Every summer, a handful of Mediterranean hotels hand their pools and beach clubs over to the fashion houses behind summer’s most coveted prints, and the results rarely disappoint. From a Gucci pattern returning to the Monaco boutique where it was born to a Missoni takeover dressing one of Dubai’s most exclusive beach clubs, here are the pop-ups worth building a trip around this year.
Amouage, Nobu Hotel Marbella
Marbella, Spain
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Poolside scent usually means little more than chlorine and sunscreen, but at Nobu Hotel Marbella the adults-only pool has spent the month carrying notes of hibiscus, salted caramel and Omani perfume oil. The takeover marks the launch of Amouage’s Love Hibiscus, and the Muscat-based house has dressed the terrace in scarlet loungers and parasols, with bowls of white flowers and trays of iced hibiscus drinks set among the sunbeds, and palmiers shaped to echo the fragrance’s gourmand notes circulating throughout the afternoon. Villa guests receive full Love Hibiscus bath collections, and the hotel has hosted fragrance masterclasses beneath the palms for those who want the story behind the scent rather than just the smell of it.
Gucci, La Rose des Vents
Monte-Carlo, Monaco
Few prints carry a backstory as suited to a Monaco takeover as Gucci’s Flora. The pattern was created in 1966 for Princess Grace of Monaco, commissioned as a silk scarf, which makes its return to the principality this summer something close to a homecoming. Gucci has wrapped La Rose des Vents beach club on Larvotto Beach in the design’s tangle of flowers, berries, butterflies and insects, with loungers and scalloped parasols carrying the motif against a shoreline backdrop of superyachts and pale Belle Époque façades. Belgian floral artist Mark Colle has added large-scale installations that erupt from the beach club itself, turning the print into something closer to a living garden than a textile.
Burberry, Hôtel Belle Rives
Antibes, France
Hôtel Belle Rives carries its own literary weight as the Cap d’Antibes villa where F. Scott Fitzgerald spent the summers that became Tender Is the Night, which makes Burberry’s takeover of the property feel less like a sponsorship than a continuation of the story. The house has reworked its signature check in a custom navy and Riviera blue, draping it across the loungers and parasols lining the private jetty, through the beach club entrance and even over the hotel’s original 1920s lift. Burberry-branded experiences run alongside the visuals, including waterskiing in the bay where the sport is said to have first arrived in Europe, and ice lollies served on the hotel’s seafront terrace for guests who want the collaboration in a more literal form.
Jacquemus, Monte-Carlo Beach
Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France
Jacquemus has taken over Monte-Carlo Beach’s seawater pool, private beach and seafront jetty in the sun-faded stripes and pistachio greens that have defined the brand since 2009, fitted to a hotel that has hosted the Riviera’s social set since 1929. Two Jacquemus boutiques have opened within the property, styled to feel like an extension of designer Simon Porte Jacquemus’s own home, with Renoir sketches, Matisse drawings and furniture chosen to evoke the lavender fields and farmhouses of Provence rather than a typical resort gift shop.
Jacquemus, Mandarin Oriental Bodrum
Bodrum, Turkey
Jacquemus’s reach extends to Turkey’s Turquoise Coast this season, with a second takeover transforming Mandarin Oriental’s Blue Beach in Bodrum. The collaboration covers the things guests actually use rather than purely decorative touches, with branded paddleboards, backgammon sets and striped beach buggies that shuttle between the sand and the resort’s new boutique. The 98-square-metre space stocks the maison’s latest ready-to-wear and accessories, with a terrace looking out over Paradise Bay’s Aegean water.
Dior, Il Riccio
Capri, Italy
Dior’s Dioriviera returns to Capri this summer, taking over the cliffside terraces of Il Riccio with its toile de Jouy print rendered in the house’s familiar blue and white. The beach club already sits beside the Blue Grotto in one of the Mediterranean’s more cinematic positions, and the takeover pushes the setting further into dolce vita territory, with wooden boats bobbing beneath the cliffs and waiters moving between the loungers with seafood crudo and iced coffee. Guests change in striped beach cabins stacked with branded towels, a detail that does most of the work in placing the season.
Dolce&Gabbana, San Domenico Palace
Taormina, Sicily, Italy
Dolce&Gabbana has returned to Sicily this season with a DG Resort takeover of the San Domenico Palace, a former monastery turned flagship Four Seasons property suspended between the Ionian Sea and Mount Tauro. The house has dressed the hotel for the first time in its Palme motif, with the infinity pool area and sea-facing terrace given over to the print’s greens and whites, set against a stretch of coastline that has drawn travellers since the 18th century. Inside the former monastery sacristy, a pop-up store stocks a curated edit of ready-to-wear and accessories, including pieces created specifically for the destination.
Missoni Beach Club, OKU Ibiza
Sant Antoni de Portmany, Spain
After a strong debut last summer, Missoni has returned to OKU Ibiza’s pool, the largest on the island, with its zigzag stripes rendered in turquoise, emerald and deep ocean blue. Fringed parasols, branded loungers and printed towels cover the teak deck, set against the hotel’s stone walls and pale, minimalist architecture. The location, close to Cala Gració on Ibiza’s quieter west coast, suits travellers who want the island’s energy without the earlier extremes of its nightlife.
Circolo Al Fresco, Four Seasons Hotel Firenze
Florence, Italy
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Not every standout pop-up this summer carries a fashion logo. Four Seasons Hotel Firenze has unveiled Circolo Al Fresco, a new concept built around Italy’s old-school social clubs, turning the hotel’s Gherardesca Garden into an open-air setting for bocce, chess and long lunches. Striped loungers sit beneath white parasols around the stone pool, while card tables shaded by Renaissance-era trees hold martinis and bowls of olives through the afternoon. At the centre, Trattoria Al Fresco runs a Josper grill through aperitivo-heavy service, sending out grilled seafood and Tuscan meats alongside cold vermouths, while the spa has introduced Santa Maria Novella-inspired treatments using warm botanical oils for guests recovering from a demanding day of doing very little.
Dolce & Gabbana x Ounass, Cloud 22
Atlantis The Royal, Dubai
The first of the season’s two Dubai takeovers sits on the rooftop of Atlantis The Royal, where Dolce & Gabbana has joined forces with Ounass to wrap Cloud 22 in its signature blue majolica print. Loungers, cabanas and inflatables carry the pattern across the pool deck, with the skyline and Palm Jumeirah doing the work that the Mediterranean usually does for this brand. A limited-edition drinks menu and a run of coastal-leaning small plates round out the collaboration, alongside the kind of high-altitude views that no Riviera beach club can offer.
Missoni Resort Club, Drift Beach
One&Only Royal Mirage, Dubai
Missoni’s first Resort Club in the Middle East has settled into Drift Beach for the season, dressing the daybeds, cabanas and parasols in the house’s bold zigzags and a palette of deep blue, turquoise and emerald green. The collaboration runs through the warmer months against the backdrop of Dubai Marina, with the option to carry the day into evening at Drift’s newer Sea Lounge for sundowners by the water. The pop-up closes for the summer from July 12, so this is one to fit in before the heat sends Dubai’s beach clubs into their seasonal pause.
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Images: Supplied & Feature Image: Supplied
