Nice, Cannes or maybe Juan les Pins
 

Trying to decide...need a hotel also. Recommendations welcome. Timing May 3-7.

We stayed at the Best Western in Nice right on the Mediterrian. It was a great hotel. If you would like to see the rooms from our room go to emilyandjim.info.

Depends upon what you are looking for.
Juan les Pins is nice, but we got a little bored after a few days. If you were going in July, that would be another matter with the annual Jazz Festival.
Cannes is nice, but also not a whole lot to do there after a few days.
I like Nice the best. There is alot to do in and around Nice. You can take the Corniches to Monte Carlo, Italy, Hill towns north of Nice, day trips to Cannes, St Tropez and even Aix.
Lots of museums in Nice, and alot of other places of interest to visit nearby. Can easily spend a couple months there.

Of those three, I'd say Nice. I thought Juan les Pins was a bit tacky, not very picturesque. Near Juan les Pins is Antibes, in case you're looking for something a bit smaller than Nice. It's nicer than Juan les Pins, in my opinion.

Many on Fodors like the Grimaldi in Nice, and it's where I'll stay when I return.

www.le-grimaldi.com/

My daughter and I stayed in a 'classic twin' room at Le Grimaldi in Nice one May. It is a lovely hotel, and a good value. Excellent service, beautiful rooms, great breakfast offered for a bit extra, free computers/internet with printers in business room. Highly recommend it.
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If you'd like to be right on the Promenade des Anglais and across from the Mediterranean, head to the Mercure Promenade des anglais. Reasonable prices, comfortable rooms with excellent beds, redecorated in 2006. See at accorhotels.com.

It depends on what you will do there.

Nice is by far the biggest city in the area. It has the feeling of a large mediterranean city, with boulevards, squares, old town, and tons of museums. The beach, however, is one of the ugliest in the world (large grey pebbles).

Cannes is the most glamorous town on the cote. There is the row of fancy hotels, the yacht harbour, also an old town, but smaller, and hardly any museum in town. The beach is wide and sandy and much nicer than in Nice.

Juan-les-Pins is a seaside resort, nothing else. The beach is wide and sandy (better than in Cannes), but the whole town is just touristy, nothing else.

If you have a car, each town is good as a base. If not, Nice might be the best choice. If you want to enjoy nightlife, Cannes will be the best place. If you want more mediterranean feeling, again Nice. If swimming is important for you, Juan-les-Pins will be the best place.

If you want a view and gorgeous scenery, choose Theoule-sur-Mer or the section between Nice and Menton.

There are HUNDREDS of hotels in the area. Try www.hrs.com to find one. Maybe someone else here on the forum knows other search engines too.

"the beach is one of the ugliest in the world."

Well, that might be an overstatement. I just want to reassure BelDar that, while the pebbles may not be pleasant for lounging on if all you have is a towel, the beach at Nice is still pretty.

Cimbrone:

I admit, the beach of Villeneuve-Loubet is even worse.

But since there are so many beautiful beaches on the Cote d'Azur, the beach of Nice appears ugly indeed. In fact, as seen from the sea, it looks like a graveled railroad embankment.

I personally prefer the beaches in the small bays, surrounded by rocky cliffs, which are excellent for snorkeling. These you will find neither in Nice, Cannes and Juan-les-Pins.

Traveller is very accurate in describing the 3 towns.
I much prefer Cannes over Nice but that's me. It is much smaller than Nice and easier to navigate on foot and cover the whole city in a shorter time. Nice is a big city. Besides the beautiful Croisette and fairly decent sandy beach Cannes is closer to the Western Riviera and Provence. West of Cannes along the coast is where you will begin to find the charming coves and dramatic coast line. It is also less commercial in this direction but you will never escape commerce completely anywhere in the South of France. Just feels less busy.

I understand what Traveller means about the Nice beach begin ugly. While I agree with Cimbrone and would never call the beach in Nice ugly it is not what someone looking for a beach vacation would like. They would be disappointed. However on a sunny day looking out over the sea and sparkling blue water it is beautiful!

I wanted to add, Juan les Pins is a younger town meaning it is good for a younger age group. Lots of easy going, nothing fancy night life.

Just noticed you dates. Nothing will be very busy during this time. Except of course Cannes for the film festival.

I know Nice has pebbles, not sand, on its beach. I actually prefer pebbles, because you don't get the sandy yech in all your folds and crevices after being on the beach or in the water. Personal preference.

But to call it the 'ugliest beach' is going way too far; and "a gravelled railroad embankment"-- really not true. It would be unfortunate to steer someone away from Nice, based on those statements.

I agree people don't go to Nice for the beach, they go for the atmosphere of the charming city and its great location for day-trips. I posted a detailed trip report about our stay there, which you canfind by clickingon my screen name above.

Sorry, didn't mean to post before I'd cleaned up that last paragraph!

Final thought, the beach at Nice is such a pretty setting, as someone else said, the blue water and sky, with the town lying along the Promenade, is lovely. Especially at night.
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"Final thought, the beach at Nice is such a pretty setting, as someone else said, the blue water and sky, with the town lying along the Promenade, is lovely. Especially at night."

Agree, there is nothing ugly about beaches in Nice .

Thank you to all replies. The information will be very useful when finalizing our plans.