Two days in October. A racecourse at the heart of the Bois de Boulogne, rebuilt in 2018 to host the world’s greatest flat races. And the tradition, born in 1920, that makes the first week of October in Paris the global rendezvous of flat racing. The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe this year runs on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 October 2026 at ParisLongchamp — or rather it runs on Sunday, following a Saturday that already concentrates the essential elegance and conversations that matter. For our clients who split their year between Saint-Barthélemy and the Mediterranean, the Arc offers a rare form of social occasion: a horse race that is not only a race, a Parisian weekend that is not only an event, a ritual whose silences are as appreciated as its speeds. Maison Silaïa composes this weekend as all heritage rendezvous: with attention to protocol, measure in choices, and a keen sense of what distinguishes the regular from the visitor.

Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe 2026: Europe’s greatest race

The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is the most richly endowed and prestigious flat race in the world. Five million euros in prize money, two thousand four hundred metres on turf, an elite of three-year-old and older horses competing on the most selective course imaginable. Created in 1920 at the initiative of the Société d’Encouragement for the improvement of horse breeds, it is run each year on the first Sunday of October. In 2026, it will take place on Sunday 4 October, preceded the day before by the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Trial and a series of races that constitute the first day of the weekend.

ParisLongchamp, the racecourse that hosts it, was entirely rebuilt in 2018. The new grandstand, the work of architect Dominique Perrault, stretches one hundred and sixty metres of continuous silhouette between the finish line and the final turn. Three floors, private boxes, panoramic restaurants, a commanding view over the track. The ensemble contrasts radically with the old racecourse, while respecting the codes of a tradition spanning a century.

The Arc attracts each year an international clientele of a density no other European race achieves. The owners of major stables — Sheikh Mohammed, the Qatari royal family, Coolmore, Juddmonte, the Aga Khan — gather here. The British, Irish, Japanese and German racing circles converge. The Sunday of the Arc is the only day on which world flat racing holds an unmissable rendezvous.

For our clients who come to the Arc through love of the horse, through social occasion, through membership of a stable or simply through curiosity for an ancient French ritual, the weekend offers what no other European equestrian event proposes: the density of Royal Ascot without the British distance, the quality of French flat racing at its most intense, and the Parisian setting as a bonus.

“The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is less a race than a ritual. And like all rituals, it is respected before it is appreciated.” — Maison Silaïa

Two days, two atmospheres

The weekend of the Arc is lived in two parts. Saturday sets the foundation, Sunday concentrates the intensity. Understanding this composition already means knowing how to organise one’s own stay.

Saturday: the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Trial

Saturday is officially a day of secondary races but it already concentrates the essence of arrivals. The Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Trial, the first significant race of the day, allows observation of the horses that will run the next day. Connoisseurs come this day to assess the going, the odds, the tips. Guests of the stables begin circulating in the boxes. Informal rendezvous — coffee near the parade ring, lunch in an owner’s box — slip between the races.

The Saturday atmosphere is more relaxed, more breathable. Fewer people, less press, more time to speak. For those of our clients who come to truly live the weekend — and not simply attend the Sunday race — Saturday is indispensable.

Sunday: the great day

Sunday, eight races are on the programme, culminating at five minutes past four in the afternoon with the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe itself. The grandstands reach their maximum attendance from lunch. The private boxes receive their guests around twelve-thirty. The weighing room and parade ring — where horses are prepared before the race — become the most photographed places of the weekend.

Three hours separate the official opening from the Arc’s start. Three hours one must know how to inhabit. A lunch in the box, a visit to the weighing room, a passage through the paddock, a return to the grandstand for the preceding race, a climb to the balcony five minutes before the start — the day composes itself minute by minute. For our clients, we organise each phase of this choreography in advance.

The best seats at ParisLongchamp

The ParisLongchamp grandstand offers a hierarchy of seats that correspond to as many ways of experiencing the race. Choosing the right seat means choosing the right level of immersion.

The Pavillon and private boxes

The Pavillon is the racecourse’s most exclusive space. Fine dining, commanding view of the finish line, attentive service, bar open to the great champagnes. Access is obtained through a Pavillon ticket or via a private box rented for the day. Private boxes — about fifteen in total, with a capacity of eight to thirty people — close generally a year in advance, taken by loyal clients who renew from one edition to the next. Accessing a box during the Arc requires an introduction or a last-minute availability that our teams know how to seize.

The Panoramic Club and premium grandstands

Below the Pavillon, the Panoramic Club offers a high-end experience without reaching absolute exclusivity. View of the track, seated quality dining, access to the paddocks, dedicated service. It is often the choice of clients coming to the Arc for the first time who wish to understand the event before engaging further. Lower in the hierarchy, the premium grandstands and front rows of the main grandstand offer excellent views at a more moderate rate.

The weighing room and parade ring

For enthusiasts, the weighing room is the heart of the racecourse. This is where horses are prepared, weighed with their jockeys, presented to owners and trainers. Access to the weighing room is reserved for owners, trainers, jockeys and a very restricted circle of guests. The parade ring is visible from the grandstand but direct access is by badge. For those of our clients who wish to approach this part of the ritual, access is prepared via a stable or a racing figure we know. The bespoke experiences we compose include these moments inaccessible from outside.

Dress code and protocol

The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe maintains a dress code more flexible than Royal Ascot, but elegance remains the tacit rule. To ignore it is to miss the reason for being there.

The official dress code

The official Pavillon regulation requires formal attire: suit for men, elegant city wear for women. The hat is strongly recommended for women, even if not strictly obligatory as at Ascot. In private boxes, each host may impose her own code — some owners request morning dress for gentlemen, others opt for the classic suit.

Informal codes to know

Beyond the written regulation, several informal codes structure the day. Dresses adapt to the season — Parisian October can be mild as it can be cool. Traditional tones — burgundy, bottle green, navy, camel — dominate, but black is generally avoided for a festive rendezvous. The hat is a signature without being an obligation: Parisian milliners — Stephen Jones, Anthony Peto, certain modistes of the Palais Royal — provide each year the finest examples. Shoes must hold on wet grass for certain parts of the parade ring: blocked heels preferred, wedges to avoid disaster.

For gentlemen: suit or morning dress

The dark three-piece suit remains the canonical attire. Morning dress — ceremonial coat with short tails, pearl grey waistcoat, striped trousers — appears mainly in the most formal boxes and during prize presentations. Shoes are of fine leather, impeccably polished. The hat — top hat for morning dress, soft hat for the suit — is not obligatory but demonstrates a knowledge of the codes. For the gentlemen accompanying our clients, we prepare the attire in advance if it is not already composed.

Around the Parisian weekend

A well-lived Arc extends beyond the two race days. The entire Parisian weekend composes itself, from Friday evening to Monday noon, in an arrangement of addresses and rendezvous that make the true experience.

Private lunches around the racecourse

Tradition dictates that before or after the race, a lunch is held in western Paris or near the Bois de Boulogne. Le Pré Catelan, La Grande Cascade, the Pavillon Royal — three emblematic addresses of the Bois — concentrate the Saturday and Monday lunches. These restaurants close their Arc Sundays to classic reservations and privatise their rooms for invited groups. For our clients, we reserve these tables as soon as the Arc dates are confirmed.

Closing dinners

On Sunday evening, after the race, Paris hosts the closing dinners. The winning stables invite their circles in the grand salons of the palaces — Meurice, Plaza Athénée, George V. Racing associations organise their after-parties. A few private dinners, in private mansions of the 7th or 16th arrondissements, close the weekend. For our clients wishing to enter these circles, the orchestration of your private evenings requires upstream introductory work.

The weekend as a whole

Around the Arc, some clients extend their stay with a broader Parisian programme. Private museum visit on Saturday morning, shopping on rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, dinner at the Ritz on Saturday evening, opera on Friday. The weekend thus becomes a complete Parisian stay, with the Arc as its central moment. Our role is then to compose this stay in its continuity — accommodation, dedicated driver, reservations, access to private visits.

“To live the Arc is to arrive an hour before, stay an hour after, and make the rest a pretext.” — Maison Silaïa

Preparing your visit: the Maison Silaïa method

An Arc weekend is prepared three to six months in advance. We compose each visit according to a proven method, in four movements.

A confidential brief to set the intention

The first stage is a conversation of two to three hours, conducted in the strictest confidence. The intention differs by client: equestrian passion, social presence, accompanying an owner friend, initiation into the ritual. Each intention opens a different approach. This brief determines everything that follows.

Pre-positioning three to four months ahead

Private boxes close a year in advance, but last-minute releases begin from June. Palace suites for the October weekend book up from summer. Tables at Le Pré Catelan or La Grande Cascade for Sunday lunch close in July. We activate our address book as soon as the Arc dates are confirmed, about four months before the weekend.

Bespoke logistics, tested and pre-confirmed

Accommodation selected and reserved in a palace or private apartment, arrival in Paris by private jet at Le Bourget where appropriate, dedicated chauffeur for the entire weekend, restaurant reservations around the Bois de Boulogne, attire and hat prepared in advance, weighing room access prepared by introduction, hair and make-up at home on Sunday morning, return to the palace after the race. Nothing is left to improvise.

A presence that is both attentive and invisible

During the weekend, a single dedicated contact remains reachable. She adjusts the agenda in real time, composes a parallel outing for a less enthusiastic spouse, has a forgotten scarf delivered, reserves a last-minute table. Her presence is not felt; her absence would be immediately perceived.

Frequently asked questions

Eight days in September and October. Ninety official shows, dozens of parallel presentations, an incalculable number of dinners, cocktails, pop-up stores, fittings, private salons. Paris Fashion Week Women’s Spring/Summer 2027 takes place from 28 September to 6 October 2026 — and during these eight days, the French capital becomes the final stage of the four major fashion weeks worldwide, following New York, London and Milan. For our clients who split their year between Saint-Barthélemy and the Mediterranean, Parisian Fashion Week represents a moment apart: one of the rare occasions when Paris tells itself through a precise grammar — that of the houses, the ateliers, the inheritances transmitted there for two centuries. Maison Silaïa composes this week with the attention it demands: bespoke, millimetre-precise, and respectful enough to leave space for the unforeseen.

Paris Fashion Week 2026: the worldwide rendezvous of fashion

Parisian Fashion Week is the fourth and last of the major fashion weeks of the season. New York opens it in mid-September, London takes over, Milan follows, and Paris closes with eight days that condense — through the prestige of the houses showing there, through the density of buyers present, through the editorial force of international journalists who concentrate their attention there — what the three preceding capitals prepared.

For Women’s Spring/Summer 2027, the official week runs from Monday 28 September to Tuesday 6 October 2026. Around ninety houses present their collections within the calendar of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode — the great historic houses (Chanel, Dior, Saint Laurent, Givenchy, Balmain, Celine), the Italian houses rooted in Paris (Valentino, Schiaparelli), and the emerging houses identified in previous seasons. To this are added dozens of parallel, off-calendar presentations that multiply year on year.

What distinguishes Paris from the three preceding weeks is less the number of shows than the quality of the ritual. The historic houses present in heritage venues — the Grand Palais when open, the Jardins des Tuileries, the Petit Palais, the private mansions of the Marais. Invitations are strictly controlled. Editors of international magazines concentrate there their most intense week of the year. Buyers of the great houses make the decisions that will orient their collections for the eighteen months to come.

For our clients who follow fashion through passion, through collection, through membership of a circle of houses, or through simple insider’s interest, Parisian Fashion Week offers an experience without equivalent. The real luxury consists in living it at one’s own tempo rather than being absorbed by the official mechanism.

“Paris is not a city: it is a grammar. During Fashion Week, each street becomes a sentence, each salon a nuance.” — Maison Silaïa

Eight days, two Parisian geographies

Fashion Week unfolds on two geographies that coexist without merging. One, classically Parisian and official: the Golden Triangle, Avenue Montaigne, Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Place Vendôme. The other, more recent, to the east: the Marais, the Haut Marais, the Gaîté quarter, Belleville in parts. Understanding this bipolarity means knowing where to place each day.

