Hôtel Hermitage, the discreet charm of a Belle Époque jewel
Of the four hotels in the Monte-Carlo SBM resort, the Hôtel Hermitage is the favorite of those who expect a palace, above all, to be a place of well-being and tranquility. Overlooking the Mediterranean, this century-old 5-star hotel, a member of Leading Hotels of the World, is one of the finest representatives of luxury in the grand European tradition.
Belle Époque treasure of the Monte-Carlo SBM heritage, the Hôtel Hermitage offers an intimate and discreet conception of European luxury in the heart of the Principality of Monaco. Its colossal dimensions, architecture and layout make it an ideal palace for individual guests, family gatherings and business stays alike. Just open the door and you’ll be enchanted by the harmonious blend of patina and modernity that characterizes it. An inimitable charm, a guarantee of well-being and a gentle way of life for all guests.
A unique atmosphere
L’Hermitage offers guests a discreetly familiar, old-fashioned atmosphere, enhanced by touches of modernity. Its halls, lounges, rooms and suites are steeped in anecdotes that give it an authentic flavour of history. Here, on this terrace, Aristotle Onassis secretly met Callas. Here, in this suite, Marcel Pagnol stayed for a long time. Prince Louis de Polignac spent his entire life at the Hôtel Hermitage. Every guest is as pampered as these prestigious guests.
The wellness hotel
True to a tradition that dates back to the time of Monte-Carlo’s first spa, at the beginning of the last century, the Hôtel Hermitage has made wellness and health its specialties. It offers private access to the Thermes Marins Monte-Carlo and close collaboration with the famous center. In their elegant white marble décor, the Thermes Marins offer a fitness area, 37 treatment or hydrotherapy cabins, two swimming pools, a beauty area and a health and gastronomy restaurant, “L’Hirondelle”.
Open doors to the high life
L’Hermitage is the perfect place to recharge your batteries after days and evenings spent enjoying the many treasures of the Monte-Carlo SBM resort. In this crossroads of arts and culture, one event follows another and high life is everywhere. Gastronomy explores heights of trend and tradition, nightlife sparkles, sports clubs are numerous and sumptuous, and four casinos offer intoxicating cocktails of legend and thrill.
The alchemy of style and comfort
To stay at the Hôtel Hermitage is to experience Monte-Carlo from the heart of its intimacy. Here, the art of living is celebrated in an idea of luxury that rhymes with comfort and sobriety.
With their charming intimacy, state-of-the-art facilities and quality services, the 280 rooms of the Hôtel Hermitage offer a level of comfort that’s hard to match. 20 suites, 22 junior suites and 8 very exclusive suites known as “Les Appartements” bring the refinements of hotel hospitality to the highest level. Their style is always based on the Hermitage essentials: the marriage of ancient and modern, typical decorative elements (such as marble and mosaics in the bathrooms), overall coherence and color variations according to the wings and floors. “A luxury establishment must enrich the lives of its visitors, be conducive to memories, and create an atmosphere conducive to reunions with friends and business meetings”, recalls renowned architect-designer Pierre-Yves Rochon, one of the key players in the major renovation program that the hotel underwent between 2002 and 2010.
Rooms and suites
In a discreet Belle Époque style evocative of the gentle way of life of yesteryear, the Hôtel Hermitage’s “luxury” and “superior” rooms are available in beige and red or beige and blue. The Midi and Excelsior wings offer “exclusive sea view” rooms in absinthe and lavender. Many of these rooms have a terrace with a view of the sea or harbor.
The exquisite suites and junior suites, ranging in size from 40 to 100 m², offer the utmost in comfort, with a sense of detail in every stylistic element.
