A luxury villa with private pool, from Saint-Tropez to Cap d’Antibes

Every luxury villa with private pool in our Riviera collection has a heated pool, so the real choice is not whether there is water but what kind of water you want around you. Across Saint-Tropez, Cannes and Cap d’Antibes, the villas below differ by pool design, view, shade, privacy and how easily young children can be kept safe. This page compares them on exactly those points.

We have kept to what each owner’s description states and what our team has seen on its visits. Where a detail is not published, such as the exact dimensions of most pools or which safety device is fitted, we say so and tell you what to ask. If Saint-Tropez is already decided, our Saint-Tropez villa with pool collection goes deeper on that peninsula alone; this page covers the whole Riviera side of our luxury villas, Cannes and the Cap included.

A quick orientation. Six of the ten are in Saint-Tropez: Villa Vittoria and Villa Calista on the water (Calista also inside a gated estate), Villa Evara in a gated estate on the heights, and Villa Orea, Villa Solara and Villa Amara in large private grounds, Solara within walking distance of the Pampelonne beaches. The Cannes villas sit on the hillsides above the city, looking over the bay. Villa Zeliane, on the Cap d’Antibes, lies within a secure private estate a few minutes’ walk from a beach.

What each owner tells us about the pool and what surrounds it. The general comparison of bedrooms, bathrooms and living space appears further down with the villa cards.

Dimensions, depth and orientation are not published for most pools. Ask us and we will confirm them with the owner before you book.

In July and August, shade decides how long people stay by the water. Look for covered terraces close at hand (Villa Calista, Villa Solara), mature trees (the pines of Villa Orvella and Villa Zeliane, the palms of Villa Elaris) or an indoor wellness area to retreat to at midday. Villa Evara is the sun lover’s choice, its sun-soaked terraces wrapped around the pool; with toddlers or fair-skinned guests, ask how many parasols and shaded loungers are on the deck.

Every pool is heated, which matters most outside high summer: heating makes a stay in May, June, September or October far more comfortable, especially for children, who get cold quickly. At Villa Sorya in Cannes the heating can be set to the temperature guests prefer. Because heating is managed by each owner, confirm these points before you book:

• the water temperature the owner usually keeps, and whether it can be raised or lowered;
• whether heating runs throughout your dates, particularly in spring and autumn;
• when the pool is cleaned and by whom, so a technician does not arrive in the middle of lunch;
• whether the jacuzzi or plunge pool, where there is one, is heated on the same schedule.

French law requires a safety device on every pool of this kind, but it asks for one device, not all four, and which one is fitted varies from villa to villa. Our property descriptions do not list it, so ask before you book. This is the checklist we suggest families go through with us. For the wider family questions (bedrooms, babysitting, beaches), see our page on family villa rental on the French Riviera.

1. Ask which device is fitted

   Barrier, alarm, cover or shelter. Each works differently: an alarm sounds once a child is already in the water, a cover protects only while it is closed, a barrier works only if the gate is shut. If you want a fence and the villa has an alarm, ask whether a temporary barrier can be arranged.

2. Have it shown to you on arrival

   Ask to be shown how the gate latches, how the alarm is armed and disarmed, or how the cover opens and closes. The owner must hand over a working device; keeping it in use is then the household’s job: re-arm the alarm after each swim, close the gate every time.

3. Name a water watcher

   Devices do not replace supervision. Agree among the adults who is watching the water at any given moment, and hand the role over out loud rather than assuming someone is looking. Phone and book away for whoever is on watch.

4. Keep rescue kit by the pool

   The French authorities recommend keeping a pole, a buoy and a telephone near the pool. Check they are there on the first day, and that every adult knows where they are.

5. Look at the layout

   Where is the pool relative to the bedrooms and the kitchen? At Villa Zeliane the pool is reached by a staircase down through the gardens: lovely for calm, but plan who keeps an eye on that route. Jacuzzis and plunge pools, as at Villa Solara and Villa Amara, need the same rules as the main pool.

6. Book an extra pair of hands

   Babysitting can be arranged on request at most of our Riviera villas, and Villa Solara has a play area with trampoline, swing and slide, so children have somewhere to be other than the water’s edge.