The Golden Triangle, heart of the historic houses

Avenue Montaigne, George V, Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Rue Saint-Honoré, Place Vendôme: this is the geographical map that the historic houses of French couture have drawn over the last one hundred and fifty years. Chanel at 31 rue Cambon, Dior at 30 Montaigne, Givenchy, Schiaparelli, Balmain, Louis Vuitton, Saint Laurent, Celine, Hermès, Cartier: all occupy ateliers, parent houses, private salons in this zone. Most shows connected to them are held in historic private mansions — the Palais Galliera, the Hôtel de Crillon, sometimes even in the salons of the parent houses themselves — or in the major heritage venues: Grand Palais Éphémère, Tuileries, Musée Rodin.

Movement in this triangle during Fashion Week is a challenge. The narrow streets between the Concorde and the rond-point of the Champs become saturated. Approaches to the houses are monitored. The dedicated driver becomes indispensable. For our clients, we organise in advance the day’s itineraries — which streets, which hours, which VIP accesses — to transform journeys into useful time rather than waiting.

The Marais and Eastern Paris: emerging designers and contemporary shows

Over the last fifteen years, a second Fashion Week has deployed to the east of Paris. Rue Vieille-du-Temple, rue de Sévigné, rue des Archives, the Haut Marais, rue Charlot: this is where the emerging houses present, the designers working outside the historic frameworks, the collectives. The venues are more intimate — eighteenth-century private mansions converted, showrooms, galleries — but the codes are as strict, if not more so. The Palais de Tokyo, the Couvent des Cordeliers, the Pavillon Cambon also concentrate certain presentations.

For our clients, alternating between the two zones is the hallmark of a well-composed Fashion Week. Morning on Avenue Montaigne, lunch at Le Meurice, afternoon in the Marais, dinner in a historic private mansion. Journeys between the two zones, by driver, take twenty to forty minutes depending on the hour.

Accessing the shows: the codes to know

Not all shows are equal, and not all accesses are equal either. Knowing the hierarchy of invitations means understanding what one actually sees.

Official shows: invitation and protocol

Official shows of the historic houses are strictly by invitation. Invitations are sent by the house, three to five weeks before the show, and cannot be transferred. Three levels of access structure the room: front row (first line, privileged guests — ambassadors, major clients of the house, editors-in-chief), second and third rows (regular clients, buyers, guests of press attachés), and subsequent rows (broader press, industry professionals). Front row is not requested: it is earned through a long-standing relationship with the house, or prepared through a team that knows the press attachés personally.

For our clients who are clients of these houses, we activate in advance the relationships they already maintain with the commercial teams and press attachés. For those wishing to enter these circles, we compose the preparation across several seasons — for this level of access is not built in a single invitation.

Private shows and previews

Alongside official shows, the great houses organise private presentations in their ateliers or parent houses. These presentations last one to two hours, with a restricted number of guests (fifteen to forty people), and allow a detailed reading of the collection, often accompanied by a presentation from the artistic director herself. These moments are rare. They are reserved for the priority clients of the house.

Post-show dinners and the week’s parties

Each house organises one or more dinners alongside its show. They take place in exceptional venues: private mansions rented for the evening, palaces privatised, ateliers transformed for the night. Dior dinners at the Musée Rodin, Chanel evenings at the Grand Palais when open, Saint Laurent dinners in the private mansions of the 7th arrondissement: each is a moment that is transmitted. The orchestration of your private evenings during Fashion Week requires upstream preparation — introductions, invitations, logistics — that we compose weeks before the week begins.

Where to stay during Fashion Week

Accommodation during Fashion Week is rarer and more expensive than for any other Parisian period, Roland Garros included. The palaces of the Golden Triangle close nine to ten months before the official week. The most sought-after suites — those overlooking the Champs, those opening onto the Golden Triangle, the penthouses with rooftop views — are booked from one edition to the next by the same clients.

Historic palaces

Four addresses structure the high-end offering of the Golden Triangle: Hôtel Plaza Athénée, Four Seasons Hotel George V, Bristol Paris, Hôtel de Crillon. To these palaces are added the Ritz Place Vendôme, the Mandarin Oriental rue Saint-Honoré, the Peninsula Avenue Kléber, the Park Hyatt Vendôme. All offer immediate proximity to the main shows. All are full upon opening of reservations. For our clients, we activate in advance the channels that give access to the preferred suites — relationships with management, last-minute releases, reservation transfers.

Private apartments and mansions

For longer stays or family configurations, several arrondissements offer high-standing private apartments: apartment-floors in the Haussmannian buildings of the 7th, 8th or 16th; private mansions rented for the week in the Marais or the Saint-Germain quarter. This formula allows one to host, to organise private dinners, to retain the intimacy a palace never quite offers during Fashion Week. The rental is negotiated six to eight months in advance, with dedicated concierge service for the duration of the stay.

More confidential hotels

Beyond the grand palaces, a few smaller hotels offer a precious alternative: the Saint James Paris (the capital’s only château-hotel), the Hôtel Particulier Montmartre, the Relais Christine, the Hôtel du Petit Moulin in the Marais. These addresses lend themselves poorly to receptions, but offer an intimacy that the central palaces cannot. For those of our clients preferring total discretion, these hotels often constitute the best response.

The logistics of a Parisian week

Living Fashion Week without enduring it is first a matter of logistics. Movements, fittings, rest — each element articulates with those before and after. A poorly prepared week becomes a succession of waits; a well-prepared week unfolds as a choreography.

Transfers and access protocols

Transport during Fashion Week is by chauffeured car — preferably discreet sedan, no visible signage, fine knowledge of alternative routes. The chauffeur waits during each show. She knows the probable exit hour, the best place to wait, the shortcut to take next. Access protocols to shows vary by house: some require the car to drop at the entrance, others prefer a drop point one hundred metres from the venue to avoid congestion. These subtleties are learned season after season.

Fittings and appointments in the houses

Alongside public shows, major clients of the great houses benefit from private appointments in the salons — fittings for personal orders, presentations of collections before they reach the boutiques, meetings with the artistic directors. These appointments last from forty minutes to two hours, depending on the intensity of the relationship with the house. They are booked weeks in advance and fit between the public shows with millimetre precision.

Wellness and rest between two days

An intense Fashion Week leaves little recovery time. Days often begin at eight in the morning with an initial atelier breakfast, continue with four to six shows, a lunch, more shows, a dinner, sometimes a party that extends until dawn. To sustain eight days at this rhythm, wellness management becomes critical. In-suite treatments, pilates or yoga coach at the start of the day, osteopath available in early evening: these services are composed in advance and reserved for the entire stay. They make the week sustainable without degrading one’s image.

Preparing your visit: the Maison Silaïa method

A mastered Fashion Week is prepared two to three months in advance. We compose each stay according to a proven method, in four movements.

A confidential brief to set the intention

The first stage is a conversation of two to three hours, conducted in the strictest confidence. Which houses, which shows, which introductions are you seeking to prepare? Do you wish to secure front row at a specific house, or rather capture the variety of trends? Do certain dinners matter to you? The intention decides everything.

Pre-positioning upon announcement of the calendar

The official Fashion Week calendar is published around six weeks before the week. Upon its publication, we activate our address book — press attachés of the houses, magazine editors, dinner organisers — to secure invitations, private appointments, access to parallel events.

Bespoke logistics, tested and pre-confirmed

Accommodation selected and reserved, arrival in Paris by private jet at Le Bourget or Orly, dedicated chauffeur for the entire stay, hairdresser and make-up artist in-suite, fitting appointments organised in the houses, reservations at the great tables (Ducasse at the Plaza, L’Ambroisie, Pierre Gagnaire, Arpège), access to private clubs, wellness coach, security if necessary. Each element is prepared in advance, in the continuity of the bespoke experiences we compose throughout the year.

A presence that is both attentive and invisible

During the eight days, a single dedicated contact remains reachable at any hour. She adjusts the agenda in real time, shifts an appointment, retrieves an outfit at a couturier’s, arranges an impromptu dinner, has what is missing delivered. Her presence is not felt; her absence would be immediately perceived.

“Parisian Fashion Week is judged on two things: the way one arrives at the show, and the way one leaves.” — Maison Silaïa

Frequently asked questions

One hundred and thirty kilometres of coastline, from Saint-Tropez to Menton. Five centuries of villeggiatura, from the Villa Ephrussi to the contemporary villas signed by the most celebrated studios. And each summer, between May and September, the same ritual — dinners on terraces facing the sea, days on boats moving from one cape to another, nocturnal conversations in the gardens of the great houses. The Côte d’Azur is not a destination to be summarised. It is a territory one learns like a language: with patience, allowing imperfections, returning. For our clients who compose their summer between Saint-Barthélemy and the Mediterranean, the Côte offers what few other territories propose: five distinct geographical scenes, connected by sea and road, where each village becomes an atmosphere, each address an encounter. Maison Silaïa composes these summers as one composes a notebook: with names one does not mention, hours one respects, and a keen sense of what distinguishes a chosen presence from a season endured.

Five horizons, one season

The Côte d’Azur has five scenes. Saint-Tropez to the west, vivid and theatrical. Antibes and the Cap d’Antibes at the centre, heirs to a Riviera invented at the beginning of the twentieth century. Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and Beaulieu, small peninsulas where elegance is worn without insistence. Monaco and its heights — Roquebrune, Cap-Martin, Èze — where the Principality extends into a peaceful hinterland. Each scene has its atmosphere, its rhythm, its clientele. To confuse them is to miss what the Côte offers.

High season traditionally runs from mid-June to mid-September, with an absolute peak the last week of July and the first three of August. These six weeks transform the coast into the world capital of leisure — and would close any possibility of discretion if one did not know the parallel routes. The weeks that precede and follow — June before the crowds, September after — are nevertheless the most beautiful. Sea at twenty-four degrees, villas available, restaurants accessible, light softer, evenings less saturated.

For our clients, the challenge of a summer on the Côte is less to choose a single address than to know how to compose among several scenes. Living the Grand Prix week in Monaco, gliding towards Cap Ferrat for three days of rest, sailing to Saint-Tropez for a dinner at Pampelonne, returning to Cap d’Antibes for a family weekend. Mobility by yacht or chauffeured vehicle makes this choreography possible. It is this, rather than a single location, that constitutes the true luxury of the Côte.

Saint-Tropez and Ramatuelle: the effervescence and the hinterland

Saint-Tropez is a stage. This is its charm, it is also its constraint. The entire village plays its role between mid-June and mid-September: the port as foreground, La Ponche as backstage, Pampelonne as great theatre. For those who know how to practise it, Saint-Tropez remains one of the most beautiful summer addresses of the Mediterranean. For those who discover it in August, it can become demanding.

Villas, from the historic town to Cap des Salins

The real estate falls into three zones. The old town — La Ponche, La Citadelle, Les Carles — offers a few historic residences transformed into private homes; these addresses are rare, full of character, but do not suit large families. The Route des Salins and Cap des Salins host contemporary villas of generous proportions, accessible a few minutes by car from the centre, with gardens, pools and sometimes private beach. Finally, the Chemin de Tahiti and Ramatuelle plage give access to the most sought-after villas — garden-villas directly on Pampelonne or the road that connects it to the centre.

These villas rent between ten and sixty thousand euros per week depending on period and size, with a minimum of two weeks in high season. Negotiation opens from the preceding autumn, and the most emblematic villas are booked from one year to the next by the same families. Our teams accompany our clients at every step, from upstream identification to turnkey installation — house staff, private chef, security, boat shuttle to Pampelonne.

Tables, beach clubs and nightlife

Tropezian gastronomy lives two rhythms. During the day, the table is taken at Pampelonne: Loulou, Club 55, La Réserve à la Ramatuelle, Cucina Byblos in the shade. The beach club at the heart of a four-hour lunch is an institution. In the evening, the village centre regains its importance: La Vague d’Or, La Ponche, La Table du Mas, the great tables of the hotel industry. For the night, Byblos remains the historic address; Les Caves du Roy maintain a tradition whose clientele changes each summer without the venue itself moving.

Ramatuelle, Gassin, La Croix-Valmer: the silence of the vineyards

Less than ten minutes suffice to leave Saint-Tropez and find the hinterland. Ramatuelle, Gassin, La Croix-Valmer: three villages south of the gulf offering a more discreet alternative. Villas on wooded hills, vineyards classified AOP, beaches of L’Escalet or Gigaro. Some clients prefer to rent here and come down to Pampelonne on request; the combination offers a more restful summer without losing anything of the access to Tropezian effervescence.