“Les Diamond Suites”: the exclusive collection of Monte-Carlo SBM suites
Eight “Diamond Suites” culminate on the private floors of the Hôtel Hermitage. Access is controlled from the wide landings. The interiors are designed by Pierre-Yves Rochon. Every room is bathed in light. Rooms and lounges face the sea. Oak parquet floors and ceilings adorned with cornices give the walls a patina of beige and brown cameos. Bathrooms are separated from bedrooms by frosted glass partitions. Some have natural overhead lighting. A clever blend of classic and contemporary styles, the furnishings are in perfect harmony with the décor. Curtains, ruffles and cushions have been cut from precious fabrics. Table linen is exclusive. Dedicated staff provide 24-hour service.
Two apartments: the Presidential and Duplex Suites
With a surface area of 172m², the Presidential Suite boasts two bedrooms with terraces, an office area and a large central lounge, all in shades of ceruse sand and ivory. Its two ultra-modern bathrooms are in Carrara marble. The Duplex Suite overlooks the Port of Monaco and offers a view of the Rock from its magnificent panoramic teak terrace equipped with a private Jacuzzi. Its freshly-colored living room is exceptionally bright, thanks to the glass staircase opening to the sky and leading to the roof terrace. The roof terrace is organized into different areas on a 100m² iroko parquet floor.
Sunny gastronomy
After a complete makeover, the Vistamar restaurant reopened its doors in September 2010. This
must-visit seafood restaurant now welcomes its gourmet clientele in a new setting that is both luxurious and uncluttered, chic and contemporary, designed by Pierre-Yves Rochon. The Vistamar’s architecture and decor, in timeless shades of beige, have been designed to resonate perfectly with the cuisine on offer. The dining room and terrace have been imagined as a space open to the Mediterranean, bathed in natural light. Clean lines harmonize with light, soothing tones. A Veronese chandelier, Corian tables and cosy seating areas complete this exceptional setting, creating a unique atmosphere of comfort, elegance and relaxation.
Refocused around essential culinary values, the menu, designed by Joël Garault, celebrates seasonal produce, precise cooking and simple preparation. Seafood is given pride of place, sublimated in a rich bouquet of flavors. The new Vistamar menu praises the simple joys of local fisheries and cultures, in a veritable exaltation of freshness. Examples include the soup of small rock fish brought back by Gérard Rinaldi – from the last family of Monegasque fishermen – the famous Vistamar bouillabaisse in three gourmet courses, or autumn vegetables in a lightly vanilla barigoule, direct from Romy, a Monegasque greengrocer at the Monaco market. An authentic approach based on the notion of “one fish, one vegetable, one way of cooking” means that dishes can be prepared using different cooking methods. Line-caught bass can be grilled over an open fire, accompanied by sweet-and-sour pumpkin, or wrapped in salt dough, with saffron Japanese pearls and a dash of pistou. Fish from the morning pesca is roasted whole or snacked and served on a semi-smoked eggplant purée.
Meat lovers are not forgotten, with free-range squab or French beef. For dessert, a delightful range of hot soufflés awaits gourmets.
This cuisine can be discovered à la carte or through menus such as menu gourmand and menu dégustation, or through a lunch formula ideal for business customers, often limited by time. Exquisite and confidential thanks to its independent entrance, the private dining room can welcome up to 12 guests around the Vistamar à la carte menu or menus concocted for the occasion.
