In Marseille, a Former Diving School Becomes a Stylish Boutique Hotel
They enlisted the help of their childhood friend, designer and architect Marion Mailaender, to direct the creative vision for the property. Given its history, they wanted to maintain the classic spirit of the French cabanon, or fishing shed, which Mailaender used as the guiding force in her design plans. “The inspiration for Tuba was a mixture of vernacular architecture from the village of Les Goudes, a few nods to the old diving center and references to Le Corbusier’s Cabanon, and the Bar L’étoile de Mer in Roquebrune Cap Martin,” says Mailaender. The facade of the building was redone with stone walls and lazured wood cladding, integrating the building into the rocks and opening up views to the sea.
At the entrance, Mailaender invited another local friend and artist, Emmanuelle Luciani of Southway Studio, to paint a large mural of bathers. The intimate, minimalist rooms are designed like wooden marine cabins with quirky touchpoints, like antique bird-shaped lamps by Fernand Leger and pipe coat racks by Elvire Bonduelle. Scuba diving books line the bookshelves, which are made of marine plywood. In the bathrooms, you shower with a garden hose while admiring the sea through the small windows made of yellow glass. Doodles by Southway Studio surprise and delight on a tile in each bathroom. There’s a nostalgic summer camp-like feel to the cabanons, inspired by Mailaender’s own childhood memories. Unlike a fancier hotel in Antibes, you won’t find plush bathrobes and slippers in the room; they’re replaced with a kit of flippers, a mask, and a snorkel—because a plunge into the sea is the kind of indulgence that’s of most value here.
Just outside the rooms is the restaurant, where Gassa says they want guests to feel at home (feel free to walk in barefoot). The diving school’s old tables have been repainted, and the bar where Jacques Mayol drank with Albert Falco was simply covered by locally sourced reed matting. They also kept a rubber snorkel from the ’70s, which they proudly display on the counter. “Everything is honest and spontaneous, because that is the shed, the seaside, the salty life,” says Denizot. The menu features an epicurean mix of Medditeranean influences, promoting the best of the South. When it comes to the bar, cocktails are to Tuba what diversity is to Marseille, the team explains. “They’re a mix of spices, flavors and stories from all over the world.” The bartender recommends trying a Pana Mule with oceanic (eucalyptus) and Indian (rose, cardamom) aromas.
Everything at Tuba is designed to leave room for the most important aspects of the property: the raw landscape, and the view of the sea. Standing by the water’s edge, you’ll find striped yellow sun loungers perched on a steep rock “beach.” At the base of the rocks, there’s a steel ladder for easy access to the ocean, though you’ll see hedonists jumping in directly from the rocks.
Despite the stylish crowds Tuba has come to attract, the staff remains laidback and approachable. “The idea is that people arrive as guests, but leave as friends,” says Gassa—a raison d’etre you’d be hard-pressed to find in Cannes.
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