“The Côte d’Azur is not a destination. It is a succession of settings, each with its hour, its light, its public.” — Maison Silaïa

Antibes and the Cap d’Antibes: the historic Riviera

Fifty kilometres further east, Antibes and its Cap offer another Riviera. Older, calmer, more familial. Scott Fitzgerald, Picasso, Chagall, the Murphys — all spent summers here. This literary and artistic sedimentation has left a mark: one stays here less to be seen than to disappear into a different rhythm.

Cap d’Antibes and its grand houses

The Cap d’Antibes concentrates, over four square kilometres, one of the highest densities of historic villas in France. Villa Eilenroc, Villa Soleil, the residences of Boulevard JF Kennedy: each address bears a name, a history, an architecture. Some have belonged to families for generations; others are transmitted through private channels and never appear on an open market. Our teams know these channels — introductions, caretakers, managers — and open access to those of our clients whose summer justifies this level of discretion.

Antibes, Juan-les-Pins: the living centre

Antibes’ old town offers the life that the Cap lacks: Provençal market, shaded alleys, Picasso Museum at Château Grimaldi, seafood tables facing the Port Vauban. Juan-les-Pins, a few kilometres away, preserves the memory of its jazz evenings and still welcomes festival-goers each July. Between the two, the pine forest and the sandy beaches — a rarity on a coast that is largely rocky.

The Eden-Roc and the bathing tradition

The Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc, opened in 1870, embodies the eternal Riviera. A few suites, a pool carved into the rock, service from another era. To stay here is a choice — the more recent palaces of Monaco or Cannes cannot offer the same relationship to time. The rates reflect this rarity, reservations are made a year in advance. For our clients who already know the hotel, we secure the preferred suites; for those discovering it, we prepare the approach — which suite, which periods, which moments of the day to favour.

Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and Beaulieu: discreet elegance

Thirty kilometres further east, a peninsula of less than ten square kilometres concentrates what the Côte d’Azur offers of most discreet: Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. Belle Époque villas, Mediterranean gardens, customs path that circles the peninsula on foot. The absence of nightlife in the strict sense: Saint-Jean is a commune that retires early, which makes it, for some of our clients, the most desirable on the Côte.

Cap Ferrat and its residences

The peninsula counts a few hundred villas, most of them family homes passed down through generations. Only a handful rent — and only through a tightly controlled network. The most emblematic houses — La Fiorentina, the modern incarnation of La Léopolda, several residences along the Chemin Saint-Hospice — welcome each summer a faithful international clientele. The Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, a historic property converted into a palace, remains the reference hotel for those who prefer hospitality to rental.

Our clients who stay at Cap Ferrat compose their days between private terrace, villa pool, small harbours — Saint-Jean or Villefranche — and journeys by boat or helicopter for days to Monaco, Saint-Tropez or Cannes. Composing your stay on the peninsula requires meticulous preparation — villa access, house staff, boat logistics — which we orchestrate over several months.

Beaulieu and Villefranche: exceptional residences

On either side of Cap Ferrat, Beaulieu-sur-Mer and Villefranche-sur-Mer complete the geography. Beaulieu offers its historic hotels, its palm-lined promenade, its bay welcoming grand yachts in transit. La Réserve de Beaulieu and the Royal-Riviera remain the reference hotel addresses. Villefranche, smaller, nestled in one of the most beautiful natural bays of the Mediterranean, keeps a village character — stepped streets, coloured houses, fishing harbour. Many of our clients use Villefranche as a yacht arrival point: the bay is protected, the mooring is safe, the transition between yacht and coast is simple.

Monaco and its heights: the Principality without the crowd

Monaco in summer is a double Principality. The lower town — Monte-Carlo, Port Hercule, the Larvotto — lives the intense season of events: Formula 1 in early June, summer regattas, Sporting Monte-Carlo evenings. The heights — Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, La Turbie, Èze, Cap-d’Ail — offer another Monaco: residential, suspended, turned towards the sea.

For our clients who come to Monaco in summer, the key question is that of the base. Residing in a Monegasque palace offers proximity to starred tables, casinos, boutiques, but exposes one to summer tourist flows. Residing on the heights — villa in La Turbie, residence in Èze, home in Roquebrune — offers calm, panoramic view, and the possibility of descending to Monaco on demand. Movements are made by chauffeur or helicopter for longer distances (Nice airport, Saint-Tropez).

The Monegasque season has its highlights: the Grand Prix in June, summer concerts at the Sporting, the Red Cross Ball in mid-July, and regattas throughout the summer. For those of our clients wishing to participate, we compose a calendar that combines presence at events and time of rest in the hinterland.

Mediterranean yachting: navigating east to west

The most beautiful way to live the Côte d’Azur in summer remains by sea. One hundred and thirty kilometres of coast, countless coves, islands — Sainte-Marguerite, Saint-Honorat, Porquerolles, Port-Cros — and the immediate proximity of Corsica, Sardinia, the Gulf of Naples. A yacht of twenty-five to sixty metres opens, in a week, what no villa can contain.

Classic itineraries are organised around three axes. The Tropezian axis, with Saint-Tropez as home port and the bays of Pampelonne, the peninsula of Saint-Hospice, the Îles d’Hyères as extensions. The central axis, from Cannes to Cap d’Antibes, with the Lérins as natural stop and the possibility of descending to Saint-Tropez or climbing to Monaco. The eastern axis, from Monaco to Corsica, passing through Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Portofino in Liguria, the Tuscan archipelago.

Charter or ownership, each configuration has its codes. Classic charterers offer fully equipped yachts with crew, captain, chef and hostess on board — the rental lasts a minimum of one week, often two in high season. Owner-clients manage their yacht with a resident crew; our role is then to compose the stages, port reservations, restaurant reservations, helicopter transfers for land days. In both cases, our work is to make navigation transparent: the bespoke experiences we compose naturally extend at sea.

“Composing a summer on the Côte is not about adding up addresses. It is about choosing when to be seen, when to disappear, and where.” — Maison Silaïa

Composing your summer: the Maison Silaïa method

A summer on the Côte d’Azur lived well is prepared from the preceding winter. We compose each stay according to a proven method, in four movements.

A confidential brief to set the intention

The first stage is a detailed conversation, conducted in the strictest confidence. Travel as a couple or with children? Reception of guests, wedding, anniversary, simple time of rest? Desire to attend certain events — Monaco Grand Prix, Cannes Film Festival, Jazz à Juan — or to avoid them? Preference for a fixed villa, circulation between several, or a base aboard a yacht? Each answer orients the composition.

Pre-positioning six to ten months ahead

The best villas are booked from the preceding autumn. Large yachts are rented from winter. Suites in the grand hotels for July and August close in spring. Our role is to activate these calendars at the right moment for our clients, to identify three or four options consistent with the brief, to visit or arrange visits, and to negotiate conditions.

Integrated logistics, tested and pre-confirmed

Transfers from Nice airport by chauffeured car or helicopter, house staff (butler, housekeeper, private chef, additional chauffeur, security where appropriate), tender or water taxi for sea movements, restaurant reservations for the entire stay, tickets for events, access to beach clubs and private clubs, wellness services at home — treatments, coach, tennis, sailing, equestrian. Each element is prepared, tested, and confirmed before arrival.

A presence that is both attentive and invisible

Throughout the stay, a single dedicated contact remains reachable. She adjusts plans in real time, organises an improvised excursion, has a forgotten piece of equipment delivered, reserves an impossible table. Her presence is not felt; her absence would be immediately perceived.

Frequently asked questions

Eleven days, an island, a city, and that rare thing no other film festival manages to produce — the sensation of attending an ancient rendezvous, held in places that might have been chosen to be painted. From 2 to 12 September 2026, the Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica returns for its eighty-third edition. The oldest of the major festivals, the Mostra was born in 1932 on the Lido of Venice — before Cannes, before Berlin, before all the others. For our clients who split their year between Saint-Barthélemy and the Mediterranean, Venice in September represents a moment apart: a film festival held in a city that itself has the qualities of a stage set, a constant alternation between the Lido — where the official scene takes place — and Venice — where the evenings that matter unfold. Maison Silaïa composes this Mostra like no other: with a particular sense of what the navigation between the two requires.

Venice Film Festival 2026: the oldest festival in the world

The Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica is the oldest film festival in the world. Founded in 1932 as part of the Venice Biennale, it predates its Cannes counterpart by fourteen years and the Berlinale by thirty-five. This antecedence is not anecdotal: it makes the Mostra a rendezvous where cinema inscribes itself in the long history of Italian arts, alongside Venetian painting, baroque architecture, and the tradition of the salon.

The eighty-third edition takes place from Wednesday 2 to Saturday 12 September 2026, on the Lido of Venice. Eleven days of screenings, an official competition for the Golden Lion, several parallel sections — Orizzonti, Fuori Concorso, Venice Classics, the Venice International Film Critics’ Week. Fewer screenings than Cannes, a more modest professional density, but an incomparable artistic and social density.

What distinguishes the Mostra is less the number of films screened than the quality of what unfolds around them. The great jewellery houses — Bulgari, Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre — maintain their historic partnerships here. The most celebrated actresses come not only to present a film, but to embody a collection, wear a gown, compose an image that will circulate around the world. The Venetian palazzi, most of them still private residences, open their salons for confidential dinners. The contemporary art foundations — Pinault, Peggy Guggenheim, Prada — organise their own parallel programmes. The Venice Biennale of film takes place each year, the Biennale of art or architecture alternating in even and odd years, together forming a cultural capital that has no equivalent at this date.

For our clients interested in cinema through passion, patronage or informed curiosity, the Mostra offers an experience radically different from Cannes. Where Cannes is a dense and rapid professional capital, Venice is a city that imposes its own rhythm — that of vaporetti which do not stop according to urgency, of bridges that must be crossed, of the water that separates and unites. To come here is to accept slowing down in order to truly see.

“Venice never gives itself entirely. Neither does the Mostra. That is perhaps what, since 1932, has made this festival different from all the others.” — Maison Silaïa

The Lido and Venice: two islands, two rhythms

The Mostra unfolds on two islands that do not resemble each other. The Lido — a long, narrow coastal strip separated from the lagoon by a dyke and two bridges — hosts the official festival, its screenings, its red carpets. Venice — the historic city, its sestieri, its palazzi — hosts the dinners, the evenings, the gatherings that extend the official day. Understanding this bipolarity is already to know how to live the festival.

The Lido, historic home of the Mostra

The Lido is an eleven-kilometre strip of land bordering the lagoon. Peaceful and residential for the rest of the year, it transforms each late summer into the capital of world cinema. The Palazzo del Cinema, inaugurated in 1937 in a characteristic rationalist style, houses the Sala Grande — a thousand-seat hall where official premieres take place. The Lido’s historic hotels — the Hotel des Bains, the Grand Hotel Excelsior, the Hungaria Palace — open their terraces and salons to welcome crews, press, guests.

A typical day at the Lido begins early — the first sessions open at half past eight — and extends into late afternoon. Between screenings, one crosses the promenade along the beach, takes a coffee at the Gran Viale, runs into an actress leaving a fitting or a director returning from a press conference. The Lido’s atmosphere is strange — at once lively and suspended, as if the entire island knew it would not quite be the same in eleven days.

Venice, confidential scene of the dinners

Once the day’s screenings end, the festival crosses the lagoon. It is in Venice that the dinners, the launch evenings, the prolonged gatherings are held. The palazzi along the Grand Canal — Ca’ Sagredo, Ca’ Pisani, the Palazzo Contarini — welcome cinema and jewellery houses in their frescoed eighteenth-century salons. The contemporary foundations — Palazzo Grassi, Pinault Collection, Pinacoteca Giorgio Franchetti — organise their openings in echo to the festival.

This two-tier composition — Lido by day, Venice by evening — imposes a particular rhythm. Crossings take time. One must anticipate. For certain evenings, one must be in Venice from six in the evening. For others, midnight is the most fitting hour.

The crossing between the two: an art in itself

Between the Lido and Venice there is no bridge. Only the lagoon, and the choice between several means of crossing. The public vaporetto takes twenty minutes to reach Saint Mark’s Square from Santa Maria Elisabetta, the Lido’s main stop. Hardly compatible with evening wear or a tight schedule. The water taxi — the celebrated motoscafi of varnished wood — reduces the time to ten minutes and offers the necessary privacy. For our clients, the most effective option is the private motoscafo reserved for the entire stay, with a dedicated pilot who waits at the landing stage, knows the evening schedules, and anticipates the peaks of traffic.

