Jacques Chibois — La Bastide Saint-Antoine © La Bastide Saint-Antoine / European Hotel Awards 2026
BOARD’S CHOICE 2026 — Heritage kept alive through hospitality
The European Hotel Awards have named La Bastide Saint-Antoine in Grasse Heritage Boutique Hotel of the Year 2026. The distinction recognises a property where history is not used as decoration, but remains active through the architecture, landscape, gastronomy and personal vision of the house.
Owned by chef Jacques Chibois, the five-star Relais & Châteaux property occupies a seventeenth-century Provençal residence surrounded by an olive grove. Its deliberately intimate scale allows the hotel to preserve the character of a private house while operating at the standards expected of contemporary luxury hospitality.
Heritage Boutique Hotel of the Year 2026
La Bastide Saint-Antoine — Grasse, France
Represented by Jacques Chibois, Owner & Chef
Why the Board selected La Bastide Saint-Antoine
The Board’s decision reflects the continuity of a vision developed by Jacques and Odette Chibois since 1996. Their restoration of the property sought to protect the proportions and personality of the residence rather than neutralise it into a generic luxury hotel.
The Award also recognises the way the hotel’s different dimensions remain inseparable: the historic house, the olive grove of around five hectares, the gardens, the table, the Mediterranean landscape and a total of only sixteen rooms and suites.
The seventeenth-century Provençal residence remains the architectural heart of the hotel © La Bastide Saint-Antoine
Heritage that continues to be used
Historic hospitality is strongest when the past continues to shape daily experience. At La Bastide Saint-Antoine, guests do not encounter heritage as an exhibit. They move through a house whose architecture determines scale, circulation and atmosphere.
The surrounding olive trees, cypresses, terraces and views towards the Bay of Cannes and the Mediterranean extend that heritage into the landscape. The property is therefore inseparable from the Pays de Grasse, a territory where gardens, perfume, agriculture and Mediterranean culture have long interacted.
Sixteen rooms and suites preserve the intimate scale of the property © La Bastide Saint-Antoine
Gastronomy as part of the identity of the house
Jacques Chibois’s cuisine is closely associated with the South of France, olive oil, herbs, citrus and regional produce. For the Board, this gastronomic dimension is not an additional attraction placed beside the hotel; it is one of the principal languages through which the property expresses place.
Chibois was previously recognised by the European Hotel Awards in 2019 as Restaurateur-Hotelier of the Year. The 2026 distinction is different: it recognises La Bastide Saint-Antoine itself and the enduring hospitality identity built around the residence.
Gardens, olive trees and Mediterranean light are integral to the experience of the property © La Bastide Saint-Antoine
The meaning of Heritage Boutique Hotel of the Year 2026
The two terms in the Award title are deliberate. Heritage recognises the active preservation of a historic residence and its landscape. Boutique refers not only to scale, but to personality, direct human presence and an experience that cannot be easily reproduced elsewhere.
The distinction also acknowledges the contribution of La Bastide Saint-Antoine to the hospitality identity of Grasse. It brings together architecture, gardens, cuisine and Mediterranean living in a form that remains strongly personal more than three decades after Jacques and Odette Chibois chose the property.
The Award was presented on 28 September 2026 during the eighth European Hotel Awards ceremony in Bordighera, Italy.
Official 2026 laureate film
https://youtu.be/tHFerSC4Ubg
La Bastide Saint-Antoine — Heritage Boutique Hotel of the Year 2026
La Bastide Saint-Antoine
Jacques Chibois — Owner & Chef
48 avenue Henri-Dunant
06130 Grasse, France
Tel. +33 (0)4 93 70 94 94
Internet: www.jacques-chibois.com
Discover the Main Awards dedicated to excellence across European hospitality and visit the Hall of Fame to explore previous laureates.
Tags: Awards Insights, European Hotel Awards, European Hotel Awards 2026, Grasse, Heritage Boutique Hotel of the Year 2026, heritage hospitality, Jacques Chibois, La Bastide Saint-Antoine, Provence
