Hello,

Lookng to visit Nice on our way back to St. Tropez. Don't know much about Nice and would appreciate some ideas on hotels. Looked into Cap-Ferrat but doesn't work with our dates and pretty spendy. We LOVED St. Tropez...just thought we'd try something new on the way. Thank you in advance for your advice.

Jim

How long are you there and what do you want to do. Also depends on budget

Promonade des Englais - this is if you want to be by the beach.

Old town - if you want to be in the Old town and is also close to the beach. Old and noisy though

Golden Square - close to everything. The modern, newer and nicer part of Nice

Old Port - a bit removed from things but Nice has great transit and easy to get around

This is wonderful information. Thank you very much. Looking up Golden Square now!!

You are welcome. You can see it on Google Maps by the French name Le Carre d'Or. I stayed at Best Western Plus Hôtel Masséna last year and it was a wonderful hotel in a great location. That is considered a bit outside the golden square but close enough.

Will you have a car?

Not planning to. But, what are you thinking?

If you had a car for St Tropez I would stay in one of the small towns outside Nice such as Cap Antibes or Antibes. Since you do not have a car I would stay in Nice since it is the transport hub for the area.

A few years ago, my daughter and I spent three nights in Nice, at [size=13px]Hotel le Grimaldi [/size]
http://www.le-grimaldi.com/

Great location, lovely hotel, good breakfast room

You can simply pick up your car on your way out to Saint Tropez. You can rent directly from the airport and take the tram there to Terminal 2 (pickup is at Parking 5). I do this all the time when we rent, as we have a place in Nice (in the Carre d'Or)

At the top end, you will find three new 5* luxury hotels (Carre d'Or - Anantara Plaza and Le VIctoria Maison Albar) plus the established Negresco and Palais de la Mediteranee - Hyatt Regency). In the old town, the new Hotel du Couvent (a multi-acre resort made from an old convent) and La Perouse. Less pricey alternatives in the Carre d'Or include the Hotel Windsor, Le Meridien, Hotel La Villa but there are others at lower price points.

In September I stayed at Hotel Apollinaire on Boulevard Dubouchage, not far from Avenue Jean-Medecin. Very central, we walked all over plus the tram line has a couple of stops nearby. Hotel was nice, very comfy, the breakfast was great and the staff were helpful. Lots of restaurants nearby for meals.

On both trips to Nice, stayed at La Perouse, just renovated last year, built into the mountain so floorplan is very interesting, no typical long halls to rooms, etc. Ideal location to walk to old town and along the Promenade. Quiet location with great views of the Med. First time was 30 years ago, and again went back 4-5 years ago. Lovely restaurant w outdoor terrace, pool. Room we had had large outdoor but very private terrace. Their rooftop terrace is fabulous too.

Like MoBro, we stayed years ago at Le Grimaldi, a little boutique hotel, on our tip to Nice. We wanted to explore all art along the Cote d'Azur without renting a car. While Nice itself has some legendary museums, we wanted to have easy access to everything both in the town and outside the town. This hotel was no more than 10 minutes walking from the rail station, the bus station, the Promenade, Old Town and restaurants. Within minutes, we could be on a train to Eze sur Mer to climb up to Eze or on a train towards Cannes to visit the Antibes Picasso or on a bus to the Fondation Maeght in St. Paul de Vence.

The price was reasonable, and our selected rooms were rather large (I especially appreciated our large bathroom). As MoBro said, they had a lovely breakfast room and a darn good breakfast, allowing us to plan our day's extensive outings in comfort.

Of course, Nice is a beautiful and interesting city, it is very interesting to walk along its elegant streets, eat in restaurants (there are really many of them), and be sure to admire the azure sea. But if you need a quiet place, then this is definitely not Nice. In the evening, you can see many marginal individuals, drug addicts and homeless people. If you need a nice place to spend the night, it is better to go to Antibes or Juan les Pins. They are not far away, you can quickly get to Nice by bus or train, and then return.

Romul81 apparently spent evenings in different parts of Nice than I did. I found it charming at any time of day.

Same here, was in Nice in September and didnt see any of that. Not saying that it doesn't exist but it certainly isn't the norm in the places we went.

I agree, I've had a place in Nice for 8 years and we have stayed across the year and across the area. The city is relatively quiet at night, except for the main squares/streets of the old town and the pedestrian zones. There are occasionally some homeless people around but fewer at night, because most have accepted places in shelters and housing in the evening. It is ironic that Juan les Pins was mentioned, as it is known for the lively nightclubs and beach clubs, and some associated problems (it is better now that some licenses have been pulled). The biggest caution on the Cote d'Azur, as in the rest of Europe, is that you have to watch for pickpockets. This is true of all areas along the coast, near transit spots and major tourist collection areas.