The gatherings that matter

The official festival is a score. The parallel gatherings are its counterpoint — and it is this counterpoint that defines, for those who know how to hear it, the singularity of the Mostra.

The grand premieres at the Palazzo del Cinema

The films in competition are presented first in the Sala Grande, at the start or end of day. The protocol is strict: evening wear required for gala screenings, red carpet arrival, introduction of the director and crew, projection followed by prolonged applause. Access to these sessions requires an official invitation — accredited press, film crew, Biennale partners, patrons. For our clients, access is obtained through introduction via a distribution house, a partner foundation or a programming figure.

The jewellers’ dinners

Bulgari, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Cartier, Chopard — the great jewellery houses maintain a historic relationship with Venice. Their dinners, held in the palazzi of the Grand Canal or in the private rooms of the grand hotels, are key moments of the Mostra. Here one sees the house ambassadors walk, a new collection is presented, a conversation begun at Cannes three months earlier is continued. These evenings close by invitation: for our clients who wear or collect these houses, we orchestrate the introduction in advance.

The evenings in the Venetian palazzi

Beyond the great brands, Venice hosts evenings even more confidential. Certain historic families receive in their palazzi in informal settings, gathering ten to thirty guests for a dinner that lasts until dawn. Contemporary art foundations host openings that extend into receptions. Specialised magazines and publishers hold their author dinners. These gatherings appear on no programme. Their existence is passed on by word of mouth, and the invitation is prepared within the ecosystem of relationships that makes Venice — and that our private event orchestration allows our clients to enter.

Accommodation: Lido or Venice?

The question is more decisive in Venice than elsewhere. Whether one chooses to sleep on the Lido or in the historic city, the rhythm of the festival changes radically.

The Excelsior and the grand hotels of the Lido

Residing on the Lido during the Mostra means being within walking distance of the screenings. The Grand Hotel Excelsior, a Moorish-style palace inaugurated in 1908, remains the historic residence of the festival: the red carpet alongside it has welcomed stars for nearly a century. The Hotel des Bains, made famous by Thomas Mann and Visconti, has reopened after restoration. These addresses are booked as soon as the festival dates are announced, eight to ten months in advance.

Residing on the Lido has its virtues: immediate proximity to the screenings, the relative calm of the island, the possibility of returning between two sessions. Its limits too: distance from Venice for the dinners, and dependence on the motoscafo for night journeys.

The palazzo-hotels of Venice

In the historic city, several palazzi have been transformed into exceptional hotels. The Gritti Palace, facing Santa Maria della Salute. Aman Venice, in a sixteenth-century palace. The St. Regis, on the Grand Canal. The Cipriani, on the island of Giudecca, accessible only by private boat. These addresses offer Venetian immersion in its finest form — frescoed salons, terraces opening onto the water, service that knows each guest by name.

Residing in Venice rather than on the Lido changes the narrative of the festival. The screenings become a morning expedition to the island; the evenings are lived in the heart of the city. This configuration suits clients who come for Venice as much as for the Mostra.

Private apartments in the sestiere of San Marco

Beyond the grand hotels, several sestieri — San Marco, Castello, Dorsoduro — offer private apartments of the highest quality: entire palazzo-apartments or private floors in historic residences. This formula allows one to host, to retain total autonomy, and to organise one’s own dinners in a historic setting. The rental is negotiated six to eight months in advance, with a minimum one-week commitment.

Moored yachts

For clients who prefer the continuity of their own space, mooring in Venice or in the lagoon remains possible. Several marinas — the most central being San Giorgio Maggiore, facing Saint Mark’s Square — accommodate yachts up to fifty metres. The yacht then becomes accommodation, reception venue, and observatory — the view of the Salute or the Doge’s Palace from the upper deck has no equivalent.

Access to screenings: the codes to know

The Mostra’s screenings fall into several categories, each with its access codes. Understanding these codes means sparing oneself the chase for invitations.

The Sala Grande: the gala sessions

The Sala Grande hosts the official premieres, at the start or end of the day. The so-called gala sessions, with crew presence, red carpet and evening wear, are the most visible of the festival. Access is by invitation — distribution, production, Biennale partners, patrons. A few places are open to press or industry accreditation holders, subject to availability. For our clients, access is prepared in advance via the relevant houses.

Orizzonti, Fuori Concorso, Venice Classics

Beyond the official competition, several parallel sections offer complementary programming. Orizzonti presents films exploring emerging trends in cinema. Fuori Concorso gathers out-of-competition films by recognised auteurs. Venice Classics presents heritage restorations — often the chance to see, on screen, films one will find on no platform. These sections are more broadly accessible, with more flexible programming.

Distributors’ private screenings

Alongside the official programme, distributors and great houses organise confidential screenings in the private lounges of the Lido’s hotels, sometimes in the Venetian palazzi, occasionally aboard a yacht. These sessions aim to present a film to a restricted circle — investors, selected press, priority buyers. The invitation is built on the positioning one has prepared in advance.

“The true Mostra is lived in two acts: the screening on the Lido, the dinner in Venice. The space in between is itself a way of being there.” — Maison Silaïa

Preparing your visit: the Maison Silaïa method

A Mostra lived well is prepared long in advance. We compose each stay according to a proven method, in four movements.

A confidential brief to set the intention

The first stage is a conversation of two to three hours, conducted in the strictest confidence. The Mostra is lived differently according to the intention: pure cinephilia, patronage, jewellery partnership, social presence, or simple passion for Venice beyond the summer crowds. Each intention opens a different itinerary. This brief determines everything that follows.

Pre-positioning six to eight months ahead

The Mostra’s official selection is announced in July. But the strategic options — hotels, palazzi, private motoscafi, certain introductions — close well before. We activate our address book the preceding spring to secure the critical elements, then complete the programme as the editorial content reveals itself.

Bespoke logistics, tested and pre-confirmed

Arrival in Venice by private jet to Marco Polo airport, transfer by private motoscafo directly to the hotel or palazzo, dedicated pilot for the entire stay, reserve pilot for parallel evenings, selected and reserved accommodation, evening wear and event preparation within the suite, restaurant reservations (Harry’s Bar, Antiche Carampane, Venissa), access to foundations and private visits. Nothing is left to verify during the festival.

A presence that is both attentive and invisible

During the eleven days, a single dedicated contact remains reachable at any hour. She adjusts the agenda in real time, shifts an appointment, reserves the table one can no longer find, arranges an improvised lunch at Locanda Cipriani in Torcello. This accompaniment continues the bespoke experiences we compose for our clients throughout the year.

Frequently asked questions

There are islands one visits, and others one learns to inhabit. Saint-Barthélemy belongs firmly to the second. Fewer than twenty-five square kilometres of volcanic land set in the turquoise waters of the Lesser Antilles, a collection of arid hills and finely cut coves, a population counted in thousands rather than hundreds of thousands — Saint-Barth is an island that must be earned, and one that rewards those who know how to read it.

Preparing a Saint-Barthélemy luxury stay is not a matter of choosing a hotel and booking a flight. The island operates by its own codes: an intimate geography, a precise seasonality, a circle of addresses regulars exchange without ever committing to print. The difference between a beautiful trip and an exceptional one is most often decided in details invisible at first glance — the villa chosen for the way its terrace faces the sunset, the table booked three months in advance for the right week in January, the boat chartered to reach an islet where one will be alone.

This guide gathers what we believe is useful to know before unpacking in Saint-Barth. It is written for those who expect a destination to return exactly the level of expectation they bring to it — and who prefer the quiet of a considered reading to the noisier promise of a tourist brochure.

Understanding Saint-Barthélemy before you arrive

A geography to read like an address book

Saint-Barth resembles no other Caribbean island. Where Martinique unfolds its tropical forests and Guadeloupe its volcanoes, Saint-Barthélemy cultivates an almost unexpected Mediterranean aridity. The hills are dry, dressed in low scrub that recalls the back country of Ibiza or Mykonos. It is an island of winds, raw light and long perspectives.

This geography reads like an address book. Gustavia, the capital, curls around its harbour and concentrates the boutiques, the tables and the daytime life. Saint-Jean, facing the legendary landing strip, has the sunnier energy of a seaside resort. Lorient retains a village charm. To the south, Saline and Gouverneur shelter the island’s two most beautiful public beaches, protected by their relative isolation. To the east, Toiny and Grand Cul-de-Sac offer a wilder, windswept, almost austere face. Each sector has its tonality, its rhythm, its ideal hour — and choosing one’s anchor on the island is already to sketch the colour of one’s stay.

A discreet ecosystem, a loyal clientele

The singularity of Saint-Barth lies as much in its geography as in its sociology. The island has always chosen rarity over volume. No mega-resort, no mass cruise calls, no tour operator unloading clients by the hundred. Capacity is deliberately limited, and most visitors return — year after year, sometimes for decades.

The result is an ecosystem where almost everyone knows everyone: the villa owners, the hotel directors, the chefs, the captains, the shopkeepers. This intimacy is one of the most precious luxuries Saint-Barth offers. It also presumes that one knows how to be introduced. The best tables at the right hours, villas available before they are ever listed, experiences that exist officially on no website — all of this is played out in a network found neither through a search engine nor through a conventional travel agency.

What Saint-Barth is not (and why that matters)

It is worth knowing what Saint-Barthélemy is not. It is not an all-inclusive island, nor a mass-tourism destination, nor a Caribbean Dubai. One does not come here for excess but for measure. The architecture is low, the signage discreet, the soundscape hushed. Even the most spectacular houses settle into the vegetation rather than rising above it. Even the most imposing yachts in Gustavia’s harbour cede the stage to the ridgeline that closes the horizon.

It is precisely this refusal of ostentation that gives the island its value in the eyes of an international clientele accustomed to everything. Saint-Barth offers what money, elsewhere, struggles to buy: stillness, the right distance, the feeling of being somewhere one can lower one’s guard.

When to visit Saint-Barth: the insider’s calendar

The choice of season is undoubtedly the first structuring decision of a Saint-Barthélemy luxury stay. The island wears three faces across the year, and each addresses a different kind of journey.

High season (December to April): the magic and its constraints

From mid-December to late April, Saint-Barth lives its golden season. Trade winds cool the afternoons, temperatures hover between 26 and 29 degrees, the water is crystalline. This is when the island unfolds its finest energy — tables fully booked, villas all taken, Gustavia harbour bristling with the most spectacular masts of the moment.

That magic has its reverse. The best villas are reserved up to twelve months in advance. Exceptional restaurants are full weeks ahead on the sought-after slots. Helicopter transfers from Saint-Martin can tighten on certain windows. New Year’s week, in particular, is a world apart: multiplied rates, availability locked down months ahead, private dinners conceived as events. One must anticipate — or entrust that anticipation to those who do it for a living.

Shoulder season (May, June, November): our quiet recommendation

May, June and November are, to our mind, the most beautiful months for anyone wishing to experience Saint-Barth in its most accomplished form. The climate remains excellent — when the rains come, they are brief and welcome. Rates settle to more reasonable levels. Villas open up. Tables welcome with renewed availability. The island breathes.

This is the season we recommend to clients discovering Saint-Barth and wishing for an accurate reading of it, without the gentle social buzz of high season. It is also the best period for longer stays, family retreats, or quiet working trips, far from the constraints of European or American capitals.

The weeks worth knowing

A handful of moments structure the year and deserve to be marked on the calendar — or, conversely, carefully avoided, depending on the kind of stay one is seeking. The year-end holidays concentrate the highest density of events, private dinners and celebrations; it is the most spectacular week but also the most demanding to orchestrate. Les Voiles de Saint-Barth, in April, turns the island into the world capital of classic sailing and draws a connoisseur clientele. The Saint-Barth Music Festival, in January, offers evenings of rare intimacy in Gustavia’s Anglican church. Finally, the Bucket Regatta, in late March, remains one of the season’s most beautiful gatherings of classic yachts. These weeks deserve to be targeted, or avoided, according to the colour one wishes to give one’s stay.

Where to stay: private villas, signature hotels, confidential houses

The question of accommodation is not secondary in Saint-Barth — it is structural. For a single villa, two stays can be radically different depending on the orientation, the proximity of a beach, the quality of the staff that comes with the house. The island offers three principal registers of lodging, and the right choice depends as much on the profile of the journey as on the number of travellers.

