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This resort, with its brightly colored houses evocative of a Provençal village, is perennially trendy and packed with the international beau monde during peak season. (This summer marks the hotel’s 40th anniversary, so expect even more excitement than usual.) Guests vary from movie stars to slick pink-shirted playboys and fashionistas sporting hot pants and cowboy boots. That’s part of the fun, though, because as exclusive as the place is, the spirit is bon enfant and not in the least pretentious—thanks in part to the friendly, ultraprofessional staff.

Splurge on one of the extravagant duplexes or suites, some of which have private terraces. If you’re an inveterate people-watcher, book the newly revamped Riviera Suite, which has a big sitting room directly above the inner courtyard and the pool. (Lap swimmers may find the pool disappointingly small; it lends itself more for quick dips.) Some guests rarely venture outside the hotel for days: there are two superb restaurants, Le B. and Alain Ducasse’s Spoon Byblos a renowned club, Les Caves du Roy and clothing and swimwear boutiques. And the brand-new Essential Treatment Sisley Spa offers a choice of massages and treatments, including the Ultimate Byblos antiaging treatment. Rooms from $525.

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Blessed with views of the Bay of Pampelonne and St.-Tropez’s vineyards, the sprawling forty-two-room bastide, in a cicada-thrumming pine grove just outside of Ramatuelle, is undeniably romantic. Designed by owners Jocelyne and Jean-Louis Sibuet (the hoteliers behind La Bastide de Marie in Provence and Les Fermes de Marie in Megève), the original public spaces include a seashell-studded bar, a reception area with 1930s Baroque–inspired sitting rooms and multilevel patios that mix baroque Italian antiques with rattan furniture. There’s also a curved stone pool built into the rock. The luminous guest rooms have wrought-iron canopy beds and old-fashioned claw-footed bathtubs (there are also separate showers). The on-site spa has a menu of treatments ranging from honey-and-brown-sugar scrubs and pink-clay wraps to antiaging facials with edelweiss. This is the place for people who prefer hot-stone massages and peaceful sunset cocktails to night-crawling. Rooms from $875.