Where to stay in Hyères: the best neighbourhoods (2026)
Hyères was invented for winter. From 1830 a mayor named Alphonse Denis sold his town's climate to the English fleeing the fog; seven thousand palms went into the nurseries, three grand hotels went up on the Costebelle hill, and Queen Victoria came for the season in 1892. Nobody swam: you came for the November sun, never for the Mediterranean. A century later the sums have reversed, the winter palaces are gone (the Costebelle one is now a school dormitory), and the town lives off its beaches. What remains is the palm trees, planted for other people, and a town cut in two.
That split is what you have to settle before booking, because it measures ten kilometres: the medieval upper town and its hill of gardens face the sun, back to the water; the tombolo and the Giens peninsula face the islands, back to the stone. Between them, the Hyères of the 19th century lines up its palm avenues and its hotels with pools. A decent, well-sited room goes for 90 to 140 EUR, the two-star hotels of the centre for 50 to 75, and August doubles everything. The ranking of the four sectors that follow rests on the reviews the Avygeo community left place by place.
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At a glance: our picks by traveller type
Pick the profile that suits you to head straight to the recommended neighbourhood.
The neighbourhood map in Hyères
Get your bearings on the neighbourhoods and must-see sights before choosing where to drop your bags. Click a name to jump to its description.
The old town and the hill Upper town, from the Portalet to the castle
for stone, gardens and the view
The medieval town climbs in staircases from the Portalet gate to the castle ruins, by way of the place Massillon, fully pedestrian, which Avygeo members hold to be the prettiest square in town: coloured façades, shaded terraces, the Templars' Tower planted in the middle. Higher up, the villa Noailles, the cubist house Mallet-Stevens built in 1923 for a couple of patrons who came looking for sun, opens its grounds over the rooftops. The flip side is blunt: it climbs hard, the way into the gardens is anything but obvious, and the upper town counts its hotels on one hand.
What to see & do in the area
Where to stay in this area
Hotel du Soleil Mid-range
An ivy-covered family house clinging to the 12th-century ramparts below the castle ruins: the villa Noailles is three minutes on foot, the parc Saint-Bernard closer still, and the tables of the medieval town five minutes downhill.
Hotel du Portalet Budget
Nineteen rooms on the little place du Portalet, at the very gate of the upper town: no frills, well kept, with a terrace, and the place Massillon at the end of the street.
Pros
- Place Massillon, castle and villa Noailles on foot
- View over the peninsula and the islands from the castle
Cons
- It climbs hard and parking is difficult
- Very few hotels in the upper town
The town of palms 19th-century avenues, around the casino
for a pool and a car park within walking distance
This is the Hyères the winter visitors built: broad avenues lined with palms, villas under the pines, and the casino des Palmiers, a listed building still holding the corner of the avenue Ambroise Thomas. Here you find what the upper town lacks, hotels with a pool, a garden and a car park, ten minutes' walk from the lanes. The Olbius-Riquier garden, its glasshouses and its peacocks, remains the town's best refuge in the afternoon, say the Avygeo members who went back as adults. The flip side: the area goes quiet at night, and everything means walking or driving.
Where to stay in this area
Casino Hotel des Palmiers Luxury
Just sixteen rooms in a listed building on the avenue Ambroise Thomas, casino and restaurant on the ground floor: the last working witness of resort-era Hyères, a quarter of an hour on foot from the upper town.
Mercure Hyeres Centre Cote d'Azur Mid-range
Eighty rooms, a pool in the garden and free parking on the same avenue as the casino: no surprises but comfortable, centre ten minutes on foot and beaches a quarter of an hour by car.
ibis budget Hyeres Centre-Ville Budget
The cheapest address in the centre, on the avenue de la 1ère Division Brosset, with an outdoor pool thrown in: minimal rooms, ten minutes' walk to the lanes.
Pros
- Hotels with pool, garden and free parking
- Olbius-Riquier garden and centre on foot
Cons
- No life in the area at night
- Beaches a quarter of an hour by car
The tombolo and the salt pans Almanarre, les Pesquiers and La Capte
for windsurfing, salt and birds
Two ribbons of sand tie Giens to the mainland and enclose the old Pesquiers salt pans, where more than two hundred and fifty bird species have been counted: this is a double tombolo, listed as a Grand Site de France, and there is barely another in Europe. The two arms are not equal, and Avygeo members are categorical: l'Almanarre, to the west, takes the wind full in the face, which delights the boards and dismays families (seaweed, a steep drop into the water); La Capte, to the east, stays sheltered, soft sand and calm water, and that is where to run the moment the mistral gets up. The flip side: the Giens road jams in summer, and in the evening you rarely leave your hotel.