Renting a villa: the most accomplished experience

For a stay of a week or more, or for a journey with family or close friends, renting a villa remains, without debate, the most fitting option. Saint-Barth counts several hundred private villas, from the charming residence for a couple to the ten-bedroom estate with infinity pool, tennis court and full staff.

To rent a villa is to rent a way of life: breakfast served facing the sea at the hour one chooses, a private chef for an intimate dinner, a housekeeper who learns the occupants’ habits by the third visit. The difficulty lies in the opacity of the market. Many of the most beautiful villas appear on no public site. They are reserved through private channels, sometimes directly with the owner, often several months in advance. The choice is not made on a photograph: it is made on a fine understanding of the house, the neighbourhood, the microclimate, and the team that comes with it. We devote a dedicated guide to the most exclusive villas of Saint-Barthélemy for those wishing to go further on this point.

The island’s signature hotels

For a shorter stay, or for those who prefer the impeccable mechanics of a hotel, Saint-Barth aligns a remarkably small collection of signature addresses — and that scarcity is precisely what gives them their value.

Rosewood Le Guanahani, recently renovated, occupies one of the island’s most beautiful peninsulas at Grand Cul-de-Sac. Cheval Blanc St-Barth Isle de France, on Flamands beach, embodies a very accomplished French elegance. Eden Rock, perched on its Saint-Jean promontory, remains the island’s iconic address, with its cottages turned toward the bay. Le Barthélemy Hotel & Spa, also at Grand Cul-de-Sac, offers a more contemporary experience. Le Sereno, finally, cultivates a distinctly pared-back, Mediterranean style.

These houses do not resemble each other. They do not aim for the same experience nor the same clientele. The right choice depends on what one is looking for — the view, the service, the beach, the atmosphere — and on an attentive reading of the moment within the season.

How to choose for your stay

A few principles help in deciding. For a honeymoon or a short romantic stay, a signature hotel brings the lightness of a well-rehearsed service and the freedom not to think about anything. For a journey with family or friends, the villa imposes itself for the space, the intimacy and the possibility of personalising every meal and every day. For a long stay — two weeks, a month — the villa is again more fitting, both for comfort and for true anchoring in the life of the island. And for stays blending business with leisure, we often recommend a hybrid approach: a villa as base, with access to a partner hotel’s dining and spa.

The beaches: a sensitive map of a jewel

Saint-Barth counts some fifteen beaches, all open to the public — the island has no private beach in the legal sense. What changes, on the other hand, is the way one reaches them, the hour one chooses, and what one does there. An iconic beach on a Tuesday at eleven has nothing in common with the same beach on a Saturday at four. Reading this sensitive map is already to taste what Saint-Barth offers that is most singular.

The iconic beaches and their right moments

Saline remains, for many, the island’s most beautiful beach. Sheltered by a dune that hides it from view, it must be earned by a small path that extends the promise. The sand is blond, the sea crystalline, the atmosphere resolutely peaceful. Come in late morning, before the heavier heat, or in late afternoon, for the quality of the grazing light on the horizon.

Gouverneur, its southern neighbour, offers a more open bay, an even brighter sand, and the particularity of being framed by hills that shelter it from the wind. It is our beach of choice for a long, unhurried lunch, with a picnic prepared by a private chef and a parasol set up in advance.

Colombier, in the island’s north-west, is reachable only on foot via a coastal path of about twenty minutes, or by boat. This double constraint makes it one of the most preserved beaches of Saint-Barth. The water there has a particular blue, sea turtles are frequent, and arriving by sea — at anchor on a quiet weekday — remains one of the great pleasures the island can offer.

Shell Beach, in Gustavia, has an entirely different register: an urban, lively beach, perfect for a lunch facing the setting sun. Flamands offers one of the longest stretches of sand on the island, with a fine ocean presence. Lorient, more local, draws families and the early-morning surfers. Saint-Jean, finally, splits between the lively bay facing the airport and the more confidential coves that extend it.

The more confidential coves

Beyond the well-known beaches, Saint-Barth shelters a series of more discreet coves that reward those who take the time to find them. Marigot, on the north coast, remains very quiet during the week. Toiny offers a frequently animated sea but a magnificent light, set against one of the island’s most beautiful wild coasts. Petit Cul-de-Sac, at the back of a protected bay, presents a shallow lagoon ideal for families with children. Anse des Cayes, more confidential still, appeals to connoisseurs.

These addresses are best savoured midweek and in the morning. They presume that one arrives prepared — parasol, refreshments, fine towels — for on-site services are deliberately absent. It is precisely this quiet, precise logistics that distinguishes an organised day from a day endured.

Accessing “private” beaches: what is done, what is asked for

If Saint-Barth has no private beach in the strict sense, certain stretches of shoreline can indeed be lived privately — through the exclusive hire of a neighbouring islet, the chartering of a yacht for the day that becomes a floating drawing-room away from any agitation, or the temporary privatisation of a beach club outside service hours. These configurations exist, are negotiated discreetly, and appear on no public rate card. They presume that one is introduced.

Dining in Saint-Barth: a way of life

If one had to single out one register in which Saint-Barth excels beyond expectation, it would probably be the table. Few islands in the world concentrate, on so small a territory, such a density of first-rank addresses. The explanation lies in the clientele: year after year, the same regulars return to the same tables, which has created an enduring level of expectation and allowed chefs of the highest calibre to settle on the island for the long term.

The exceptional tables, starred or not

Bonito, perched above Gustavia, remains a flagship address for its views of the harbour at sunset and for its very coherent Franco-South American cuisine. L’Isola, in central Gustavia, defends with constancy a refined Italian tradition with a remarkable wine list. Orega embodies an elegant Franco-Japanese encounter, in a room thought through with care. Tamarin, nestled in dense vegetation between Saline and Lorient, deploys an art of the unhurried lunch that is among the island’s great pleasures. The table at Le Sereno, signed by a starred chef, offers one of the season’s most accomplished dinners. At Cheval Blanc, La Case proposes a signature cuisine fully in keeping with the house’s heritage.

These tables are not all equivalent for every occasion or every season. Some are perfect for a dinner for two, others for a dinner for twelve. Some require booking weeks ahead in high season; others can be approached more freely. We devote a dedicated guide to the tables and gastronomic addresses of Saint-Barth for those who wish to have its full cartography.

Beach lunches, a local institution

The beach lunch is to Saint-Barth what lunch on Pampelonne is to Saint-Tropez — an institution, but with a more hushed, more Caribbean tonality, less turned toward seeing and being seen. Nikki Beach, on Saint-Jean bay, remains a reference for its particular energy and its lingering tables. Shellona, on Shell Beach in Gustavia, offers a finely judged Greek cuisine facing the sunset. La Plage, also at Saint-Jean, embodies the relaxed elegance of lunch with one’s feet in the sand.

These addresses live by the island’s rhythm: one settles in around one in the afternoon, sometimes stays until late, and invariably crosses paths with regulars. Booking the right table — front row, in the shade of a palm, away from the passage — makes all the difference, and is decided well before the day itself.

Private chefs and bespoke dinners

Beyond the restaurants, the true singularity of dining in Saint-Barth is lived at home. The island counts an ecosystem of private chefs of the highest level — some from starred houses, others specialised in a particular register, all capable of designing a dinner in perfect dialogue with the occasion, the hosts’ tastes and the house receiving them. A dinner prepared by a private chef on a villa terrace, facing the sunset, with an orchestrated service and a cellar curated for the evening, remains one of the most memorable experiences Saint-Barth can offer.

This kind of organisation presumes upstream work: the choice of chef in line with the desired style, the validation of menus, the sourcing of ingredients — sometimes shipped from Europe for very specific requests — the coordination of service, the pairing of wines. It is precisely the kind of orchestration in which we intervene for our clients.

Signature experiences: what no guide will tell you

Beyond beaches and tables, Saint-Barth shelters a series of experiences that appear on no guide, precisely because they are not arranged as a circuit but bespoke, case by case, in step with the wishes and availability of the moment.

Sea: day yachts, neighbouring islets, private diving

The sea, evidently, remains the theatre of the finest days. Chartering a yacht for the day radically transforms one’s experience of the island: one leaves Gustavia mid-morning, sails toward the neighbouring islets — Île Chevreau, Île Fourchue, Île Frégate — anchors for a lunch prepared on board, swims in waters that no road reaches, and returns to harbour in the gentle late-afternoon light.

The formulas vary by boat size, by crew, by the gastronomy on board. A weekday on a mid-sized yacht, with a captain who knows the passes and the discreet moorings intimately, remains one of the most beautiful ways to understand Saint-Barth. Diving, for the initiated, is arranged at precise spots — Gros Îlets, Pain de Sucre — with private guides so as to avoid any traffic.

Land: confidential walks, ateliers and encounters

One thinks less of Saint-Barth for its land walks, and yet. The Colombier coastal path, the one linking Petit Cul-de-Sac to Grand Fond, or the ascent of Morne Vitet at sunrise, offer perspectives one would not suspect from the beaches.

The island also lends itself to more intimate moments: an encounter with a Gustavia craftsman in his workshop, a private gallery visit outside opening hours, a confidential photography session at a spot chosen for the light of the moment. These experiences have no published rate. They are composed on request, with interlocutors who agree to open their doors to a precisely chosen clientele.

Wellbeing: in-villa treatments, exceptional practitioners

Wellbeing, in Saint-Barth, is not necessarily lived in spas — though the signature hotels host some very beautiful ones. It is lived above all at home. The island’s best practitioners — massage therapists, osteopaths, yoga teachers, pilates coaches, internationally trained estheticians — travel to villas. A treatment given facing the sea, on a terrace ventilated by the trade winds, takes on a dimension one will not find in any cabin. These practitioners are not found on booking platforms: they are recommended from one regular to another, and their appointment book fills quickly in high season.

Arriving in Saint-Barth: the logistics of a graceful arrival

Saint-Barthélemy has no international airport. One does not land here directly from Paris, London, Geneva or New York. This is both a constraint and, let us say it, part of its protection: the island must be earned, and these access logistics naturally act as a filter. Well orchestrated, the arrival in Saint-Barth becomes a stage of the journey; poorly prepared, it can weigh on the first hours of the stay. A handful of simple principles allow it to be lived well.

Private jet, commercial flight, helicopter from Saint-Martin

Three main routes lead to Saint-Barth. The first, the most direct, is the private jet landing at Saint-Jean airport. The runway, short and technical, only accepts aircraft certified for its use and pilots specifically qualified — which narrows the choice but guarantees a controlled arrival.

The second option, the most common, is to reach Saint-Barth from Princess Juliana International Airport, in Saint-Martin, after a long-haul flight. From there, the helicopter remains the smoothest transfer: fifteen minutes of spectacular flight over the channel separating the two islands, with a direct drop-off at Saint-Jean. The regional commercial flight covers the same connection in about ten minutes, more frequent but with slightly heavier logistics.

The third route, less used for arrival but valuable for certain configurations, is the maritime link — regular catamaran or private boat — which also connects Saint-Martin to Gustavia in about forty-five minutes. The choice between these options depends on the configuration of the journey, the volume of luggage, sensitivity to weather, and, evidently, the desired level of confidentiality. We devote a dedicated guide to private transport to Saint-Barthélemy for those wishing to understand every nuance.

Landing at Saint-Jean: what to know

The Saint-Jean runway is famous for its tight banked approach over La Tourmente hill and for its spectacular final descent. The reputation is deserved — qualified pilots form a narrow circle — but the landing itself, in experienced hands, is lived as a singular moment rather than as an ordeal.

What to know: the runway operates only by sight, between sunrise and sunset. There are no night flights and no instrument landings. This means a long-haul flight arriving in Saint-Martin late in the day will not connect immediately to Saint-Barth — one will need to plan an overnight stay, or align the long-haul arrival to remain within the operational window. It is a detail, but a structural one, worth anticipating from the design of the trip.

Transfers, cars and boats on the island

On Saint-Barth itself, mobility is essentially by car. The island is small but its roads are winding, and each journey takes a little longer than one anticipates. A rental car remains the most practical mode of getting about, with a preference for compact, slightly elevated models suited to narrow roads and tight Gustavia parking. For clients who prefer not to drive, a private chauffeur by the day or the week is a precious option, especially as he also becomes a useful local relay.

