. This is what they all have in common. What varies is the size, the aspect and, for certain room categories, the inclusion of a private pool.

Room categories available at the Sezz Saint-Tropez hotel:

• Bungalow: 30 m² + 20 m² terrace (5 rooms)

Queen-size bed. Large floor-to-ceiling windows reaching a height of nearly 5 metres, giving the impression that the terrace is part of the room. Bathroom with bath and shower, separate toilet. And a 10 m² open-air outdoor shower in an enclosed garden. This is the entry-level category at the Sezz. It is not a standard room.

• Cocoon Queen: 40 m² + 20 m² terrace (9 rooms)

Queen-size bed. Same feel as the Bungalow, but 10 m² larger. Ideal for families: free cot on request, extra bed available for children under 14 (€150). Same 5-metre-high floor-to-ceiling windows, same outdoor shower, same private garden.

• Cocoon King: 40 m² + 20 m² terrace (18 rooms)

The most common room type at Sezz. King-size bed. The difference compared to the Cocoon Queen lies in the size of the bed and the amount of space to move around in the room. Wheelchair access is available in some rooms of this category. For couples looking for space and a large bed: this is the place.

• Cocoon Plunge Pool: 40 m² + 20 m² terrace with private heated plunge pool (3 bedrooms)

Queen-size bed. Same floor area as the Cocoon suites, but the terrace features a small private heated plunge pool. Not an Olympic-sized swimming pool, but something more intimate and discreet. Ideal for two people who want the water close at hand without having to share the main pool. Connecting rooms available on request.

• ‘Villa-style’ Suite: 90 m² + private pool + wraparound terrace (2 suites)

2 bedrooms (1 King + 1 Queen), 1 spacious living room. Each bedroom has its own en-suite bathroom. Outdoor shower, private garden, sun loungers, garden furniture and a private heated pool. This is the rarest category at Le Sezz, and the most self-contained. You can stay here for several days without feeling the need to leave your own space.

Some unusual advice from Maxime Richard, head concierge at Sezz and a member of the Clefs d’Or, on choosing your room:

• Rooms 1 to 15: morning sun in the private garden – ideal if you like to have an early breakfast outdoors.

• Rooms 21 to 28: just a stone’s throw from the pool, for those who want to be by the water in a matter of seconds.

• Rooms 29 to 40: afternoon sun on the terrace, ideal for enjoying the golden hour in your own outdoor space.

Many guests ask, ‘Which is the best room?’ But it all depends on their day. If they’re out early in the morning and back in the afternoon, it’s best to choose a room with morning sun. If they sleep in and make the most of Sezz in the late afternoon, it’s advisable to choose a room with afternoon sun.

What you’ll find in every room at the Sezz Hotel

The rooms at Sezz are not hotel rooms in the usual sense. They are more like high-end holiday apartments, with all the freedom that entails.

Each room features:

• A private terrace and garden with outdoor furniture

• An outdoor bathroom in certain room categories: an open-air shower in an enclosed garden

• Natural materials: wood, concrete, linen, greenery

• Furniture by Christophe Pillet: understated, functional, with that sense of visual tranquillity found only in well-designed spaces

• Breakfast served in your room: delivered to your own outdoor space, without having to go to a communal area

• 24-hour room service: penne, smoked salmon, club sandwiches, salads, cheese platters, chocolate opera cake… there are plenty of treats to choose from, ranging from €21 to €47.

• A wide range of amenities: air conditioning, safe, minibar, coffee machine, fibre-optic Wi-Fi, Chromecast, Bluetooth speaker, Acqua Di Parma toiletries, Sezz bathrobe and flip-flops, in-room massage service, and loan of a laptop and printer.

The outdoor bathroom deserves special mention; it is one of the most memorable features of the Sezz. The 10 m² outdoor shower, set in an enclosed garden, allows you to shower under the open sky whilst maintaining your privacy.

A night at Sezz: what happens when the lights go out

The Salins road is genuinely peaceful, which is particularly noticeable to anyone who has tried to get a night’s sleep in a hotel in the centre of Saint-Tropez in August.

Route des Salins is less than 2 kilometres from the port of Saint-Tropez. Its distance from the port and the main bustling streets contributes to a noticeably quieter atmosphere at night. What you can hear from the rooms at the Sezz: cicadas at the start of the night, occasionally the wind in the palm trees, and the silence characteristic of a sleeping Mediterranean garden.

Returning to your room after dinner at the Michelin-starred restaurant Colette or the bistro Le C means strolling through the garden in the balmy night air, listening to the palm trees, and catching a glimpse of the illuminated swimming pool from the path. Just a few steps. No hotel corridors, no lifts. Just the outdoors, then indoors. It’s a simple luxury that transforms an evening.

A morning at Sezz, before Saint-Tropez comes to life

There’s a moment between 7am and 9am at the Sezz when the hotel is still quiet, and the swimming pool reflects a sky that’s still pale. Breakfast arrives before anything has even begun. The coffee is hot; the cicadas haven’t started yet. Saint-Tropez, just five minutes away, doesn’t exist yet.

This is often the moment that regulars mention first when asked what they remember most about our hotel.

Breakfast can be served in your room, on a private terrace or overlooking the pool for those who prefer the communal area. The Sezz team adapts to your pace, not the other way round.

For those who want to start with the outdoors: Canebiers beach is a 5-minute walk away, the Sentier du Littoral coastal path starts from there, and Saint-Tropez hasn’t opened its terraces yet.

The spa, the swimming pool, and everything to do with sleep

Sleeping well at the Sezz doesn’t start when you close your eyes. It starts in the afternoon, as soon as you arrive.

The Spa Sezz by Susanne Kaufmann offers sunset yoga classes around 7 p.m. in September, which create the transition between day and evening better than any cocktail.

According to Mathilde, Spa Manager, the treatments are designed to promote a feeling of deep relaxation. Associated with the calm of the gardens and the sunrise or sunset yoga sessions, they allow to gradually slow down the rhythm of the day before the night.

The 200 sqm heated swimming pool is accessible from the beginning of the day. A bath in the pool before breakfast is one of the moments that is often mentioned by customers in their feedback.

Practical information—Rooms and suites at the Sezz Saint-Tropez

• Address: 151 route des Salins, 83990 Saint-Tropez

• Access: 5 minutes from the center of Saint-Tropez, 10 minutes from the beaches of Pampelonne, close to the beach of Canebiers and the Sentier du Littoral, 45 minutes from Cannes, 1 hour from Nice

• Category: 5-star design boutique hotel

• Capacity: 37 rooms and suites

• Architect: Christophe Pillet

• Each room: terrace and private garden

• Selected suites: private pool

• Breakfast: served on the terrace or in your room

• Dining: Colette (Michelin-starred, dinner), Le C (lunch and evening, 7/7), Dom Pérignon bar

• Wellness: Spa Sezz by Susanne Kaufmann—treatments from €70, sunrise and sunset yoga

• Swimming pool: 200 m 2, heated

• Services: free parking, free valet parking, shuttle from the Place des Lices, fiber wifi

• Pets: accepted up to 10 kg