17 Best Hotels in The French Riviera, France

This affordable choice has a fabulous location, and its very gracious owners go the extra distance to ensure guests have the service and experience of a much-higher-caliber modern hotel. The renovated rooms are clean but small, so opt for a garden-facing balcony to open up the view. There is no pool or spa, but sipping wine (only €5 a glass) out on the garden patio will remind you of all that you don't have to do. The penthouse suite has a sun terrace and close by you'll find four independent apartments, with the same services as hotel rooms. Owned by the same people and some 200 feet away, off Rue d'Antibes, the Hotel Victoria is also an outstanding value with the added benefit of a pool.

At this adorable boutique hotel just steps from a sandy beach, tastefully decorated and colorful rooms surround a central courtyard, where guests relax over a gorgeous breakfast (€10--€15) of fresh-baked pastries and homemade jams. The genuinely charming owner keep guests coming back with thoughtful touches: hand over your cell phone or tablet on arrival and get rewards, from free breakfast or bottle of wine to a 3% discount on your stay.

You'll feel right at home upon entering this French brand's lifestyle hotel, the first to be designed by Benjamin El Doghaïli rather than Philipe Starck, where everything—from the handwritten welcome messages to the free freshly baked cookies—embodies the “Mama loves you" mantra; the decor reflects local art and culture; and the design-led rooms have supercomfortable beds and ample desk space. The rooftop mosaic pool and bar area are among Nice’s coolest spots, and there's live music on Sunday night and DJ sets Thursday through Saturday. Homemade comfort food is the mainstay in the restaurant, where breakfasts (included in some rates, €19 otherwise) features homemade crêpes, jams, and hot chocolate. The unlimited weekend brunch (€42) has kids’ entertainment, allowing parents to relax over generous servings of mousse au chocolat.

This urban and friendly hotel combining straightforward comforts and a location on the waterfront in the center of town attracts a returning clientele. Guest rooms are done in trendy earth tones and deep mauves; be sure to request a room with a view of the sea.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

On 11 acres of streamside greenery, this noble old olive mill has been turned into a lovely country inn—complete with beams, the original millwheel, and a pressoir (olive press) in the middle of the bar. Each room features a hint of Provence, quarry tiles, and Persian rugs. The big attraction is the restaurant, L’Escourtin, which is run by chef Philippe Choisy. Its monthly changing menus at have earned a faithful following of locals.

Not only is this Belle Époque hotel (circa 1890) in the chic Quartier des Musiciens and just a couple of blocks up from the beach, but it has very reasonable rates. Most rooms are on the smallish side, but all have been renovated, and free coffee and tea facilities are provided. Some rooms also have a small balcony.

A quick walk up from Old Vence, this 100-year-old house has charming regional details—mix-and-match old furniture, fine local tiles and fabrics, homemade bath salts and jams—plus there's a giant magnolia outside that spreads its venerable branches over the terrace. Wi-Fi is free, and all the rooms have air-conditioning and coffee and tea fixings. There's a lounge by the pool, which opens when weather permits, and a nearby spa accommodates hotel guests.