I've read great things about Hotel Grimaldi in Nice, so I've made reservations there, but we have friends who say they would rather stay in Villefranche or Antibes. Does anyone have any suggestions on great places to stay in either of those towns or would you recommend basing ourselves in Nice?

Nice is a good place for a base...plenty to do but easy to leave for day trips to other areas. But if spending time at the beach appeals to you, note that Nice beaches have large pebbles instead of lovely white sand.

What do you mean by "great" places? A budget figure would be useful.

Both Villefranche and Antibes are also good places to stay. Villefranche is especially useful if you plan to do touring east of Nice; Antibes is lively and interesting, but the traffic can be horrendous.

Thanks, Underhill. We're looking for a hotel under 250 euros. Since we'll be there in mid-April, I don't think we'll be spending much time at the beach. But, I've been warned about the pebbles!

I've stayed at the Hotel Welcome in Villefranche. It's a charming town and you can get a water view with a small balcony from that hotel, but not sure it matches the quality of the Grimaldi.

If you're renting a car, Villefranche may have be better for parking than Nice. If you're not renting a car, I think I'd rather be IN Nice. While Villefranche has easy train and bus connections elsewhere, you have more flexibility in Nice w/o a car.

Why do your friends prefer Villefranche or Antibes? Have they been before?

Take a look at the all-hotels-in-nice web site for discounts at some of the better hotels; right now the Meridien is available for 180 Euros. It's right on the Promenade des Anglais and about 2 blocks from Vieux Nice. Pretty rooms, everything well kept.

If you like contemporary décor, look at prices for the Beau Rivage. It's quite comfortable and well located, and if you don't mind grey and brown color schemes it's a good buy. The hotel was re-done completely in spring 2004.

http://www.all-hotels-in-nice.com/

We stayed at the Hotel Grimaldi in 2001 and loved it. We've also stayed outside of Nice. I wouldn't bother looking for another hotel, but we did find a lovely B&B outside of town. I don't have the name any longer, but we found it through a web search and there were several nice ones.

Place to base depends much to do with what you plan to do. What do you want to do and where do you want to go?

It is also possible that none of the places you mentioned are suitable as a base for your trip.