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One does not stroll on the beach in Nice so much as hobble over miniature boulders, wishing for a stretch of sand. Eventually, though, you will make it to a candy-striped lounge chair, take a seat, order a drink, look out on the gleaming Mediterranean Sea, and it won’t be long before you notice them: the airplanes, an endless procession of them landing and taking off at Nice Côte d Azur Airport, which is perched improbably within the city limits at the eastern extreme of the Promenade des Anglais.
This is, by some measures, the second busiest airport in France. Yet the 12 million travelers who arrive here each year are usually planning to stay somewhere else on the Riviera. Nice itself hasn’t been considered a first-rate destination since its Belle Époque glory days, when hordes of aristocrats (particularly English and Russian) came here not for the summer but for the winter, enjoying the relatively balmy climate of a resort town sandwiched between sea and mountains with 300 days of sunshine each year.
The fact that Nice had fallen in favor from tourist mecca to transit hub always stuck in the craw of the city’s dynamic mayor Christian Estrosi, a native son of Nice, who has Italian roots — just like his hometown. A former professional motorcycle racer, Etrosi seems to have brought his competitive streak into political life. Over the last decade, he has helped usher in a remarkable urban renaissance in Nice that includes a new tram system, a revitalized old town, and a corridor of landscaped parkland, the Promenade du Paillon, that has turned formerly blighted sections of the city into havens of greenery. Etrosi’s efforts seemed to culminate, in 2021, when the entire city of Nice was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status as “the winter resort town of the Riviera.”
Just one thing was missing from the Nice turnaround story: nice hotels. Aside from the aging grande dame, the Negresco, there was not really a first-rate luxury hotel in Nice until the arrival, late last year, of the Anantara Plaza Hotel, which is positioned in the heart of the city’s luxury shopping district, just steps from the beachfront.
The hotel, which opened in 1848 as the Hôtel de France (and was later known as the Plaza), was once among the finest resorts on the Riviera. Its golden façade has been restored to its former grandeur and its insides remade into a discreetly luxurious modern hotel with 151 rooms. A hushed entryway leads to a soaring lobby space and circular tea room done up in travertine marble, brushed wood, and fine, light-colored fabrics. The most daring and successful aspect of the design is the rooftop restaurant, partly covered by an elaborate rose-gold pergola, the handiwork of local architect Jean-Paul Gomis.
Rooms are snug but well-appointed. The hotel has added spacious balconies to its penthouse floor but the lower rooms have narrow wrought-iron or stone balconies that, despite their architectural charm, are better suited to the giant seagulls who often perch there than to people. No matter—the knockout view of the sea and of Nice’s ocher cityscape will invite you to explore the city instead of staying cooped up in your room. The hotel is perfectly positioned for guests to sample Nice’s new mojo—it’s just minutes from the posh beach clubs (the hotel has its own private club for guests), as well as the picturesque flower market and the serpentine streets of Vieux Nice, where food stalls sell delicious local specialties like the salty chickpea pancakes known as socca.
While the Anantara Plaza is for the moment the preferred hotel of luxury travelers to Nice, it will soon get some serious competition. Among the five-star properties coming soon is the Hotel du Couvent, set in an old cloister surrounded by orange trees in the heart of Old Nice. It should be open next year, perhaps in time for the Tour de France, which for the first time in the race’s history will conclude not in Paris but in Nice, adding yet another fresh feather to the city’s cap.