a COOL KIDS GUIDE TO ….

Larvotto Beach, dressed head to toe in the Flora print Rodolfo Gucci commissioned for Princess Grace back in 1966 — thirty-seven hand-painted colours of flowers, berries, butterflies and insects across silk, now stretched over sunbeds and scalloped parasols instead. Sixty years on, it's on the swimming towels, the waterfront restaurant's linen napkins, and parked out front on a custom Gucci bicycle for the photo you already know you're taking before you've even checked in. Belgian artist Mark Colle's oversized floral installations turn the entry corridor into a genuine multi-hued archway — this is not a branded umbrella and a discount code, this is a full-scale creative production.

HOT TIP: only 36 sunbeds on this exact stretch — book ahead or you're watching from the promenade with everyone else. Runs through October 2026, and yes, it's open to day visitors, no hotel stay required.

The terraces, the jetty, the pool, the tennis courts, even the bicycles guests borrow to get into town — all of it recoloured in a specific Burberry check-blue that quite literally didn't exist until the house invented it for this. Belles Rives isn't just any hotel to hand the keys to, either: it's Art Deco royalty on the French Riviera, the property F. Scott Fitzgerald lived in while writing his final novel, where the protagonist wears a Burberry coat, and where Hemingway and Gertrude Stein were regulars long before 'beach club takeover' was a category. The literary pedigree is exactly what makes this collaboration feel earned instead of opportunistic.

HOT TIP: order at the Fitzgerald Bar, then grab a Burberry-branded ice lolly on the terrace after — a small, perfect ritual. Waterskiing sessions run in the very bay the sport is said to have been invented in, part of the takeover programme all summer. Runs through 30 September 2026.

The label's biggest beach takeover to date, and it shows in every detail: Blue Beach completely reimagined in bold striped umbrellas and monochrome everything, branded paddleboards, custom beach paddles, and resort buggies redesigned to match the aesthetic down to the last stripe. Alongside it sits a 98-square-metre Jacquemus boutique with its own terrace, carrying the Resort 2026 Plage collection — so you can walk straight off the sand and into the exact pieces you just saw on someone three sunbeds over.

HOT TIP: sunbeds run about €200–300 with a minimum spend, and weekends book out fast — reserve one to two weeks ahead if you want a Saturday. Open through the summer season, with branded activities including personalised backgammon and buggy rides thrown in.

Belmond's 1927 beach club, tucked into the bay between Portofino and Santa Margherita, gone full Dior across two decks in the house's Toile de Jouy print. Next door, a one-of-a-kind concept store carries the Dioriviera capsule and a limited-edition Escale à Portofino perfume, the Splendido Edition, made specifically for this collaboration. Then there's the quiet flex most people miss entirely: a pop-up Dior spa, Jardin des Rêves ('Garden of Dreams'), tucked into the gardens of Splendido up the hill, offering the house's signature skincare treatments in a setting that mirrors the hotel's own flower gardens.

HOT TIP: no online booking here — call or email ahead, this is old-world Riviera, not an app. Stay for the seafood crudo at Langosteria while you're there. Runs through 30 September 2026.