Loulou Ramatuelle

Loulou runs its stretch of Pampelonne like a dining room that happens to own some sand. The pavilion is whitewashed timber in the manner of a fisherman’s cottage, shade comes from boat sails strung overhead rather than branded parasols, and the view runs across the bay toward the Pointe du Capon. The 2026 season is unusually specific for this coast: open every day from 23 April to 3 October, beach service from 11am, lunch from 12.30, and closed in the evening, a schedule the club states plainly on its own site.

Every venue in our French Riviera club directory faces the same two questions: what do you actually pay, and what does the free version of the day look like. Loulou gives half an answer, which is more than most of its neighbours manage. The kitchen prices sit in a full menu PDF on the club’s own site, while the bed rates are quoted only when you reserve. That split should decide how you book it.

The product here is the table. You are paying for a kitchen that takes itself seriously in a setting styled after the Riviera of the 1950s, sail shade, pale wood, herbs in pots between the tables, and the menu carries the detail to back it: Parma ham aged 30 months, tomato tart, tagliolini with raw tuna and lemon, a tarte Tropezienne for the finish. Because those prices are printed, the careful move is to cost your ideal lunch from the PDF before you go. The number you cannot see in advance is the bed, and that is the number to pin down.

The clock is the quiet value feature. With no evening service there is no second seating to hold out for and no party premium creeping onto the bill as the light drops. The day has one rhythm, sand from 11, lunch from half past noon, out by seven, and your spend has a natural ceiling because the venue simply stops serving. If you want a DJ carrying you into the night, spend the same money at one of the party names up the bay and get the show you are paying for.

Where it falls short for a careful spender is opacity and season. No bed rate, no minimum spend and no dress code appear in print, and this is still Pampelonne in high summer, so none of the missing numbers will be small. It is also no use to you after seven or before late April. The free version of the day sits a few hundred metres along the shore: public sand, your own picnic, and the same water.

The bay itself is close to five kilometres of public sand under a low line of dune and vineyard, and the water deepens gently enough for a long unhurried swim. The concessions hold their marked rows and everything between them is open to anyone with a towel, so the club’s setting can be enjoyed at no cost from fifty metres away. Our full Pampelonne guide maps the free stretches, the parking fields and the quieter southern end.

The address is 962 Chemin des Tamaris in Ramatuelle, down the lanes that feed Pampelonne from the Saint Tropez peninsula, and in July and August the beach road traffic deserves a margin on both sides of your table time. The club runs valet parking at the entrance, with the cost to be confirmed, and guests coming off boats standing in the bay hail the club’s own batelier on VHF channel 13.

Booking runs free through the club’s online reservation page or its phone line, which makes checking a date the cheapest research on this coast. Or put your date, group size and appetite into the form below and we will ask the club for the one figure it does not print, the bed rate for your day, so you can judge the whole cost before committing a centime.