Help with accommodation in côte d'Azur
 

Everyone was so helpful when I planned my last trip. Now I need more advice. We will be spending 10 days in provence in the Luberon area. Our flight home is from Nice. I thought maybe 3 nights in that area would be perfect. However, I am not at all familiar with the area and would love some thoughts on which town and what hotel. Our budget is around 350 euros per night. Thank you for you help.

Why not stay in Nice itself and make a few day trips?

Underhill, That's a great idea. Where in Nice? Also what are your favorite day trips..I did not mention our trip is in October, if that makes a difference

We stayed at Hotel Welcome in Villefranche -- basically a suburb of Nice. Search on it and you will many others have also enjoyed it.

We loved the balcony overlooking the water...

In Nice the hotel Perouse.

Our experience at the La Pérouse last October was just not great. Unless your budget allows for a deluxe room with sea view (and those are quite costly), you may be disappointed in room size and the now slightly shabby furnishings in the medium-priced rooms. We loved the hotel before it underwent the upgrade to a 4*; now the quality/price ratio isn't what it was.

We found the 3* Mercure Promenade des Anglais nicer than the La Pérouse for considerably fewer Euros. The hotel is next to the Meridien (a 4* that has seen better days), a great location, and rooms with sea views directly across to the Mediterranean. The hotel's rooms were completely renovtated 2 years ago and are now done in bright blue and orange. Our bathroom was quite large, and the room was very quiet.

The hotel is in the middle of shopping and café streets and about a 10-minute walk from the Cours Saléya.

For those day trips...you'll want to spend one entire day in Nice itself, which has much to offer. Then take a day to go over to St-Paul-de-Vence, Vence, the mountain village of Tourettes-sur-Loup, and back by way of Valbonne.

The next day head east to see St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Villefranche-sur-Mer, and the perched village of Eze.

If you're interested in art, you'll find the region in and around Nice teeming with good museums and galleries.

No ocean view, and not as expensive as your budget, but we liked the Hotel le Grimaldi in Nice. When you're on the Cote d'Azur, visiting Antibes is fun. It's about 40 minutes by train from Nice.
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Thank you all, some great ideas. I'll keep you posted.

The train is a terrific way to get along the coast area to the towns.

Just watch your purse!

If you can find a special, Le Palais de la Mediterranee is a wonderful hotel in the heart of Nice. It's just across the street from the sea, and only about a 10 minute walk to Old Nice.

I also stayed at the Hotel Welcome in Villefranche-sur-Mer, with a room overlooking the water.

I actually didn't care much for the hotel. I thought it was a little on the dumpy side. My room, which I believe was some sort of deluxe room, was still tiny. We couldn't find enough space even to lay out our suitcases, and we had to step over them all of the time. The staff was a bit rude and uncooperative at times.

That said, the hotel was relatively inexpensive, so I guess we got what we paid for. And Villefranche was a very nice town and an ideal base for our day trips. I'm not sure if there's a better hotel in town.

I stayed at Hotel Flore in Villefranche and it was very nice. We had a large room with a patio looking at the Villefranche harbor. Best of all, the hotel had parking! The Hotel Flore was off the main road with easy access in either direction. It was a ten minute walk downhill to the harbor of Villefranche. Nice is a madhouse and I don't recommend staying there. Villefranche is east of Nice and the airport so you'll have to go through Nice to catch your flight home. We also stayed in St. Paul de Vence and La Colle sur Loup, both of which are northwest of the airport and provide easy access. In St. Paul de Vence, I recommend Le Hameau which has the best small resort feel of any B&B we stayed at in Provence.