Joël Garault, chevalier en toque blanche
Joël Garault, Executive Chef of the Hôtel Hermitage, has the enthusiasm and human qualities of a great federator. Whether it’s promoting taste to young gourmets or defending regional products and producers to official bodies, he knows how to put forward arguments that will resonate with schools and ministries alike. President of the PACA region’s technical education advisors, co-president of the “Monaco Goût et Saveurs” association, which contributes to the culinary education of the Principality’s young schoolchildren, his commitments are as numerous as the distinctions that honor his exceptional career. In 2009, he was awarded the medal of Chevalier dans l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole. This was in recognition of his work in obtaining the AOC Nice olive oil and Menton lemon labels, as well as in defending the Puget-Théniers abattoir, which has since become the first abattoir in the Alpes Maritimes to be awarded the label. In 2005, he had already been awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the French Ministry of Education, for his commitment to training young apprentices. The transmission of knowledge, as understood by the Compagnons du Tour de France, is of paramount importance to him: “consolidating bridges between the worlds of education and work, sharing knowledge with as many young people as possible, is a mission that is close to my heart”. His cuisine is imbued with the same generosity. Born the son of a farmer in Loudun, he developed a passion for gastronomy at a very early age, seeing it as a way of making the most of local produce. As a young apprentice at the age of 18, he joined the brigade of the man who was to become his guide and role model, Christian Willer, at the Hôtel Hermitage in La Baule. This leader of men was above all an outstanding organizer, from whom Joël Garault acquired not only the technical basics but also a philosophy that advocated simplicity and the primacy of authentic flavors. He went on to open a gourmet restaurant in Limoges, before returning to his mentor’s restaurant La Palme d’Or at the Hôtel Martinez in Cannes, where he earned his first Michelin star.
In 1988, another palace, La Réserve in Beaulieu, opened its doors to him. He moved to the Principality in 1991. For seven years, he worked at the Hôtel Mirabeau’s La Coupole restaurant, before taking charge of the kitchens at the Hôtel Hermitage in 1998, and at Vistamar, the establishment’s new seafood restaurant. This was an immediate success, crowned by a Michelin star. 2010 marks another decisive turning point in Joël Garault’s career: the global renovation of the Vistamar.
He supervises a brigade of 35 cooks and an average of 10 to 1,500 covers per month, and is busy fine-tuning the menus and specialities of the hotel’s other dining outlets. The Crystalbar was created, room service was enhanced with a 24-hour continuous service and the Limùn Bar, the hotel’s lobby bar, added a tempting offer of pasta cooked à la minute to its menu. Finally, the new breakfast room in the heart of the Jardin d’Hiver features a live cooking concept.
In his 20 years with the Monte-Carlo SBM Group, Joël Garault has been instrumental in raising the profile of Mediterranean terroir and cuisine in the Principality and beyond, making more than 30 gastronomic trips around the world.
At Vistamar, Joël Garault delivers his version of Mediterranean flavors, a cuisine that is exclusively marine, iodized and sun-drenched. An ardent defender of craftsmanship and taste, he constantly strives to promote know-how that respects the value of the craftsman’s work and his environment.
Crystalbar: the grand cru by the glass
Aimed at both hotel guests and residents, Crystalbar offers a superb drinks menu featuring a unique selection of grand crus by the glass, complemented by a subtle gourmet menu. A new international meeting point for the Monte-Carlo community, the Crystalbar is both elegant and discreet, reviving the great tradition of hotel bars which, far from being reserved for hotel guests, are often highly sought-after and confidential places for socializing. Pieces of Baccarat, Saint-Louis and Lalique crystal, Pierre Frey fabrics, cosy armchairs and an open fireplace create a warm, refined atmosphere.
The Crystalbar’s signature is above all its choice of “grands crus” offered by the glass. A superb selection of red and white wines directly from the Monte-Carlo SBM resort’s famous central cellar, chosen by the sommeliers and regularly renewed: a surprise on every visit! As for champagnes, the menu offers an incredible range of vintage and prestige vintages, both white and rosé (Mumm, Dom Ruinart 1998, Dom Pérignon 2000, Cristal Roederer 2002). A remarkable collection of spirits is also available: cognacs, armagnacs, eaux-de-vie and grappas, whiskies (no fewer than twenty brands).
Joël Garault’s gourmet menu, entitled “le luxe autour du produit”, celebrates exceptional products in their simplest form: heart of salmon, homemade foie gras, Breton lobster… A slate of sorbets, homemade macaroons and café gourmand add a delicate sweet note. Like a “dish of the day” in a light, luxurious version, each day of the week offers a lighter suggestion at lunchtime.
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