What to see & do in the area
Where to stay in this area
Le Hameau des Pesquiers Ecolodge Curio Collection by Hilton Luxury
The coast's first five-star ecolodge, set between the salt pans and the pine wood with a spa and direct access to the Pesquiers beach: flamingos on one side of the road, the sea on the other.
Hotel Almanarre Plage Mid-range
Fifteen rooms facing the sea on the route de l'Almanarre, fifty metres from the sand, run on eco-responsible lines and first in the travellers' ranking for Hyères: a breakfast of local producers, boards and paddle at the end of the beach.
ibis Hyeres Plage Thalassa Budget
Feet in the sand at La Capte, on the sheltered arm of the tombolo: the chain holds no surprises, but you get direct access to the calmest beach in the bay and the best price on the seafront.
Pros
- Beach at your feet and bird-filled salt pans opposite
- La Capte stays swimmable when the mistral blows
Cons
- Giens road jammed in summer
- Nothing to do at night outside the hotel
The Giens peninsula Giens village and La Tour Fondue
for the coast path and the island boats
At the end of the tombolo the peninsula closes on a real hilltop village, a few coves and a coast path that Avygeo members suggest walking at least in part, even if you never finish it. From La Tour Fondue, at the southern tip, the shuttles reach Porquerolles in a quarter of an hour: it is the closest port to the islands, and sleeping here spares you the morning scramble for a parking space. One Avygeo traveller sums up the pick of the beaches: La Capte to swim, La Madrague for jet skis, le Pradeau magnificent but full of jellyfish. The flip side: a car is essential, the single road blocks up in August, and the choice comes down to two or three addresses.
What to see & do in the area
Where to stay in this area
Le Provencal Luxury
Forty rooms and a seawater pool cut into the rock, in the heart of Giens village: opened by a former Lido chef in the 1950s, run by the same family for three generations, facing the Golden Islands.
Le Lodge des Iles d'Or Mid-range
Twenty-two rooms with terraces in a Mediterranean garden below the village, heated pool and direct access to the Badine and Bergerie beaches: the quiet without the climb up to the village.
Pros
- Porquerolles a quarter of an hour by boat
- Coast path and coves at your feet
Cons
- Car essential, single road blocked in August
- Only two or three addresses
Our tips for booking the right place
- The mistral picks your beach for you : The two arms of the tombolo face each other less than two kilometres apart, and they do not get the same wind: the Avygeo members who have known the place since childhood all say to switch to La Capte, to the east, the moment the mistral gets up, because it is sheltered, with soft sand and calm water where you can stand far out. L'Almanarre, to the west, takes the wind head on: that is what makes it a noted windsurfing spot, and what makes it trying with a family (seaweed on the sand, a steep drop into the water, car park full by mid-morning). Check the forecast the night before rather than picking your beach from a photograph.
- Sleep on the peninsula and win the Porquerolles morning : The island shuttles leave from La Tour Fondue, at the tip of Giens, and the crossing takes a quarter of an hour. The bottleneck is not the boat but the ground: the two car parks at the jetty cost 10 to 20 EUR a day and fill up before 9am in summer, by which time the Giens road is one long queue. Sleeping at Giens or on the tombolo removes both problems at once; book the ticket ahead in high season, as the company runs up to nineteen crossings a day in summer but only six in winter.
- What the upper town asks of your legs : The castle, the villa Noailles and the parc Saint-Bernard all sit on the same hill, and Avygeo travellers give warning: it climbs hard, the ruins are barely laid out, the way into the gardens is not obviously signed and benches are scarce. Bring real shoes and save the climb for the morning or late afternoon. Check the villa Noailles opening times before you go up too: they change often by day and by month, and it is the disappointment most often mentioned on the site.
- Booking at l'Almanarre picturing a family beach: it is the windiest in the bay, the sand fills with seaweed, the drop into the water is steep and the big car park overflows by late morning in summer. It earns its place for windsurfing and kitesurfing, far less for swimming with children; La Capte, two kilometres away, offers the exact opposite.
- Taking the upper town with heavy bags or a car to park at the hotel door: you reach it by steep streets and staircases, street parking is a lottery and the hotels up there have none of their own. The charm is paid for in calves; if that matters, sleep in the 19th-century avenues and walk up.
- Choosing the tombolo or Giens for a stay without a car: there is a single road, the beaches and the village are far from any shop in the evening, and nothing replaces the car once night falls. With no vehicle, stay in the centre, from where the whole town is walkable.
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