71 Best Hotels in The French Riviera, France

Housed in the town's old post office, steps from the Palais des Festivals, Five Seas has plentiful amenities—a rooftop pool, personal shoppers, jogging routes, yacht charters, and dog sitters are all at hand—and a stylish interior that evokes voyages to the Far East. Decent-size rooms dressed in red fabrics blend with exquisite dark-wood furniture against all-white linens and bathroom fixtures. The view of Le Suquet from the Restaurant Panoramique by Le Roof may be dazzling, but it's nothing compared to the food, including the continental breakfast (€25).

All of the small, delicately contemporary rooms at this four-story charmer overlook the Citadelle's green park, some from tiny balconies. If there are more than two of you, ask for the pretty loft with an extra cot and a private spiral-stair entrance. Continental breakfast is served on the petite terrasse outside. The cozy Barock bar is open April to October.

Set smack dab on the famous Croisette, facing the Palais des Festivals, this stately hotel is the perfect high-end pleasure, thanks to soaring suites and unparalleled views of the Mediterranean—and, during the film festival, of the iconic red carpet. The elegant Fouquet’s restaurant and bar adds a touch of film star glamour. Mediterranean menus and refreshing cocktails are stars of the show at Ciro’s Cannes and its stylish private beach. Included in the rates is Studio by Petit VIP, a varied program of kids activities from art to baking and language classes. Meanwhile parents can relax by the outdoor pool or enjoy the Spa Diane Barrière by Parisian brand Biologique Recherche. Splash on a sea view room designed by Isabelle Stanislas. There’s even a pillow menu for a perfect night’s sleep.

The lobby of this Belle Époque extravaganza feels otherworldly (think the white-on-white, Rococo-ed rooms at the end of Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey), and the white-and-cream guest rooms have things like cascading, diamondlike ceiling lights, sculpted rose door handles, and the very latest in push-button luxury. The hotel's Italian restaurant can be hit and miss, but it has a great terrace, and the basement contains one of the most striking spas around (there are even plasma TVs in the saunas, though you don't get to pick the channel).

Born in the Roaring Twenties, this independent hotel has a decor featuring both Belle Époque and Art Deco influences, with renovated rooms done in cheerful lemon-yellow hues inspired by the region’s citrus heritage. You can choose between garden or mountain views. American Francophiles Sara and Gerald Murphy may have popularized the term "sunbathing" in the 1920s, but you can embrace it today while lounging by the small, outdoor pool. Breakfast is available for €18, but the hotel doesn't offer lunch or dinner. Fortunately, numerous dining options await in town or along the beautifully refurbished port.

The most desirable rooms at this simple yet welcoming 1950s hotel have balconies with sweeping panoramas—so who needs luxury fittings and fabrics when you can have a view of the old harbor for a reasonable rate? Even the kid's breakfast (€5) is half the regular price. The hotel is about a 10-minute walk from the bustle of the town center, an advantage in peak season.

This property exudes Provençal style, with its tiny square with a trickling fountain, venerable plane trees, green valley views, and two massive imposing rocks (and that’s just on the outside). The fireplace in the salon and the bright, mixed fabrics in the bedrooms round it all off. Enjoy breakfast (€15) or dinner in the romantic stone-and-beam restaurant or on the terrace under the trees by the fountain.

Set at an altitude of 3,000 feet, this four-star Châteaux & Hôtels Collection escape has breathtaking panoramas of La Palud's countryside from the breakfast table, plus plenty of activities for non-hikers. You'll also find the right amount of post-day pampering for the whole family, including a spa and heated pool. Traditional cuisine makes up the daily changing menus (with vegetarian options), and the hotel also opened a second restaurant, Le Styx, in town.

As it's set in an enclosed hilltop garden studded with tall palms, mimosas, and greenery, this is the sort of place where the buzzing of cicadas is the only thing that interrupts the silence. Many of the guest rooms—modestly decorated in Victorian florals—overlook the sizable original pool; its presence helps make up for the quarter-mile hike down to the beach, but at these low prices, can you really complain?

Subtropical gardens and 19th-century architecture are two of Menton's main attractions, and this hotel a few minutes' walk from the train station gives you a taste of both and at prices rarely seen along the Riviera. The owners are green-friendly and use upcycled furniture, organic paint and cleaning supplies, and—a first—recycling in the hotel. Lemon trees and centuries-old palm trees shade the courtyard where a breakfast (€10) made with local and organic products is served.

