A Look Inside: Île de Bendor – A Billionaire’s Private Island Turned Luxury Hotel
There’s a moment, somewhere between leaving the port of Bandol and spotting the stone quay emerging from the water ahead, when it hits you. Seven minutes at sea. Sun-warmed Provençal façades. A harbour that looks like it was designed for the sole purpose of making you feel like you’ve arrived somewhere special. Welcome to Île de Bendor, a place that has always known exactly what it is. It just took a while for the rest of us to get an invitation.
The backstory is almost too good. In 1950, pastis industrialist Paul Ricard spotted this seven-hectare sliver of rock floating off the coast of Bandol, somewhere between Marseille and the French Riviera, and decided it was his. At the time, its sole inhabitant was a sheep.
Within a decade, it had become one of the most glamorous addresses in the Mediterranean, a private utopia where Dalí, Marcel Pagnol and Josephine Baker rubbed shoulders over aperitifs and the jet set came to do what the jet set does best: live beautifully and entirely on their own terms.
For seventy-five years, Île de Bendor belonged to that world. Then, in 2021, it closed its doors entirely for a five-year transformation. Now it has reopened as one of the most compelling new hotel openings in Europe.
Île de Bendor The Hotel
Zannier Hotels, the family-owned group behind exceptional properties from the Namibian desert to the jungles of Cambodia has partnered with Société Paul Ricard to bring Bendor back, and they’ve done it with serious intention. The result is 93 keys spread across three distinct worlds, each with its own personality.
To the east, Soukana is pared-back and luminous, 49 rooms inside a mineral palace and contemporary annex, with interiors that feel quietly tactile and deeply considered. To the west, Delos leans into Bendor’s golden Sixties heyday: 39 rooms wrapped around a newly created cloister, all refined elegance and midcentury soul. And down by the harbour, Madrague offers something more intimate still, five former fishermen’s houses with garden spaces that feel less like hotel accommodation and more like being welcomed into the island’s own home.
Every corner carries the mark of Zannier Design Studio, with the renovation sensitive to what already existed led by Hardel Le Bihan Architectes. This isn’t a hotel that arrived and took over. It’s one that listened first.
The Food at Île de Bendor
Bendor has always known how to throw a party, and the dining offer here doesn’t disappoint. Michelin-starred chef Lionel Lévy, long synonymous with Marseille has come to the island for what he calls one last great challenge, bringing his lifelong love affair with the South to four distinct restaurants.
Evenings go to Le Grand Large, the gastronomic table that welcomes a young chef in residence each season. Days drift between relaxed lunches at Delos, light Asian-inspired flavours at Soukana, and generous Mediterranean feasts at Nonna Bazaar, the island sibling of a much-loved Menorcan table. Then comes the ritual that is entirely non-negotiable on Île de Bendor: the aperitif. Bar Patrick, Café Paul Ricard, the rooftops of Soukana and Delos there are almost too many good spots to watch the boats drift in and the sun do its slow Mediterranean descent.
The Wellness
At 1,200 square metres, the Rēsonance Spa is one of the largest in the region, carved into the island’s stone and framed by lavender and everlasting flowers. This is not a spa that hands you a robe and points you towards a steam room. The philosophy here, developed over fourteen years by Arnaud Zannier, is rooted in genuine understanding of the body bioresonance assessments, naturopathy, Ayurvedic treatments and ancestral rituals that feel as far from trend-chasing as it’s possible to get.
Five signature wellness programmes span everything from digestive health and hormonal balance to skin radiance and athletic recovery, each built around a personal consultation rather than a fixed menu. The spa does the thinking so you don’t have to.
The Soul
What makes Île de Bendor genuinely special and what Zannier has been careful to preserve is its texture. This is an island that lives like a village. Pétanque under the pine trees. Aperitifs as the harbour comes alive. More than 200 artworks scattered across gardens and guest rooms, curated by pioneering gallery Oraé. An artisans’ village hosting embroiderers, potters and weavers. A kids’ club. Chocolate moustaches by the port. Weddings. Anniversaries. Long lunches that become long dinners.
Paul Ricard built this island on a simple idea: that happiness is worth engineering. Zannier Hotels has inherited that instinct entirely.
Île de Bendor is the kind of place that gets under your skin on the first visit and doesn’t let go. The jet set knew it first. Now it’s your turn. Île de Bendor is located off the coast of Bandol, 45km east of Marseille. The ferry crossing from Bandol takes seven minutes.
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