Where to Stay in Nice & the French Riviera — Best Areas & Hotels
Curated by Our Guild Explorers · Updated July 2026
On the Côte d’Azur, the address you choose sets the tempo of the whole trip. Nice makes an unbeatable base — a real city with an airport, a train line, and a beach — and from it the great Riviera names are all a short hop away: Cannes, Monaco, Antibes, the hill villages. We’ve grouped the coast’s most enduring, well-loved hotels by area and character, each with an honest note and a Book Me link that opens that exact property on Trip.com so you can just choose your dates.
Promenade des Anglais & the Seafront
The great curving seafront of Nice is the classic first-visit base: wake to the blue of the Baie des Anges, walk the palm-lined promenade, and have the beach clubs, gardens, and Place Masséna all at your feet. Rooms with a sea view command a premium here, but the setting is the whole reason to come.
Le Negresco
Crowned by its unmistakable pink dome, the family-owned Negresco has presided over the Promenade des Anglais since 1912 and remains the emblem of Riviera glamour. Its corridors double as a private museum of French art, and the Chantecler dining room is a landmark in its own right. The definitive splurge for travelers who want history, theatre, and a front-row seat on the sea.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Hyatt Regency Nice Palais de la Méditerranée
Behind a restored 1929 Art Deco frontage on the promenade, this full-service hotel pairs period glamour with a rooftop pool and terrace overlooking the bay. Larger, well-equipped rooms and a seafront position make it an easy, polished choice. Best for travelers who want a landmark address with contemporary comforts and space to spread out.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Anantara Plaza Nice Hotel
Overlooking the Albert I gardens between the old town and the promenade, this grand hotel is best known for a rooftop terrace with sweeping views over the sea and the city. A recent luxury revival brought a fresh, refined feel to a historic building. A smart pick for those who want to be steps from both the beach and Place Masséna’s buzz.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Vieux Nice & the Port
The old town is Nice at its most vivid — ochre lanes, the Cours Saleya flower market, baroque churches, and socca stands — tucked beneath the green Colline du Château. Stay here for atmosphere and late dinners within stumbling distance; just expect cobbles, some noise, and few cars.
Hôtel La Pérouse
Carved into the rock of the castle hill at the quiet eastern edge of the promenade, La Pérouse is a hidden gem with a lemon-tree garden, a pool, and rooms that look straight out over the Baie des Anges. It feels a world away from the crowds yet sits right beside the old town. Ideal for couples who want a serene, view-rich retreat within walking reach of everything.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Hôtel Suisse
Perched on the seafront road below the castle hill, the Suisse is prized for one thing above all: some of the most dramatic bay views in Nice, straight down the promenade from private balconies. Rooms are relatively compact, but the panorama and the old-town-doorstep location carry the day. A characterful mid-luxury choice for travelers who put the view first.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Carré d’Or & City Centre
Between Place Masséna and the Musicians’ Quarter lies the Carré d’Or, Nice’s smart shopping and gallery district, threaded by the tram and the green ribbon of the Promenade du Paillon. It’s central, elegant, and a short walk from both the beach and the old town — a versatile base without the seafront premium.
Hôtel Windsor Nice
A beloved eccentric of central Nice, the Windsor commissions artists to design individual rooms and hides a lush tropical garden with a small pool behind its facade. The effect is part boutique hotel, part living art project. Best for creative travelers who want personality and a green oasis a few blocks back from the sea.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Hôtel Le Grimaldi
A warm, family-run boutique hotel in the heart of the Carré d’Or, decorated in bright Provençal fabrics and known for a genial welcome and a generous breakfast. Its side-street setting keeps things quiet while shops, trams, and the beach stay minutes away. A refined-yet-affordable pick for couples who value charm and a central address.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Hôtel Aston La Scala
A large, dependable four-star overlooking the fountains of the Promenade du Paillon, best known for a rooftop pool and bar with wide views across the city to the sea. Its central position puts the old town, Place Masséna, and the beach all within a short stroll. A reliable, well-equipped base for families and first-timers who want amenities and location together.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Cannes & the Croisette
Half an hour west by train, Cannes trades Nice’s lived-in bustle for pure glamour: the palm-lined Boulevard de la Croisette, private beaches, designer boutiques, and the palace hotels that host the film festival each spring. Base here when the polish and the red-carpet atmosphere are the point of the trip.
