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How Europe's most luxurious hotel will reopen, from perspex screens in private transfers to exclusive beach cabanas

Hotel du Cap Eden Roc
Hotel du Cap Eden Roc

South of France grand dame Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc has announced it will reopen on July 1. The hotel, on the southern tip of the Cap d’Antibes, is one of Europe's most exclusive properties – not to mention its most luxurious, and is this year celebrating its 150th anniversary.

Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc usually reopens after winter in mid-April, but the coronavirus pandemic meant that this year that was delayed.

Once open again, the hotel will follow guielines outlined by the French Ministry of Health, meaning an A-list stay this summer will look a little different to usual – though guests will have full access to the hotel's beloved saltwater swimming pool, along with water activities, the tennis courts and fitness centre. The Eden-Roc Grill will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with buffets replaced by à la carte menus.

Spa treatments will be available in outdoor cabanas, and luxuries such as private limousine transfer (with plexiglass partitions between drivers and passengers) and airport welcome services may well be more in demand than ever. Further privacy is available via the hotel's private seaside cabanas, which can be booked for full days.

A five-section plan on Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc's website lays out in detail how the property will approach transport, guest and staff safety, cleaning and hygiene, restaurants and children. Reception will also be shielded by plexiglass partitions, and other standard measures such as hand disinfection stations and 'traffic flow guidance' will be widespread throughout the hotel. Even kids' club activities will be adapted to facilitate social distancing.

Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc
Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc

In Telegraph Travel's review of Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Lisa Gerard-Sharp says: "[Its] spirit is the languid, old-school glamour Scott Fitzgerald immortalised in Tender is the Night, inspired by this 'rock of paradise'. The centrepiece chateau has been beloved by Windsors, Kennedys, Churchills and countless screen stars. It was here that Rita Hayworth fell in love with the Aga Khan. A catwalk of an alley sweeps down to the sea and is still the place to party during Cannes Film Festival [cancelled this year, of course]. Marble halls reveal the loveliest of floral arrangements on the whole of the Riviera.

"The saltwater infinity pool, dynamited out of basalt rock above the bay in 1914, is cut into the edge of the cliff. With two terraces of restaurants overhanging the sea, the nautical pavilion evokes an Art Deco cruise ship. It’s a paparazzi-free zone so stars can play at being simple folk."

Our resident France expert Anthony Peregrine, meanwhile, highlighted, after a pre-pandemic visit, the hotel's high price point (no chance of bagging a lockdown bargain here, with nightly opening rates set at an eye-watering €1,150 [£1,033]). He added: "Cap-Eden-Roc’s opulence isn’t about ostentation or outrageous pomp. It’s about thick-seamed serenity that wealth favours but cannot itself create. There, whoever you are, you are – temporarily, at least – co-opted into a continuum of the famous, noble and sleek, a continuum refined over 15 decades."

Later in July guests will discover new additions in celebration of the 150th anniversary. Brazilian architect and designer Patricia Anastassiadis was commissioned to redesign the three main dining areas (piano bar La Rotonde; and the lunchtime Eden-Roc Restaurant that by night transforms into the Louroc Restaurant for dinner) in homage to the celebrated personalities that have visited the hotel over the years.

Managing Director Philippe Perd said: "We look forward to welcoming guests back to our jewel on the Mediterranean where they can relax, recharge and let us take care of every single detail. It is times like these, when society emerges from a challenging period, that the true meaning of leisure is most deeply felt. My teams and I are proud of our 150-year tradition of hospitality, an enduring legacy that we lean on season after season to create unforgettable memories for our guests."

When will European hotels open? A calendar of key opening dates