Hotel Les Bords de Mer

Hotel Les Bords de Mer

Marseille is not a city that softens itself for visitors, which is part of what makes it one of the more interesting places in France to spend a few days. The Vieux-Port, the Panier neighbourhood, the MuCEM, Le Corbusier's Cité Radieuse, the Calanques beginning twenty minutes from the centre, the boat to the Frioul archipelago: none of it is curated for comfort, and the city's energy, raw and unapologetically Mediterranean, is what brings you to Marseille. Les Bords de Mer is on the Corniche Kennedy, directly above the water, at the end of Plage des Catalans, with all 19 rooms facing the sea. The Vieux-Port is five minutes on foot. The hotel is Art Deco in structure and 1950s in spirit, with a pastel and natural wood palette that feels appropriately coastal without tipping into decoration. The rooms are not large, but every one of them has a balcony over the Mediterranean, which reframes the question of size entirely. The restaurant is located just above water level with bay windows over the Château d'If and the Frioul islands, the menu is seafood-forward and locally sourced, and the rooftop opens in fine weather for tapas, Fontenille wines, and cocktails by Maison Ferroni with one of the better views of the city. The mineral spa, built entirely of blonde stone carved into the Corniche, has an indoor pool, hammam, sauna, and a treatment menu built around holistic protocols. The hotel also has access to the Cercle des Nageurs next door, one of the great open-water swimming clubs of the Mediterranean, which is either a reason to book or a detail worth knowing. This is a hotel that works because of where it is, and because everything in it is oriented toward the sea. For anyone whose Paris trip is the default and Marseille is the city they keep meaning to discover properly, this is where to base that trip. The short version: Nineteen rooms, all facing the Mediterranean, in an Art Deco building on the Corniche Kennedy above Plage des Catalans, with a waterfront restaurant, a stone-carved mineral spa, and five minutes' walk to the Vieux-Port.