InterContinental Carlton Cannes
The white Belle Époque Carlton, with its twin cupolas, is the most storied address on the Croisette and a fixture of festival lore. A major restoration added gardens, a pool, and fresh suites while keeping the grand-hotel soul intact. The archetypal Cannes stay for travelers who want landmark glamour and a private beach across the boulevard.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Hôtel Martinez
A gleaming Art Deco landmark at the quieter end of the Croisette, the Martinez pairs 1930s glamour with one of the Riviera’s celebrated tables at La Palme d’Or. Its private beach and sea-view suites draw a stylish, returning crowd. Best for design-minded travelers who want Jazz Age elegance with a serious dining scene attached.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Hôtel Barrière Le Majestic Cannes
A vast white palace facing the festival hall, Le Majestic is Cannes at its most classically grand, with expansive gardens, pools, and a long private beach. Family-friendly space and full resort amenities set it apart from its neighbours. A polished choice for travelers and families who want scale, service, and a front-row Croisette position.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Monaco & Monte-Carlo
The tiny principality, twenty minutes east of Nice, is the Riviera’s stage for high glamour — the casino square, the harbour full of yachts, and the Grand Prix streets. Its palace hotels cluster around Place du Casino, and a stay here means casino, spa, and sea all within a few marble steps.
Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo
Facing the casino since 1864, the Hôtel de Paris is the beating heart of Monte-Carlo glamour, home to Alain Ducasse’s Le Louis XV and one of the world’s legendary wine cellars beneath it. A full renovation refreshed the rooms while preserving the Belle Époque grandeur. The definitive Monaco splurge for travelers who want the casino, the spa, and the whole legend on their doorstep.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Hôtel Hermitage Monte-Carlo
A rose-hued Belle Époque palace just above the casino, the Hermitage is famous for its winter garden crowned by a stained-glass dome engineered in the workshop of Gustave Eiffel. It shares the vast seawater spa with its grand neighbour but keeps a slightly softer, more romantic mood. Perfect for couples who want landmark luxury with a touch more intimacy.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Fairmont Monte Carlo
Straddling the coast road on its own terraces above the Mediterranean, the Fairmont is best known for a rooftop pool with panoramic sea views — and for the famous Grand Prix hairpin that curls right around its base. Big, buzzy, and full-service, it’s livelier than the palace hotels nearby. A great fit for families and travelers who want space, a pool, and a central Monaco location.
Book Me on Trip.com ›The Cap & the Hills — Antibes, Juan-les-Pins & Saint-Paul-de-Vence
Beyond the cities lie the Riviera’s most romantic retreats: the pine-shaded Cap d’Antibes, the Jazz Age seafront of Juan-les-Pins, and the perched art village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence. Stay out here for privacy, pools, and legend — you trade nightlife and easy transit for gardens, sea, and quiet.
Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc
Set in twenty-two acres of pines at the tip of the Cap d’Antibes, this 1870 legend has hosted writers, film stars, and royalty for generations, with a celebrated seawater pool carved into the cliff at Eden-Roc. It is discreet, rarefied, and utterly of the Riviera myth. The ultimate special-occasion escape for travelers who want privacy and a place in the pantheon.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Hôtel Belles Rives
A jewel-box Art Deco hotel on the Juan-les-Pins waterfront, Belles Rives occupies the very villa where F. Scott Fitzgerald once summered, and it wears that Jazz Age heritage beautifully. A private jetty, beach, and waterfront restaurant give it an intimate, glamorous feel. Best for couples drawn to period romance and a direct-on-the-water setting.
Book Me on Trip.com ›La Colombe d’Or
At the gate of the perched village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence, this famous auberge holds a museum-worthy collection of Picasso, Matisse, and Léger — works the artists once traded for meals and lodging. Terrace dining under fig trees and a sculpture-dotted pool complete the spell. An unrepeatable choice for art lovers who want the hills rather than the beach.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Don’t see your perfect fit?
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