Hotel of the Week: Laura Gonzalez Updates a Legendary Saint-Tropez Destination

Opened in 1967 by Lebanese billionaire Jean-Prosper Gay-Para, the hotel’s opulent design was an immediate sensation that sparked Saint-Tropez’s enduring myth as a rarified escape for the international leisure crowd. Though Gay-Para was rumored to have opened Byblos in hopes of wooing Bardot herself, when the blonde bombshell married Gunter Sachs that same year, he impulsively sold the lavish new property to French entrepreneur Sylvain Floirat. Today, helmed by Floirat’s great-grandson Antoine Chevanne, Byblos maintains its rarefied status.

For the 2024 season, the storied reteat unveils its reimagined Byblos Spa by Sisley, totally renovated and expanded to offer rejuvenating “Epic Journeys” based on the ancient elements of air, water, fire, earth, and constellations. Also making its debut is a quartet of redesigned suites by Parisian architect and designer Laura Gonzalez, who crafts visually transporting spaces that harmonize with their unique cultural context, from the acclaimed Saint James residences to honoring Café Lapérouse’s iconic literary spirit. At Byblos, she drew inspiration from the hotel’s storied artistic heritage, incorporating Byzantine mosaics and Capron ceramics evocative of the celebrated artist to achieve an aesthetic that is at once refined and boldly modern.

Gonzalez envisioned the new suites as modern reincarnations of a welcoming St. Tropez family home, united by a bold melding of colors and global influences. Her aim was to infuse each space with a distinct sense of joy through four different chromatic stories: the first featuring a coral palette, the second whispers of soft yellow, the third a turquoise variation, and the fourth a celadon gradient. “I aimed to capture the warm, inviting essence of a family home in St. Tropez,” Gonzalez tells Galerie. “The vibrant palette of earthy tones, complemented by bold oranges and blues, mirrors the natural beauty and lively spirit of the French Riviera.”

No detail was overlooked in crafting these luxurious yet insouciantly laidback retreats, from iconic vintage pieces and custom ceramic minibars to intricate marquetry wooden doors. Playful layers of pattern and texture, including striped upholstery, inject a sense of whimsy and comfort, while “carefully selected vintage furniture and artisanal decor create a nostalgic 1970s vibe,” the designer notes. “Every curated artwork and intricate tilework enhances the overarching sense of home and relaxation.”

As the trailblazer putting Saint-Tropez on the world’s map, Hotel Byblos evolves under Chevanne’s masterful stewardship. Hotel Byblos’s legacy as an exclusive Provençal hideaway persists, its verve utterly intact.