The boat, finally, should be considered a genuine mode of transport during the stay, not merely a one-off experience. A private tender can reach a Colombier lunch, an evening with friends moored in Gustavia, or an islet for the day. It is one of the most elegant ways to inhabit the island.

Shopping, galleries and encounters: the island’s other face

This dimension of Saint-Barthélemy is often underestimated. On a minuscule territory, the island concentrates a remarkable density of fashion houses, jewellers and galleries — an ecosystem built over decades for an exacting international clientele that expects, on holiday, the quality it is accustomed to in the great capitals.

Gustavia: designers, jewellers, confidential houses

By the narrowness of its streets and the discretion of its windows, Gustavia is one of the most beautiful shopping grounds in the Caribbean. The great houses keep their addresses here — Hermès, Loro Piana, Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, Cartier — in boutiques designed for a clientele in residence, often with selections specific to the island.

Alongside the historic houses, Gustavia also shelters a collection of local designers who are an integral part of Saint-Barth’s identity: Pati de Saint Barth for its t-shirts that have become a signature, Calypso for beachwear, Poupette St Barth for summer dresses, Lolita Jaca for refined summer couture. Independent jewellers — Diamond Genesis, Donna del Sol, Next — complete this landscape with pieces conceived for the Caribbean light.

The true pleasure, in Gustavia, lies in taking one’s time. The boutiques sit close to one another, one moves from a great house to a designer’s atelier in a few steps, and a well-orchestrated late morning allows a fitting, a visit to a jeweller and a lunch facing the harbour.

Saint-Jean and Lorient: a more relaxed mood

Outside Gustavia, Saint-Jean offers a lighter register, with shopping galleries — including the emblematic one at Eden Rock — and boutiques designed for spontaneous purchases on a beach day. Lorient, more local, hosts a few confidential addresses of craftsmen and designers, less visible but sometimes more interesting for those seeking pieces out of the ordinary.

Artists and galleries worth knowing

Saint-Barth finally hosts an artistic life far denser than one would imagine. Several Gustavia galleries present contemporary artists — some international, some island residents — in human-scale spaces where genuine encounter with the work remains possible. A private visit, outside opening hours, with the gallerist or sometimes the artist themselves, offers a moment that no guide can plan in advance. Here again, it is by introduction rather than reservation.

Orchestrating your stay with Maison Silaïa

Everything above can be composed on one’s own. A villa can be found, a table can be reserved, a helicopter can be chartered — and some of our clients prefer to keep their hand on these choices. Others prefer to entrust this orchestration to those who have made it their craft, to free themselves entirely from the time and mental load it represents.

It is precisely what we do in Saint-Barthélemy: an intimate reading of the island, an address book that cannot be found online, the capacity to coordinate everything upstream — villa, household team, private chef, transfers, tables, experiences — and to remain available throughout the stay for the adjustments of the moment. Our clients find in our travel and stay services a quieter, more fluid way of inhabiting Saint-Barth.

Frequently asked questions

Four days a year, the floating world gathers within a stone’s throw. Conversations murmured across decks, notebooks turned over at the quayside, handshakes that commit more than any contract ever would. The Monaco Yacht Show is not an exhibition: it is an ecosystem. And like any ecosystem of the ultra luxury world, it is lived from within. For our clients who split their year between Saint-Barthélemy and the Mediterranean, the week of 23 to 26 September 2026 represents one of those moments when one must know how to be seen without showing oneself, to listen more than to speak, to arrive early and leave at the right moment. Maison Silaïa composes these weeks as one composes a score: with attention, measure, and a keen sense of what happens backstage.

Monaco Yacht Show 2026: the insiders’ meeting point

Three shows officially compete for the title of world reference in superyachting: Fort Lauderdale in the autumn, Cannes in early September, and Monaco a few weeks later. Monaco, however, retains a place of its own. Where the others are professional trade shows, Monaco is a theatre. A theatre where the shipyard unveiling a new forty-five-metre meets the princely family, the interior architect signing a yard’s new collection, and the Japanese buyer who has come for three precise meetings in four days.

The thirty-third edition takes place from Wednesday 23 to Saturday 26 September 2026, across the entirety of Port Hercule and along the quays of Darse Sud. An average of one hundred and twenty-five yachts on display each year, with nearly thirty world premieres signed by the major Italian, Dutch and German yards. Around five hundred and eighty exhibitors, thirty thousand visitors — all on invitation or professional accreditation.

These figures, read everywhere, miss the essential point. What makes the Monaco Yacht Show is not the linear metres of quay nor the number of propellers on display. It is the conversations that take place elsewhere than on the boats. In the private lounges of the grand hotels, on the Monegasque terraces when the official visitors leave the port, at the dinners that the shipyards organise in the margins of the event. More than ninety percent of what truly matters that week plays out in those circles.

To come to the Monaco Yacht Show to visit yachts is to miss the reason for being there. To come in order to understand the market, to meet the right people, to test an intuition, to forge a relationship that will take two years to confirm — that is being there.

“For one week, the floating world gathers within a stone’s throw. Everything plays out — or is lost — over a handful of dinners.” — Maison Silaïa

The four days of a week behind the scenes

Each day has its own tone, its own rhythm, its own codes. One does not experience the Monaco Yacht Show in the same way on the Tuesday before opening, on the Thursday at the height of activity, or on the Saturday as conclusions are drawn. Here are the four scenes our clients learn to recognise.

Tuesday: the final adjustments

For those who know what lies ahead, the week begins before the official opening. From Tuesday, crews complete their preparations in the final hours. Shipyards set up their stands, cabinetmakers polish a wooden trim one last time, service teams map out the schedule of viewings.

It is also the day of the first backstage encounters. Brokers arrive early to greet the yards they work with, designers receive their clients in advance preview, owners who wish to discreetly divest a yacht complete last verifications with their team. To be in Monaco on that day is not about “gaining a day”. It is about taking part in the moment when everything is being prepared, with the time to speak without the crowd.

Wednesday: opening and confidential previews

Wednesday morning marks the official opening, but the real day begins from six in the evening. VIP previews open up the yachts closed to the general public. In the reception lounges, the first glass of champagne is uncorked, the symbolic key of a new vessel is handed to its owner, the first promises of commissions are exchanged. Opening dinners unfold until midnight — each to their own, as invitations do not multiply, they are chosen.

The night over Port Hercule is, on that Wednesday, one of the most beautiful of the year. The yachts are lit, the terraces full, the conversations hushed. For those who know where to look, it is the moment when the week truly begins.

Thursday and Friday: the height of viewings

The two full days of the show. This is the window in which serious viewings, yard meetings and technical appointments with naval architects are concentrated. The pace is dense: three to five visits per day at most for those who wish to keep their attention sharp. In between, one stops at the terrace of one of the grand hotels for lunch, crosses over to a private lounge for a meeting, catches a coffee at a discreet address to run into a broker without an appointment.

These two days also concentrate the real pressure. Purchase decisions take shape, secondary markets move, yachts nobody was talking about at the start of the week suddenly become the focus of all attention. Being available at the right hour, in the right circle, at the right moment — that is where curation becomes invaluable.

Saturday: the close and the serious conversations

Saturday is paradoxical. Officially, it is the last day — the hour of summaries, final visits, departures. Unofficially, it is the day when the conversations that matter are concluded. Casual visitors have already left, agendas open up, brokers can finally sit down for two hours with a serious client.

It is also the night of the more intimate dinners. Those who remain are those who count. The private villas on the heights of Monaco welcome the most discreet of these gatherings, far from view. For our clients considering an acquisition or the commissioning of a project, Saturday is often more productive than the three preceding days combined.

Viewing a yacht like a buyer: the codes to know

A yacht viewing is not a trivial matter. It has its protocols, its stages, its pitfalls. Knowing what it truly involves — and how to prepare for it — separates the credible visitor from the merely curious.

The three categories of viewings

The so-called “walk-through” is a visit of twenty to thirty minutes, led by a crew member or a yard representative. It gives a taste of the yacht but does not allow for a serious evaluation. It is open to accredited visitors.

The “viewing”, longer, is reserved for potential buyers preselected by the broker. It lasts one to two hours, covers the private spaces, the crew cabins, the technical rooms. It is there that one judges the quality of the finish, the real state, the atmosphere of the crew.

The “broker-accompanied” visit is the most professional. It takes place with a broker on the seller’s side and a broker on the buyer’s side, over several hours, with a marine surveyor if necessary. It presupposes being identified as a serious buyer — or being introduced as such.

What a well-led viewing reveals

A well-led viewing is not a matter of walking through the spaces. It is read. The state of the crew says a great deal about the quality of management. Marks of wear tell the truth of maintenance. The arrangement of cabins, the coherence between volumes, the attention paid to invisible details — these elements distinguish a yacht that has been loved from one that has simply been shown.

Our clients who consider a serious project know they must come prepared. With a precise checklist, a knowledge of competing yards, and a trained eye. We compose these lists with them, we accompany them when useful, and we leave them alone when their presence alone is enough. The right accompaniment is not systematic; it is adjusted.

The conventions that mark an informed visitor

A few gestures, almost invisible, make the difference. Arriving at the exact hour set — not before, not after — and announcing oneself from the port or the hotel. Presenting oneself with a name of introduction or a broker. Removing one’s shoes without waiting to be asked. Not lingering over photographs. Posing two or three precise technical questions rather than marvelling aloud. Thanking the crew soberly before leaving — the captain remains at a distance.

These details appear minor. They are nevertheless enough to identify, within the circle, who has come to buy and who has come to look. For our clients who enter these circles, we compose in advance a preparation note that takes up these codes, without cataloguing them as a lesson — simply, with discretion, as part of the bespoke experiences we compose throughout the year.

The parallel gatherings that make the week

The Monaco Yacht Show plays out only for a third on the quays. The rest takes place in the settings where conversations, intentions and projects are forged. Three categories of gatherings compose this parallel geography.

The broker and shipyard cocktails

Each major broker, each major shipyard holds its cocktail. Some are official and broadly open, others are private and quiet. These events take place in the lounges of the grand Monegasque hotels, on the terraces of the historic palaces, in the private rooms of closed circles. It is there that one naturally meets decision-makers, designers, technical teams — without having to force a rapprochement.

An invitation to these cocktails cannot be asked for. It is negotiated, exchanged, prepared. For our clients, we activate our address book well in advance so that the right invitation reaches them at the right moment, with the right introduction.

The designer dinners

The naval design studios — the British, Dutch, and Italian houses — traditionally host one or two dinners during the week. These dinners are held at private homes, in a gallery, occasionally on a yard’s own yacht, and bring together around one table current owners and prospects, allied yards, yacht stylists. They are probably the most precious gatherings of the week for those preparing a project.

Places are limited and invitations pass by word of mouth. As always in these circles, one does not enter through the front door. One enters through a contact who introduces you.

The after-hours evenings

Once the quays close, the week continues. The most confidential circles gather in the villas rented for the week along the Moyenne Corniche, in the private suites of the grand hotels, in the private clubs of Monte-Carlo. These evenings appear on no programme. They are the freest, most informal, and often most productive part of the week.

For those of our clients who wish to attend them, we compose coherent sequences: discreet driver, adapted timings, parallel outings for a spouse who would prefer a separate dinner, suite ready for the return. This level of private event orchestration is what allows one to live the week without enduring its density.

Where to stay during Yacht Show week: when logistics becomes an art

It is the week when Monaco is filled to the brim. Five or six high-end hotels structure Monegasque accommodation — the Hôtel de Paris, the Hermitage, the Métropole, the Fairmont, the Port Palace, the Monte-Carlo Bay. All show full ten months before the show. The most sought-after suites — those facing the port, those with a private terrace, those where one can receive — are booked a year in advance.

Three alternatives deserve consideration. Residing on board a yacht moored outside the show, a few pontoons further on, offers quietude and independence. Renting a private residence on the heights — Larvotto, Cap-d’Ail or Roquebrune-Cap-Martin — guarantees intimacy and allows one to host one’s own dinners. Residing on the Côte d’Azur, at Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat or Villefranche-sur-Mer, and reaching Monaco by chauffeur, water taxi or helicopter, combines comfort and flexibility.

