I am trying to decide for 1 night hotel in Nice - either in Westminster or Le Meridien. I know both are 4* and we've been in Nice before, I am familiar and like both location. However, usually Le meridien is more expensive and I got very good rate there. Which one would you prefer if rate would approx the same (Le Meridien is few bucks less, both including tax and breakfast). We only spend one night there and a bit of next morning, I know both have comfortable enough rooms, I just need relaxing dinner on the beach crossing Promendae Anglais to the beach or I see Le Meridien has rooftop terrace.

ttt

Since it's only for one night, you probably can't go wrong at either place. I've stayed at The Westminster several times, and am going there again this summer. I think it really depends on exactly what kind of room you're getting at each place. My understanding is that Le Meridien has some rooms with interior views which are pretty small. That being said, the location is fantastic, and I know the hotel also has a pool on its roof ( although there is a charge to use it).

At The Westminster, renovations are ongoing floor by floor. There have been complaints about the standard rooms being subpar, especially city view. But the rooms I book most summers are on the 5th floor, and have exceptional views and small terraces. However, even in the superior or deluxe category, some of these rooms are small.

You could check tripadvisor.com for further reviews for more feedback.

Good luck!

That's a tough choice. I like the sea-view rooms at Le Meridien, but they are becoming increasingly pricey. However, the blue and yellow décor, with Dufy prints on the walls, and large marble bathrooms might be worth the price. And the rooftop terrace is very nice.

I am comparing standard rooms in both hotels. So they are pretty much equal. I think Le Meridien pool is a plus in case we will want to relax by the pool so I might choose Le Meridien.

I checked trip advisor and unfortunately the reports are mixed on both hotels so hard to compare. However by ranking, Le Meridien is #31 and Westminster is about #52. All complaints re: Le Meridien are not problems for us. Someone on trip advisor complained for example that hotel mistakenly stated that tennis courts are close and they are not. Not looking for tennis court. Other traveler was a cruise passenger and they were told to go for a cruise shuttle bus, but they booked private trtansportation, so these were really silly complaints. We are able to get taxi
Other complaints were the charges for pool chairs and the beach however I think in Nice all beaches charge for service. We are prepared to pay. How often we are in Riviera beach ?
We stayed in apartment last year near Casino Ruhl, loved that block. Westminster is not that far either.. I guess it does not matter. Pool will be a plus for my husband, he exercises by swimming. thanks! I will post report.

Looking forward to your post since I've always been curious about the rooms at Le Meridien. Have a great time in Nice!

If you stay at Le Meridien, skip the breakfast there and head through the Prince Albert park to the edge of the Cours Saléya and eat at Le Pain Quotidien. It's a bakery/café with wonderful breads and pastries, homemade jams, all sorts of other spreads, and fresh OJ.

Underhill,
unfortunately, the breakfast is included in our Le M eridien rate (or maybe foruntately? ).

In any case, when we were in Nice before, we ate at Le Pain Quotidien, we loved it. Is it the same cafe where they have different jams/jelleys honeys on long communal wood tables? Great breads! It was very good.

Yes, that's the place. We also very much like one of the branches in Paris, this one at the Place du Marché St-Honoré.

Enjoy Nice!

Here is post-trip report on Le Meridien . We only spent there one night before cruise but I thought I will let you know that we were happy with our choice.

We flew from Dublin to Nice.
We took taxi from airport to Le Meridien hotel. The driver did not show the meter, only at the end. He charged us 35 eur which we thought was high. It is only 6 km or so to Le Meridien. We booked standard room at Le Meridien but were lucky to get upgraded to superior room, it was larger, corner room and had large balcony. Unfortunately we did not have time to sit there. The windows and balcony faced backyard of hotels but the views were lovely. The room also had separate wc so that was convenient. Toiletries – only one soap – usually there are two for bath and sink. The room also had robes and slippers. We both have conflicted experience re: bed. George liked pillows, but I thought they were a little hard. The bed was queen, not kind but headboard was king, hence the night table was at distance from hands reach, you need to get up from the bed to reach night table. The room had separate living area and bedroom area. For couch potatoes who wants to watch TV from the bed, you cannot do it. OK for me. On arrival, we had a welcome message from manager and a tray of strawberries. Nice. Very tasty, fresh seasonal berries.

It was already 7pm so we went out for dinner to the beach. We’ve been in Nice before and stayed in apartment just next to Le Meridien. We love being on the beach and watch people and dogs on Promenade des Anglais. We ate at Lido café on the beach. Nothing special but the weather was perfect and athmosphere was very romantic. We were not hungry and had some jet lag left, so we only had small dinner: one salad Caprese, one thin crust pizza and a plate of grilled sardines. Sardines were excellent, salad was nice. Pizza was salty because they put a lot’s of anchovies. We shared all three courses for two and with bread and bottled water – no alcohol, the price came up to 40 eur . Welcome to the French Riviera!

Walked promenade after dinner, and came back to hotel, early to bed (about 10pm). I liked Le Meridien, very comfortable hotel. I was choosing between where to stay this night – Westminster or Le Meridien and choose Le Meridien and we were happy with the choice. It is in good shape, contemporary furnishings, light, decorated in Provencal colors. Also Le Meridien has broadband internet access if you want to work on computer.

Sat June 4, Nice.
Next morning, we went to the beach in the before breakfast. The beach charge for chairs 15 eur per chair which also includes parasole, matrass. Towels were available at hotel. We crossed the beach and beach service did not start yet. Yes, they charge a lot on Riviera beaches, however in Nice, the beach is gravel and you cannot really sit on the beach on the gravel unless you can bring special thick spread. So you do not have a choice. Plus the beach attendants also rollout the runners which helps you walk. We did not go to the water because we did not bring water shoes, I forgot. We sat a little bit on the beach, walked in flip flops in the water and then went back to hotel to have breakfast. Breakfadt was buffet, good pastries, fruit, some eggs, cold cuts, salmon, usual staff. Not elaborate selection but good quality. After breakfast we went to use pool. One of the reasons we chose Le Meridien over Westminster because it had pool on athe rooftop. They charge 15 eur per person per day. We reserved for half a day for 16 eur. For these money, the pool attendant helps you to choose the place – in the shade or in the sun, gets umbrella, towels, and generally makes you sunbathing very comfortable. He kept moving our unbrella and beds to "follow the sun"
The views are terrific from rooftop – all 360 degrees. We stayed there until noon and went back to hotel to pack and check out. We thought to use internet, but it cost 20 eur per hour and we passed on this.

We took a taxi to the port for 17 eur (checked and agreed on the price before getting in!), and went to the port to board Seadream ship. This beauty was already in the port, small ship (they do not call it cruise ship, they insist on calling it yacht. But yacht cannot be shared with 100 passengers, so I will be calling it ship in my report. Check in starts at 2pm, but we arrived at 12:30. We dropped luggage off and went to explore old Nice near the port. We found internet shop for 3 eur for hour (contrast with Le Meridien for 20 eur!). Checked messaged for 30 mins – 1.50 eur. Aftet that we came back to the port and boarded ship.
sophia