First trip to Cote D'azur
 

My husband and I are planning to take the train from Barcelona to Monaco then spend 4 days exploring Monaco, Nice, Cannes and places in between. We will be staying at Hotel Port Palace in Monaco. We're flying out of Nice back to the US, so we plan to stay in Nice on our last night and are looking for a hotel in Nice (~150-200 Euro). Any suggestions for hotels in Nice? Also, any comments on Port Palace or suggested places that we should visit?

Thanks!

mdas,
last year we spent 3 days at Comfort HotelRoosevelt.The place is near the Promenades des Anglais,the Old City and the beach.

here is the web site:

http://www.bookings.net/hotel/fr/rooseveltnice.html

I don't know if I would spend 4 days in Monaco, I feel it could be done in a day. I would recommend visiting St. Paul de Vence that is near Nice.

I agree with the other poster. I wouldn't stay 4 nights in Monaco unless you either have a great deal on the hotel or want to spend a lot of time at the casinos.

My city pick for the area would be Nice, since it would give you easy access to almost everything you want to see and do along the coast. Monaco is an easy 30 min train ride, Cannes a little less, St. Paul de Vence 50 min by bus.

Also, Nice itself has a wonderful old town to explore, excellent museums, and the famous promenade along the sea. It's a beautiful, vibrant city to explore for a few days. Have fun!

Thanks! I guess the rationale behind our staying 3 nights (4 days) in Monaco was that we would base ourselves there and take day trips. Not a good idea?

Getting in and out of Monaco is a huge PITA. I agree with others who say base yourself in Nice. Monaco is good for about a half-day visit, if that, IMHO, unless you're a gambler or a millionaire shopaholic. I think you'll find evenings in Nice much more pleasant at the end of a day of sightseeing.

Thanks for the suggestions...I've also spent a lto of time perusing the other posts on Cote D'azur, etc. Based on that, we've decided to revamp our itinerary.

BUT I still have yet to find a good hotel in Nice...Le Grimaldi looks a little tacky from their website's photos (am I wrong??), Palais De La Mediterranee is booked,and Negresco seems to pricey. Any thoughts on:
*Meridien
*Palais Maeterlinck (seems out of the main area - or no?)
*Beau Rivage

I don't think LE GRIMALDI is tacky at all. I didn't like the rooms that I saw at BEAU RIVAGE, although the location is very good-just on the edge of Old Nice. LE MERIDIEN also has an excellent location, a very short walk from Old Nice, but I don't know what the rooms are like.

Have you tried LE PEROUSE?

Just wanted to also mention that you might want to check out Hotel Westminster. I'm hesitating a little bit in recommending it because some of the rooms on the city side are not up to par. But if you request a seaview room w/balcony, like number #306 in particular, you'll be fine.

The hotel has an air of faded elegance about it, but the rooms we've stayed in ( all seaview, all with balcony) have been clean, spacious, and relatively, for Nice, well-priced. Also, the hotel has an excellent location, just a few blocks away from Palais de La Mediteranee, and about a 15 min walk to Old Nice.

You're making the right decision by staying in Nice. Le Grimaldi gets great reviews here on Fodor's. It's definitely where I would stay if I returned to Nice. Doesn't look tacky at all.

Thank you SO much! Its so hard to tell based on website pictures what a hotel looks like, so I appreciate the insight to Le Grimalidi...will explore it more this evening.

And actually, I mispoke...Palais De La Mediterranee is not booked full, but they only have city views available. Would we be short changing ourselves too much by not having a sea view? We will have one in Monaco at the Port Palace.

My husband and I were in Nice this past October and we had a lovely time at Les Cigales. The staff was terrific, the beds comfortable and the shower hot. We had a room on the upper floor. Just watch the eves! It is recommended in the Rick Steve's book. I too would go to St. Paul de Vence. Delightful!

Palais de la Mediterranee is a very nice hotel. We stayed there last year, but did have a sea view room. I haven't seen the city view rooms, but you certainly can't beat that location or the service at the hotel.

Hotel Grimaldi has two sections, one side is not as nice as the other side. I can check my trip report if you would like and then I tell you which is the better side, where I stayed.

I also think Nice is a better choice for a base.

The old part of the city is interesting and the Russian Orthodox church & the Musee Matisse are must-sees for me!

As others mentioned, leave time for drives into the hills to see St Paul de Vence (if you like modern art the Maeght Foundation is excellent) and other towns. On the Cote d'Azur, Eze is also worth a visit, and I also liked Antibes...

We were able to get a sea view room at the Palais without paying an arm and a leg, so now the main frame of our trip is set. Thanks for everyone's help!

I would definitely recommend Antibes. At least stop there for an afternoon or something. it is very quaint compared to nice and cannes, certainly.

Glad to hear that you were able to reserve at Palais de la Mediterranee! Try to book as high a floor as possible. Because of the way that the hotel is designed, there are some enormous pillars pillars that block some of the view from the lower-floor rooms.