Whatever the chosen formula, the day’s logistics cannot be left to improvisation. The streets of the Rocher are closed, traffic along the Moyenne Corniche can cost an hour at the wrong moment, public car parks are saturated. The private shuttle, the dedicated chauffeur, the water taxi between two pontoons, occasionally the helicopter to reach a dinner in Èze or Saint-Paul-de-Vence — these solutions must be considered in advance. Our teams compose the week’s logistical calendar with our clients, taking into account appointments, weather, habits, and the unforeseen.

Preparing your week: the Maison Silaïa method

A week like this is not arranged in a fortnight. It is prepared six months in advance, according to a method we adjust for each of our clients. It unfolds in four movements.

A confidential brief to set the intention

The first stage is a conversation of two to three hours, conducted in the strictest confidence. We seek to understand the intention: is this a first immersion, a market watch, a precise acquisition project, meetings with an identified shipyard, or a networking presence with another purpose entirely? Each intention calls for a different strategy. This brief determines everything that follows.

Pre-positioning three weeks ahead

Three to four weeks before the show, we activate our address book to pre-position the appointments. We identify the yards to meet, the brokers to approach, the designers to speak with. We propose dinners, suggest cocktails, organise viewings. All this is done without ever committing our clients; each appointment is confirmed by them before we finalise it. The aim is that on arrival in Monaco, the schedule is as dense or as light as they wish it to be, with every option prepared and reversible.

Bespoke logistics, tested and pre-confirmed

Selected and reserved accommodation, helicopter or private jet from the point of origin, dedicated chauffeur with fine knowledge of Monaco, water taxi, restaurant reservations, access to private clubs, shuttle between suite and quay for short distances, discreet security for those accustomed to it. Every element is tested and pre-confirmed. Nothing is left to verify during the week itself.

A presence that is both attentive and invisible

A single dedicated contact, reachable at any hour, present in Monaco throughout the week. She adjusts the schedule in real time, shifts an appointment, arranges a last-minute dinner, handles an unforeseen request. Her presence is not felt; her absence, on the other hand, would be immediately perceived. That is how a successful accompaniment is recognised.

“A yacht viewing is not reserved, it is earned. Our work is to introduce you to it with the ease that befits.” — Maison Silaïa

Frequently asked questions

Three days a year, Monaco becomes one of the most watched stages in the world. From Friday 5 to Sunday 7 June 2026, the Formula 1 Grand Prix turns the Principality into an open-air theatre — a three-kilometre track drawn through the streets of the city, two hundred and sixty corners among the most technical of the season, and an atmosphere with no equivalent anywhere else on the calendar. For our clients who split their year between Saint-Barthélemy and the Mediterranean, these three days represent a rendezvous apart: a sporting and social event combined, a window on the Principality in its densest moment, and the privilege of seeing what unfolds behind the cameras. Maison Silaïa composes this Grand Prix as all great occasions are composed: with attention, measure, and a keen sense of what distinguishes a chosen presence from a presence endured.

Monaco Grand Prix 2026: the rendezvous without equivalent

The Monaco Grand Prix holds a singular place in the Formula 1 calendar. It is not raced on a permanent circuit designed for the purpose, but on the roads of the Principality, which are closed for three days and returned to their usual use the following Monday. The layout — three kilometres three hundred and thirty-seven, seventy-eight laps on Sunday — descends from Sainte-Dévote to the Grand Virage, runs through the tunnel beneath the Fairmont, follows the Port Hercule before rising back up through the Rascasse. Five legendary corners make it the most mentally demanding circuit of the season: the driver who wins at Monaco has not won through mechanics, she has won through concentration.

The seventy-third edition takes place from Friday 5 to Sunday 7 June 2026, with free practice on Friday, qualifying on Saturday, and the race on Sunday at three in the afternoon local time. Forty thousand spectators across the grandstands, six thousand Paddock Club seats, several thousand places in the historic grandstands of the Thermes Marins and K. Add to this the balconies of hotels and apartments, the private terraces, and the flotilla of around one hundred yachts that turns Port Hercule into a floating grandstand for three days.

The other singularity of the Monaco Grand Prix lies in its dual nature. It is at once one of the three most prestigious races of the championship — with the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it forms the Triple Crown — and the greatest social event of the Côte d’Azur. Teams come to race, but also to host: evenings in private homes, dinners aboard yachts, post-race outings in the historic clubs. Sponsors organise entire weeks around three hours of racing. Reigning families, sporting figures, film personalities and business leaders cross paths in the same grandstands and at the same dinners.

For our clients who come to the Grand Prix, the challenge is not simply to attend the race. It is to compose a presence in the Principality that allows one to experience the whole — the race itself, the evenings, the encounters, the addresses that reopen for the occasion. A Monaco Grand Prix lived well is not an event, it is a week.

“Three days a year, the Principality becomes an open-air theatre. Every balcony, every pontoon, every terrace composes a grandstand of its own.” — Maison Silaïa

Four days, four atmospheres

Each day of the Grand Prix has its own tone, its rhythm, its codes. Knowing the score means knowing where to be at the right moment.

Thursday: the Principality awakens to the Grand Prix

Thursday is officially a day without an official session. In reality, it is the day when Monaco tips over. Teams complete the installation of their stands along the port. Guests begin to arrive, the first private dinners are held, sponsors open their hospitalities. Connoisseurs come to walk the still-accessible paddock. On Place du Casino, Ferraris, Bugattis and McLarens of collection line up for the pleasure of photographers. The atmosphere is still civil, breathable — probably the last moment when the Principality resembles itself before the race.

Friday: free practice and rising pressure

Two free practice sessions, morning and afternoon. For the grandstands, it is the chance to discover the cars in motion, to hear the sound particular to each engine, to see the trajectories emerge. For those who know the circuit well, it is also the best moment to observe technical choices: loaded or lightened aerodynamics, tyre strategy, chassis behaviour through the tunnel beneath the Fairmont. Hospitalities are already running at full capacity, evenings begin to rise in intensity.

Saturday: qualifying, the most beautiful session of the year

On Saturday at four in the afternoon, sixty minutes that determine the starting grid. At Monaco, the qualifying session is often more decisive than the race itself: overtaking being rare, the starting position largely conditions the final result. It is also the most spectacular session — drivers take every risk. The Principality comes to a standstill during these sixty minutes: the evenings that follow will be the most intense of the week.

Sunday: the race and what follows

Sunday, three in the afternoon, seventy-eight laps. Two hours of racing if the weather cooperates, longer if rain intervenes — which, at Monaco, immediately transforms the race into pure chance. Grand Prix Sundays are organised in two parts. The day up to the race: brunch at Amber Lounge, lunch in the grandstand or at the Paddock Club, last appointments. The evening: podium, cup, closing dinner of each team, Amber Lounge party, outings in the clubs of Monte-Carlo. Many remain until Monday morning for breakfast at the Hôtel de Paris before departure.

Watching the race: the true vantage points

Not all grandstands are equal. Between the Paddock Club and a private balcony, the experience is radically different. Understanding these categories is already making an informed choice.

The Paddock Club: the ultimate privilege

Positioned directly opposite the starting grid, above the pit boxes, the Paddock Club is the most exclusive official grandstand. Three days of racing, full paddock access, pit-lane walks before each session, fine dining by starred chefs, open bar to all champagnes of the season, personal screens to follow the telemetry. Six thousand places across the weekend, booked ten to twelve months in advance — often by the same clients from one edition to the next. The price reflects this rarity, but the Monaco Paddock Club has no equivalent at other Grands Prix: visual access and quality of hospitality surpass Silverstone, Spa or Abu Dhabi.

The historic grandstands (Thermes Marins, K, Casino)

Beyond the Paddock Club, several permanent grandstands structure the experience. The Thermes Marins grandstand, built above the corner that bears its name, offers one of the best views of the tunnel and its exit. The K grandstand, along the pit line, allows one to see pit stops and strategies unfold live. The Casino grandstand looks onto the most photographed corner of the circuit. These grandstands offer a pure spectator experience, without the services of the Paddock Club, but with viewpoints sometimes superior. They are accessible at a more moderate rate and book up six months in advance.

Hotel balconies and private terraces

Certain Monaco addresses enjoy a rare privilege: their balconies or terraces open directly onto the circuit. The Fairmont (Loews corner), the Hôtel de Paris (Casino-Mirabeau section), certain apartments of the Libération or rue Grimaldi residences, several terraces in the Monte-Carlo quarter. For these addresses, Grand Prix week represents high season. Their owners reserve them for guests or rent them at exceptional rates. Certain private terraces can accommodate ten to one hundred people for the entire duration of the Grand Prix — Sunday lunch included.

Yachts at anchor: floating and intimate grandstand

About one hundred yachts moor in Port Hercule during the three days of the Grand Prix. From their upper decks, the view of the so-called “quay” section — Rascasse and Antony Noghès — is unique in the world. Experiencing the Grand Prix from a yacht offers a rare combination: intimacy, flexibility, ability to host, capacity of ten to fifty guests depending on the yacht. Yachts available for charter during this period book up eighteen months in advance. Our teams support our clients through this process: identifying the yacht, negotiating, mooring logistics, crew, provisioning, reception. This configuration fully belongs to the bespoke experiences we compose.

Where to stay during the Grand Prix

The Principality is one of the smallest in the world. For three days in June, it welcomes an additional three hundred thousand people. Accommodation becomes rare, expensive, and critical to the success of the week.

The Monegasque palaces and their legendary suites

Four palaces structure the high-end offering: the Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo, the Hermitage, the Métropole, the Fairmont. The Fairmont is historically tied to the Grand Prix: the Loews corner bears the name of its original hotel, and its rooftop swimming pool overlooks the circuit. The suites facing Port Hercule or a portion of the track are the most coveted — all booked from one edition to the next by the same teams, sponsors, reigning families. Accessing these suites during the Grand Prix requires either being introduced or benefiting from a released reservation. Our teams know these rare windows.

Villas in the neighbouring communes

Beyond the Principality, the villas of the neighbouring communes — Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Cap-d’Ail, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat — offer a precious alternative. Villa of six to fifteen bedrooms, full house staff, garden with pool, often private beach, sometimes a pontoon allowing direct boat access to Monaco. The drive — twenty to thirty minutes — is made with chauffeur outside the road closures. The water-taxi journey — five to fifteen minutes — bypasses the traffic. This configuration allows one to host in the evening, to sleep properly, and to experience the Principality without residing there.

Yachts chartered for the week

Residing on a yacht moored in Monaco or nearby offers the most fluid combination. The yacht becomes accommodation, reception venue, and Sunday grandstand all at once. Yachts of twenty-five to sixty metres available for rental during this period are counted in dozens, not hundreds. Negotiation begins eighteen to twenty-four months in advance, with a minimum one-week commitment, full crew, provisioning and mooring logistics to organise upstream.

The evenings of the Grand Prix

The Grand Prix is played on the track for three hours on Sunday. It is played in the evenings at all other moments. Three categories structure this parallel programme.

Official evenings: Amber Lounge, Monaco Yacht Club

Amber Lounge, founded by Sonia Irvine, is the best-known VIP event of the Grand Prix. Three or four evenings from Thursday to Sunday, at a venue that changes each year — often the Méridien Beach Plaza terrace or a palace private lounge. Invitation only, welcoming drivers and their teams, fashion shows, seated dinner, music until dawn. The Monaco Yacht Club, for its part, organises each year a charity gala on Saturday evening — one of the most prestigious rendezvous of the European social calendar. For our clients wishing to participate, the invitation is prepared months in advance.

Private team and sponsor dinners

Each team, each major sponsor hosts its private dinner on Saturday or Sunday. The historic houses — Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren — as well as the major partners — Pirelli, Rolex, Richard Mille — each hold their own. These dinners take place in the privatised lounges of the palaces, on team yachts, sometimes in villas rented for the week at Cap Ferrat or La Turbie. Invitations are made through nested circles: commercial partners, selected press, personal guests. Access to these circles is built over the year, not in the week.

The after-parties and the historic clubs

Once dinners end, Monaco transforms. Jimmy’z, the private clubs of Monte-Carlo, the private suites of the palaces turned into late-night lounges, the improvised terraces on yachts: the Principality remains in motion until dawn. The most discreet evenings are held in the villas of the heights, at Roquebrune or Èze, where only personal guests gather. For our clients who wish to attend, our role is to prepare the ecosystem in advance, in the continuity of our private event orchestration: introductions, invitations, chauffeur logistics, suite ready for the return.

