Residence Nakara hotel - Cap D’Agde, France

Despite its whiff of mass tourism, the south of France still holds a defiant allure, especially when the Mediterranean sun blazes high overhead and the still air requires soporific holidaymakers to do little more than move from room to shaded beach umbrella.

In that respect, Cap d’Agde in the Languedoc region – a stone’s throw from Narbonne – ticks all the boxes, including a 14km stretch of sand and sea. A few minutes walk from Rochebrune beach, the Nakara hides its self-service studios and two- to four-room villas behind an unexpectedly austere flank of white, trellised concrete walls.

These, say the architects Jacques Ferrier Architecture, are meant to function as filters that insert space between the public areas and the guest-rooms. Indeed, the towering trellises, which are almost Arabesque in their kinetic effect, also act as giant brises soleil so that from the terraces and balconies, there is a very real sense of being simultaneously inside and out.

To be frank, the interior décor is functionally bland to a fault, but that is all the more reason to spend more quality time stretched out by the all-white pool space. Other diversions are on hand, including a hammam and spa, an 18-hole golf course, tennis club, cycling, and watersports.