The mission To find out whether a modern spa can keep true to the laid-back hippy chic of the Byblos, made famous by Brigitte Bardot.

USP There is no other Byblos in the world...there is no other Sisley spa in the world.

Ambience The Byblos, St Tropez's most famous hangout, was the venue for Mick proposing to Bianca, and Brigitte Bardot generally being starry. It's not a place for executive breakfasts or sweaty high-level pow-wows on the treadmill; the Provencal-inspired rooms are luxurious, albeit in a slightly barefoot, Carla Bruni-folklorique way. The most exhausting activity seems to be hanging around the glorious pool.

The Sisley spa is on the lower- ground floor by the lift (designed as a labyrinth of rooms that open out on to arched galleries full of flowers). There is a large area for make-up, and five treatment areas, the most glorious of which is a 16th-century wood-panelled room brought over from Lebanon when the hotel was built 40 years ago.

Guests are encouraged to venture nude into a Turkish bath, and there's an outside area for reclining after your treatment. Best of all is a “fun shower”, with options from “tropical” to the “Byblos fun”, which delivers an intoxicating combination of “rainfall”, birdsong, fragrance, flashing lights and heat. I could hardly wrench myself away to have a massage.

Quality of experience The emphasis is firmly on enjoyment and, in some measure, entertainment. I had a “relaxing expert massage for body”, which used some delightful oils, and was perfectly enjoyable but probably not for anyone with serious backache or other muscular problems. The music was rather dull, but I noticed that there was a docking system for iPods and some nice candles. Since Sisley is famed for its facial products, I probably should have opted for a facial, something like the “glow of light treatment with ginseng”.

Products I used Sisley sun products throughout my stay and was duly grateful that they did not deliver me into Brigitte Bardot leather-skin territory. Instead they rendered me with a honeyed complexion, perfectly off-setting my white dress - obligatory wear for lunch at the Cinquante-Cinque, where the dress code is strictly white. The hotel will deliver you to and collect you from the famous beachside restaurant named after the year BB came to shoot Et Dieu...créa la femme [And God Created Woman] with Roger Vadim.

Food Fruit juice and fruit kebabs to refresh you after your fun shower. You can eat by the pool or in a special private courtyard. The hotel has two restaurants: the “B” by the pool for casual meals; and the Spoon at Byblos, which is the Mediterranean version of Alain Ducasse's Spoon in Paris. Waiters wear sneakers and jeans. Very San Trop.

In-crowd Wealthy Med-heads who love to get up late. No one seemed remotely interested in using the gym or computer room, or swimming lengths. Utterly chic hedonism, in other words.

Wallet watch Radiance treatment with ginseng (€150, £119); relaxing expert massage for body (€180). Other treatments such as pedicures, manicures and waxing cost about €50. Double rooms from €410 a night; suites from €1,280.

Need to know The Byblos Hotel, Avenue Paul Signac, St Tropez. Call 00 33 494 56 68 00, www.byblos.com. The hotel is one-and-a-half hours from Nice airport and an hour from Toulon. The hotel closes for the season on November 12.

Spa rating £££££

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