“At Monaco, watching the race is an art. Watching it from the right address is a privilege one prepares long in advance.” — Maison Silaïa

Preparing your visit: the Maison Silaïa method

A Monaco Grand Prix is not arranged in a fortnight. We compose each visit according to a proven method, in four movements.

A confidential brief to set the intention

The first stage is a conversation of two to three hours, conducted in the strictest confidence. The intention varies considerably from one client to another: patronage, sponsorship, sporting curiosity, professional partner invitations, family presence, a combination of several. Each intention calls for a different strategy. This brief determines everything that follows.

Pre-positioning twelve to fifteen months ahead

The Monaco Grand Prix has the longest preparation window of our calendar. Paddock Club hospitalities, palace suites, chartered yachts, villas on the heights: all are committed more than a year in advance. We activate our address book as soon as the previous Grand Prix ends to secure the essential options, then refine them as our clients’ preferences take shape.

Bespoke logistics, tested and pre-confirmed

Accommodation reserved, helicopter or private jet from the point of origin, dedicated chauffeur with fine knowledge of the Principality and its restricted accesses during the Grand Prix, water taxi for last-minute journeys, tender shuttle if the accommodation is a yacht, permanent valet, discreet security for those accustomed to it, evening wear and event preparation arranged within the suite or villa. Every element is tested and pre-confirmed.

A presence that is both attentive and invisible

During the three days, a single dedicated contact remains reachable at any hour. She adjusts the agenda in real time, handles last-minute invitations, reserves the table nobody can obtain, composes a parallel outing for a family member who wishes to dine separately. Her presence is not felt; her absence would be immediately perceived.

Frequently asked questions

Twelve days. Two kilometres of waterfront. An industry, an art form, a parallel economy converging on the Croisette from 12 to 23 May 2026. The Cannes Film Festival is not a festival in the way others are. It is an institution, an ecosystem, an ephemeral capital where the fate of a film, the direction of a studio, the emergence of a talent and dozens of conversations that no press release will ever capture are all played out simultaneously. For our clients who divide their year between Saint-Barthélemy and the Mediterranean, these twelve days are a score to be deciphered. The red carpet is visible from anywhere in the world; the rest belongs to those who know where to position themselves, when to sit down, and when to disappear. Maison Silaïa composes these Festivals as one composes a scene: with attention, measure, and a keen sense of what takes place behind the curtain.

Cannes 2026: the twelve days that matter

The seventy-ninth edition of the Cannes Film Festival runs from Tuesday 12 to Saturday 23 May 2026. Twelve days exactly — a duration carefully calibrated to accommodate the main competition, the Marché du Film running in parallel, the parallel selections — Un Certain Regard, the Critics’ Week, the Directors’ Fortnight — and the infinite number of satellite engagements that constitute the real reason most people are there at all.

In the public imagination, Cannes is a film festival. In the minds of professionals, it is the world’s largest market for audiovisual rights. More than fifteen thousand accredited guests gather to present, negotiate, sell, co-produce, raise funds and discover the teams of years to come. American studios come to scout European talent; Asian producers sign distribution rights; streaming platforms compete for arthouse films. Behind every visible festival-goer, five others are working in an apartment on the rue d’Antibes or in a private lounge at the Marché.

It is this dual nature — public showcase and the world’s most concentrated professional salon — that makes Cannes singular. For our clients who come for their love of cinema, for the social dimension, for patronage or for investment, the real challenge is navigating between these two planes. Being present at the right moments on the Croisette, invisible at others. Knowing how to position oneself within the relevant circles, without being consumed by the official schedule.

To come to Cannes as a tourist is to leave exhausted, without having understood what was truly at stake. To arrive prepared is to leave with three or four conversations that will shape your decisions for the next eighteen months.

« Cannes is not visited — it is frequented. Twelve days where the Croisette becomes a stage, where every address is a room, and where one performs without rehearsal. » — Maison Silaïa

The geography of the Festival: knowing where to be and when

The Festival plays out on a reduced stage — two kilometres of coastline, a few perpendicular streets, a few elevated neighbourhoods — but each space has its function, its hour, its codes. To know this geography is already to have the advantage.

The Croisette: a permanent theatre

From the Palais to the Martinez, from the Hôtel Majestic to the Carlton, the Croisette is the visible stage of the Festival. This is where the red-carpet ascents unfold, the impromptu interviews, the orchestrated crowd moments. It is also where everyone crosses paths — and where, precisely, nothing of substance is said. The real conversations begin one floor above, in the private suites of the grand hotels, or slightly apart, in the confidential salons of the palaces.

The Palais des Festivals and its invisible invitations

The Palais is the cathedral of the Festival. The Grande Salle Lumière hosts the competition screenings; the Salle Debussy accommodates the parallel selections; the annexe rooms serve the Marché du Film. Gaining access requires accreditation — professional, official, or VIP — and knowing which screenings truly matter. Not all projections are equal: some are industry events, others are protocol moments, others still are the occasions where rumour is tested. Our clients who take part in red-carpet premieres do so knowing the precise stakes of each screening.

The Marché du Film: the backstage of business

Installed within the Palais and its annexes, the Marché du Film is a world unto itself. Fifteen thousand professionals, six hundred stands, thousands of confidential meetings. This is where half the world’s distribution contracts are signed. For a cinema investor, a producer or a client accompanying a project, the Marché is the true centrepiece of a Festival week. Our teams pre-position meetings with the relevant interlocutors, manage logistics between venues, and organise the informal dimension — dinners, cocktails — that extends commercial discussions.

The heights of Super Cannes and Mougins: the private stage

Above the Croisette, the elevated neighbourhoods shift in role. Super Cannes, La Californie, the hills above Mougins — these areas host the villas rented for the week by studios, investment funds, and independent producers. This is where private dinners, strategic meetings and parties that set the whole Croisette talking take place — with no photographer permitted inside. To be invited supposes being introduced. To be the host supposes having prepared the villa, its staff, its calendar, months in advance.

The evenings that truly count

The Festival is played out in the evening. Screenings fill the days; conversations occupy the nights. Three categories of evening compose this second Festival — the one that appears in no official programme.

Dinners hosted by majors and independent producers

Every studio — the American majors, the leading French groups, the Asian houses — organises one or several dinners during the week. Independent producers do the same on a more intimate scale. These dinners take place in private villas, in privatised hotel salons, sometimes on private beaches at midnight. An invitation is not obtained on request: it is built. For our clients interested in cinema through patronage, investment or simply informed curiosity, our work is to prepare the ecosystem of relationships that makes these invitations possible.

Yachts: floating offices of the week

The Bay of Cannes fills, during Festival week, with some fifty yachts of considerable size. Most are chartered for the week by studios, funds and distributors. They serve as floating offices by day — meetings in the main saloon, private screenings on the upper deck, recruitment interviews in the cabins — and as party venues by night. Each yacht has its reputation, its invitation protocols, its atmosphere. Experiencing the week from a yacht, whether as owner or privileged guest, fundamentally changes the nature of the Festival.

After-parties and their secret geographies

Once the dinners conclude, the Festival enters its third night. The private clubs of the Croisette district, the private suites of the palaces, a handful of confidential addresses in Mougins and Valbonne: this is where conversations unravel, agreements form and breaks are consummated. These venues appear on no programme. To enter supposes being recognised or introduced. Our clients who wish to access them benefit from discreet support, which we compose within the framework of orchestrating your private evenings: a driver available at any hour, a parallel exit for a partner wishing to retire, a suite prepared for the return.

Accommodation during the Festival: the art of positioning

The geography of your accommodation determines your Festival. Between a palace on the front line, a villa in the heights or a yacht in the bay, each configuration offers a radically different experience.

The historic palaces and their constraints

Four addresses structure the Croisette: the Majestic Barrière, the Carlton, the Martinez and the Grand Hyatt Cannes Hôtel Martinez. All are fully booked within twelve months of the Festival. The most sought-after suites — those overlooking the sea, those opening onto the Croisette, the penthouses — are reserved from one edition to the next by the same studios, producers, and wealthy families. Accessing these suites during the Festival requires either being informed very early, or activating a network of contacts who release their reservation at the last moment. We know the rare windows of availability and the channels that allow access.

Villas in Super Cannes and Cap d’Antibes

On the heights, or towards Cap d’Antibes, the exceptional villa portfolio constitutes the most coveted alternative — though the most demanding to prepare. A villa of six to twelve bedrooms, a full household team (chef, housekeeper, majordomo, chauffeur, security), a garden with pool, sometimes a private beach: the setting is ideal for entertaining, for discreet meetings, for genuine sleep after the long nights. The rental is negotiated ten to twelve months before the Festival, with a minimum two-week commitment, and requires concierge intervention before, during and after the stay.

Yachts at anchor

Residing on a yacht anchored in the bay, or along the Quai Albert-Édouard, offers a rare combination: intimacy, flexibility and the ability to entertain without leaving one’s own roof. Yachts can hold a dinner for eighteen in the evening, accommodate three private screenings the following day, and weigh anchor to dine at sea before returning. This configuration requires precise logistics — a tender, a valet on the quay, a helicopter for longer transfers — which our teams compose for clients who opt for this formula.

Access to screenings: the invisible codes

Behind each screening lies a precise social geography, tacit codes, access rules that no official website details. Understanding these codes transforms a presence at the Festival from a social exercise into a genuinely cinematic experience.

The grand premieres at the Palais

The premieres of competition films take place in the Grande Salle Lumière, generally at seven in the evening. Protocol is strict: evening dress required, arrival at a fixed time, a supervised red-carpet ascent, numbered seating. The ritual is photographed from around the world, making it one of the most visible moments of the Festival — and one of the most precisely timed. Accreditation alone is not sufficient: one must be on the screening list, which supposes an introduction by a distribution house, a production team or an official partner.

Market screenings and parallel selections

At the heart of the Marché du Film, several hundred screenings take place daily — completed films, works in post-production, pilot versions. These sessions are more informal, open to Marché accreditation holders, sometimes without a badge for those invited by the distributor. This is where one discovers in advance the films that will define the season, where a project’s reception is tested, where one meets the relevant teams. The Critics’ Week and the Directors’ Fortnight, two selections parallel to the official Festival, also hold their screenings in more intimate venues — and often, artistically, more stimulating ones.

Private screenings organised by distributors

Outside the official programme, distributors organise confidential screenings in privatised palace screening rooms, in villas in the hills, sometimes aboard a yacht equipped with a projection suite. These sessions present a film to a restricted circle — potential investors, select press, priority buyers. To be invited depends entirely on the positioning one has built in advance.

« A successful Cannes Film Festival comes down to one sentence: being at the right evening, at the right moment, without forcing it. Everything else is arrangement. » — Maison Silaïa

Preparing your visit: the Maison Silaïa method

A mastered Festival de Cannes is not improvised. We compose each stay according to a proven method, structured in four stages.

A confidential brief to define the intention

The first stage is a detailed two-to-three-hour exchange, conducted in the strictest confidence. What is the intention: patronage, investment, artistic curiosity, strategic presence, a combination of several? Which screenings are essential, which people must be met, which evenings must not be missed? Each answer shapes what follows.

Pre-positioning six to eight weeks in advance

For the Festival, the preparation window is tighter than for other events — not through oversight, but because the definitive programme is only revealed from mid-April. From the moment the official selection is announced, we activate our network: distribution houses, studio press attachés, production teams, circles of regular Festival-goers. Invitations are solicited, screenings selected, dinners negotiated.

Bespoke logistics, tested and pre-confirmed

Accommodation reserved, helicopter or jet from the departure airport, a dedicated driver with precise knowledge of the Croisette and its access points, a tender if accommodation is a yacht, a water taxi for evenings held offshore, a rapid shuttle between the villa in the heights and the Palais, evening attire and accessories prepared in advance in the suite or villa. Nothing is left to improvisation.

Support that is present and invisible

Throughout the twelve days, a single point of contact remains reachable at any hour. She adjusts the agenda in real time, manages last-minute invitations, secures the table no one else can obtain, keeps a driver waiting without anyone noticing. This support is part of the continuity of the bespoke experiences we compose throughout the year for our clients.

Frequently asked questions