On the road connecting Toulon to Saint-Tropez, behind the wheel of his gray 1989 Jeep Cherokee, Arthur Henry, 33, architect, designer and owner of the Hôtel California, told us, "I'm jealous that you get to discover the hotel for the first time." He said it with a hint of regret, because he could not remember the first time he saw the family establishment – quite simply because he grew up there.

His grandfather built the hotel in Le Lavandou on the French Riviera in 1956, on land purchased by his great-great-grandmother, renovated by his father, run by his uncle, mother, aunts, mother-in-law and his mother-in-law's daughter. The hotel – which he inherited in 2018 and completely renovated a year and a half ago – was, in any case, in his blood, even if, as he said, "I have a hard time saying, 'Hi, I own a hotel.' I prefer to say that I create beautiful worlds for vacations."

Beyond the lowered car windows, with the soft folk of Robert Lester Folsom playing, the lush countryside of southeastern France rolled by, looking especially vibrant at the start of summer. There were umbrella pines, clusters of oleander, neatly arranged palm trees and fields of olive trees, all punctuated by seasonal seaside sights: signs for hotels and beach restaurants, pink and ocher vacation residences adorned with striped awnings, posters advertising Bastille Day fireworks on July 14 and, that very evening, a concert by Jean-Baptiste Guégan, a Johnny Hallyday impersonator, on the main beach at Le Lavandou.

A legacy of architects

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