Only a 10-minute walk from the village, this motel-style property offers excellent value and has tidy, spacious rooms, some of which open onto a terrace and garden. The service is very friendly, and to make your stay ever better, there's a heated pool with a panoramic view. Our verdict: absolutely charming and affordable.

This white-stucco slice of classic Riviera extravagance accommodates well-heeled guests in elegant, uniquely decorated rooms replete with swagged drapes, fine antiques, and a few quirky touches (like plastic-glitter bathtubs). Built by Henri Negresco and opened in 1912, the landmark still epitomizes La Belle Époque, thanks to its marble columns, gilded ceilings, and qualité du Louvre collection of Old Master art. Its awe-inspiring glass ceiling has even been listed as a historic monument. Chef Virginie Basselot has added some modern touches to the menu at the Michelin-starred Le Chantecler. For less fuss (though still expensive), try the carousel-adorned La Rotonde brasserie. For a taste of the Old Riviera, retreat to the vintage walnut-and-velour bar (the best on the coast) for the cocktail of the month. Indulge for at least one day at the hotel's private beach (loungers €45 for front row) or at the state-of-the-art N Le Spa.

Within walking distance of the port, this inexpensive, family-run hotel might not look like much from the outside, but it is friendly and accommodating. The rooms are large and humbly decorated; half of them have a sea view, while the other half look out over colorful rooftops (and have cheaper rates). 

This boutique hotel is in a graceful mansion on a residential backstreet behind the city center and within reasonable walking distance of La Croisette. It's equipped with modern comforts, and its design is a mix of contemporary elements and classic features like a red-carpet entrance and a 1950s Hollywood–style bar. Sea-view rooms overlook a busier street, and although all rooms are soundproofed, for maximum quiet, ask for a room on the backstreet side. 

This hotel in a traditional 1873 palace overlooking La Pantiéro and the Old Port offers contemporary creature comforts, up-to-date bathrooms, and freshly decorated rooms—small doubles facing the sea are a good choice if you covet a waterfront position but can't afford the grand hotels on La Croisette. Some first-floor rooms have terraces.

This hotel affords spectacular vistas from the top end of the seafront, where the promenade winds around to the port, so it's oh-so worth splurging on a top-floor balcony room for the sight of the turquoise water glittering below. Rooms provide all the modern comforts and have soothing white-and-beige decor with pops of jewel-tone color.

This attractive 19th-century villa has well-priced, comfortable rooms and a lovely garden, where grand palms and pines shade a walk leading to the pretty little swimming pool. Four studios, equipped with kitchens and sleeping two to four guests, are behind the hotel and available for weekly rentals.

Dating from the 17th century and the only hotel set within Vence's old walls, this former stagecoach inn has been owned by the same family since 1919, and they still go out of their way to make your stay memorable. Upstairs, guest rooms are airy and bright, with drapes, bedspreads, and bureau runners in matching hues de Provence. Some rooms have great views, as does the breakfast terrace. Downstairs, the restaurant—all copper pots and wood trim—has a rustic, frozen-in-amber charm and specializes in roasted meat (the chicken prepared on a spit of vines instead of wood is magnifique); it's very popular, so book well in advance.

This ocher mansion, once the home of an industrialist who hosted the Kennedys and the Rolling Stones, is now the Relais & Chateaux domain of celebrated chef Jacques Chibois, who welcomes you with old stone walls, shaded walkways, an enormous pool, and guest rooms that glossily mix Louis XVI, Provençal, and high-tech delights. The restaurant here is excellent but expensive (mains start at €65). Lunch is a relative bargain at €76 (not available Sunday). Reserve well in advance.

Fifty meters from the waterfront and the Negresco, this immaculate, modern hotel on a bustling shopping street offers a friendly welcome from its house-proud owners—for a reasonable price. Rooms are small but comfortable, with pops of color, freshly tiled bathrooms, and a coffee corner with a kettle and mug. Breakfast is served in a pretty little courtyard.

Just past old town, at the foot of the château, this secret treasure cuts into the cliff (an elevator takes you up to reception), and the best rooms—including Raoul Dufy's favorite—not only have views of the azure sea, they also look down into an intimate garden dotted with lemon trees. Enjoy a drink at the patio bar or a dip in the cliff-side pool. The excellent restaurant serves meals year-round in a candlelit garden.

