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Kube Hotel *** - Route de Saint-Tropez
Gassin (nr. St. Tropez), France
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Kube Hotel - St. Tropez, France, is an ultra modern hotel clearly with the young in mind - a hotel designed especially for them. It is like living in a modern art sculpture. As its name implies, everything possible is in the shape of a cube or rectangle from drinking glasses to toilets, from soap to cups.
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Linda and Peter D'Aprix 2010
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Kube is located right on the main highway into St. Tropez. With its "cube" sign rising high above the road, it is impossible to miss even without a fixed street address. But the property is above the road, so most of the views from the pool, the outdoor alfresco dining room as well as the indoor bar and dining room are all just of the gorgeous Bay of St. Tropez. At night the reflections of the bay with the twinkling lights from the towns and beach fronts over in Beauvallon, are exquisite.
I found the hotel with its whimsical approach to style and interior design novel and rather fun, although my wife and partner found it less so. But for those who like to bake in the day around the pool wih its double bed sized outdoor mattresses then disco at night when it comes alive, filled with purple, blue and exotic lighting, a sub zero ice bar and more it is great fun. So the young now have their own place to party all night and sleep it off under the sun around the infinity pool the next day and can feel perfectly relaxed in doing so.
The tone is set right from before you check in. A valet will take your car to the underground car park, a great choice in the hot summer! Nice cool seats and interior! You then enter a glass "cube" that is set in a shallow pond of water. Once checked in, you walk along the decking over the water to the poolside bar where you sit and enjoy some refreshment and take in the view.In addition to the large, infinity pool in the front gardens with their shady umbrella pines, pool, chaises and matresses. Alongside the outdoor bar is an outdoor dining room for those balmy nights and sun worshiper lunches. Inside there is a jazzy bar with more high raised tables and stool chairs for bar or dining room use. There are gambling tables and other gaming facilities. Downstairs is the sub zero bar where there is a closet full of fur lined parkas for those who feel the chill, the kitchen and a private dining room with a view of the very modern kitchen as well as a wine room also for parties.
Passing through the bar and on out the back is another, smaller more private pool, an annex and the spa and exercise room. The hotel has a 1930's feel to it although I am was assured that it was built just a few years ago.
The bedrooms are accesses along dark corridors whose blue lights show the way only when they detect movement. So you may need to windmill your arms to alert them to your presence. The sudden onslaught of light takes place when you open the door to you room. They are decorated all in white and some tones of grey. Everything that can be is rendered in square format. The tables, chairs, bottled water, glasses, sinks, shower head, soap and even the WC itself for those of us with square bottoms. Thankfully the toilet paper is traditional.
E ach room is equipped with its own espresso maker, big screen TV, WiFi and more of what is taken for granted today. Lots of hanging room in the closets. The walls are mostly glass with windows that open to let in the sea breezes and the unique aromas of the Cote d'Azur as they billowing sheer curtains stir in the wind.
The cuisine is in keeping with the rest of the hotel; it is modern and artfully rendered. This is a great hotel who love something different to enhance their holidays. Not for the traditionalists but fun for the young and young of spirit.
The downside for us, however, was that there did not seem to be anyone around to make sure the small details were attended to. Although only open for a couple years, there were signs of neglect, lack of attention to maintenance of the pool, walkways and public areas. This did not affect the rooms which were clean and crisp but did express itself in the pool where branches from the shady trees were not removed for a day or more. With a bit more attention to making the young people attend to detail, this place would be very well set to appeal to the target market it is aimed at, who probably would not notice these details anyway.
The Kube Hotel is pare of the Murano Resort Hotels and Resorts. There is a Kube in Paris with Murano hotels in both Paris and Marrakech. Their website reflects the ultra-modern, cutting edge web design. It is graphically riveting and functionally just about as frustrating an experience as can be imagined. We have supplied the links below, but be prepared to work a little to find what you want. You can make reservations directly from the site.
Kube Hotel
Route de Saint-Tropez
83580 Gassin
Var, France.
Tel.: +33-(0)4.94.97.20.00 (drop the "0" when calling internationally)
Web Site: www.muranoresort.com/
Email
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