Forget five stars—this toy Mediterranean village, which is grouped around courtyards landscaped with palms, olive trees, and lavender, has a "palace" classification, not to mention access to the exclusive Byblos Beach Ramatuelle. Guest rooms, done à la provençale, have ultramodern comforts. Lounge by the pool, and enjoy Italian fare at the on-site Il Giardino or Japanese cuisine in Zuma. Speaking of food, the kitchens here get produce from le jardin de la Piboule, an agroecological garden with 70 varieties of vegetables, fruits, and aromatic flowers. Lounge by the pool, and enjoy the view with an aperitif from the Sky Bar rooftop. As evening falls, anyone who is anyone goes to the hotel's Caves du Roy—a kitsch disco extravaganza where "squillionaires" order €25,000 bottles of Champagne. It's paparazzi-free and virtually impossible to get in unless you arrive early or reserve a table in advance.

Lovingly restored by friendly owners Christine and Guy Welter, the giddily opulent former residence of Lord Cavendish and a listed Belle Époque building is a true delight, blending a contemporary palette of "wintergarden" greens and "incensed" reds with 19th-century elegance. It's on one of the city's busiest streets, but double windows block out noise. Breakfast is free when you book through the hotel's website. 

This little hotel is smack in the middle of the Haut-de-Cagnes's liveliest square, complete with picture-perfect pétanque games. Guest rooms have been updated with a mix of contemporary and French country antique style, with windows looking onto the square and the hills beyond Cagnes. Set in a fetching weathered stone house, the Grimaldi also houses one of the upper town's best restaurants, the downside of which can be noise if your room faces the square.

Less than a mile below tourist-packed St-Paul-de-Vence, with views of the valley and the village, this lovely little inn is a jumble of terraces, trellises, archways, orange trees, olives, and honeysuckle vines. The main hotel, built in 1920, has good-size rooms and old Provençal furniture; you can also opt for the 18th-century farmhouse, with smaller, more modern rooms but wonderful views. Each room seems to skew toward a private world, and several have individual terraces that are perfect for grasses matinées (late, lazy breakfasts, €15). 

Owner Camilla Richards spent 20 years in London before converting this 19th-century Provençal manor house—in the Bois de Fond Merle, perched over a lotus pond with a spectacular pool and near the Cannes–Mougins golf course—into an upscale inn. Light, airy guest rooms are accented with striking nouvelle-mod pieces. You probably won't stray too far from your poolside lounger, except, perhaps, to eat. The restaurant's reasonably priced menu has something for vegetarians, meat eaters, fish lovers, and those with a sweet tooth; the €25 lunch menu is gold.

A stunning transformation has brought a blend of Provençal warmth and chic, retro-Californian style to this once-rural property, thanks to French-Mexican designer Hugo Toro who used ochre tones and bespoke furnishings to create inviting interiors. With two dining options—elegant La Table des Pins and casual al fresco Pool—plus two swimming pools and the Glow House Spa by Clarins offering a sauna, hammam, and gym, the hotel is a luxurious wellness retreat, offering the perfect blend of relaxation and Riviera glamour.

Tucked into a residential neighborhood—on the crest between Antibes and Juan-les-Pins and surrounded by greenery and well protected from traffic noise—this cool, cozy inn feels like the 1920s private home it once was. Rooms, decked in bright colors and floral prints, have either views of the garden or the sea. If you are looking for a bargain, book the double room with bathroom in the hallway. The well-maintained (though unheated) swimming pool is a haven if you don't feel liking hiking down to Plage de la Salis.

In a restored 18th-century house on La Palud's only street, this lovely little complex with a B&B, restaurant, and a climbing-gear store is run by charming owners. The rustic, simple rooms, each named after a classic hiking route, include one with a large double bed and another with a double and three singles. A small house is available for larger families or groups. Don't expect a TV, but rooms are furnished with a lot of good books. A healthy breakfast (€8.50) includes homemade jam.

Most of the rooms at this memorably eccentric hotel have either frescoes with mythological themes or works that feature an artist's whimsy, but the real draws are the excellent service, the location three blocks from the beach, and the garden—a city-center oasis of lemon, magnolia, palm trees and even exotic birds. Package deals include breakfast or candlelit dinners, but with so many eateries close by, you may not want to tie yourself to on-site meals.