ASK a seasoned traveller to name a favourite hotel on the Côte d’Azur, and the
same names will crop up: the Negresco, Hôtel de Paris, Martinez, Byblos . .
. But ask them to recommend somewhere for less than £50, even £100, and they
will come unstuck.
Swanky hotels are listed in every hotel guide and glossy magazine imaginable,
but finding a room for two for under £50 (especially in high season) which
isn’t grim takes a lot more effort.
Simplicity isn’t expensive: a job-lot of white cotton sheets, fresh flowers
and real orange juice cost little more than acrylic patterned bedspreads,
powdered orange juice and plastic blooms: it’s just a matter of effort, and
taste.
Hôtel Lou Cagnard, St Tropez
NOT much comes cheap in St Tropez, but double en suite rooms at this lovely
old hotel cost £47, the price of a bottle of wine in a swanky St Trop’
nightclub. The reception was sunny, from the welcome of the receptionist to
the decor, in warm paintwashes with burgundy and yellow cushions.
Following a path of stencilled olives up the stairs, I found the bedrooms
equally comfortable, with Van Gogh chairs (the ones with a straw seat),
simple rustic decor, typically Tropezienne fabrics (off-white coverlets and
wasp-print curtains) and pretty ceramic-tiled shelves. Some rooms have a
road view (but have double glazing) and the more expensive ones overlook a
garden filled with cacti and blooming flowers (hiding the car park at the
back). While breakfasting on pots of hot coffee and milk, with a basket of
fresh pastries on the tablecloth, surveying the garden and the freshly
painted lavender shutters, it seemed hard to believe I was paying so little.
Hôtel Lou Cagnard, 18 ave Paul Roussel, St Tropez (00 33 4 94 97 04 24).
Doubles £30-£67. Cheaper rooms have a shower room but share a WC.
Hôtel Villa La Tour, Nice
PART of a small 18th-century convent, this newly opened hotel of 16 rooms is
centrally located in the restaurant-filled Old Town of Nice, five minutes
from the beach and the main shopping street, Avenue Jean Médecin.
Old travelling chests, art books, brown leather chaise longues and candles
create a comfortably stylish welcome. Half the bedrooms are newly renovated
and the other half have been “refreshed” with Murano glass lamps and
designer linens. Some have terraces but, if not, the narrow frescoed
stairway leads up to a tiny roof terrace.
Guests will find it hard not to spend all their time at the Cave de la Tour
opposite, a fine wine-tasting paradise.
Hôtel Villa La Tour, 4 rue de la Tour, Nice (93 80 08 15, www.villa-la-tour.com).
Doubles £32-£83. Continental breakfast £2.30.
For a less central location but fantastic views, check out Maison du
Seminaire in Nice, a beautiful, pink former seminary with no claims to fancy
interiors which, at £35, has twin-bedded rooms offering the cheapest seaview
on the Côte d’Azur. La Maison du Seminaire, 29 bd Franck Pilatte, Nice (93
26 79 99, www.maison-du-seminaire.com).
Hôtel de France, Monaco
THIS 26-room hotel renovated two floors last winter, giving it a fresher, more
contemporary feel than its old-fashioned counterparts.
It is set just back from the port: handy for restaurants, bars and the produce
market of La Condamine and Place des Armes. The first floor rooms are easily
the best, with newly refurbished decor: cheerful yellow and red check
fabrics and a sort of decorated-by-John Lewis feel.
Second- and third-floor rooms are still good, but slightly more old-fashioned.
Many have full-length windows and ceiling fans providing a lovely breeze.
Bedrooms are off small hallways, separate from the central staircase, so
it’s exceptionally quiet.
Patisserie and pots of coffee are served in the delightful breakfast room,
which is frescoed with scenes of the sea and seagulls viewed through leafy
Romanesque columns.
Hôtel de France, 6 rue de la Turbie, Monaco Principality (00 37 7 93 30 24
64, www.monte-carlo.mc/france). Doubles from £49-£60. The £60 high
season rate includes breakfast. From November until March, breakfast is an
additional £6.
Hôtel La Jabotte, Cap d’Antibes
CAP D’ANTIBES is one of the most exclusive addresses on the Riviera, the
playground of millionaires. Just as you enter the Cap from Antibes, a side
road off plage Salis (a sandy, free beach) leads to the peaceful
haven of La Jabotte.
Yves, Claude, and Tommy the Westie greet you with a smile and a wag, showing
you to exquisite little rooms with blue shutters, built around a pebbled
courtyard. Inside, they are colourfully painted and lovingly decorated with
tasteful fabrics, subtle wall-stencils and delightful objets.
Shower rooms are pristine with L’Occitaine guest soaps (rather than the cheap
job-lot brickettes usually provided). In summer, guests return from the
beach to relax in the courtyard, or on their own little terraces, sipping
chilled drinks served by Yves and Claude, a rare service for a two-star
hotel. Everyone is friendly and relaxed and the artwork-laden breakfast room
is abuzz with the noise of parakeets.
The British family I spoke to at breakfast were waxing lyrical, as were other
guests. It took them two years to discover La Jabotte and they begged me not
to mention it. Sorry!
Hôtel La Jabotte, 13 avenue Max Maurey, Cap d’Antibes (00 33 4 93 61 45 89,
www.jabotte.com). Doubles with private bathrooms from £35-£51.
Breakfast, £4.70. Free parking. Choose a garden room: the two-bedroom
apartment/suites are yet to be refurbished and lack the magic touch.
Hôtel de Provence, Cannes
CANNES is chock-full of conference hotels, but Madame and Monsieur Portier
have created a little gem of a retreat between the beach and rue d’Antibes
(great for shopping), slap bang in the centre. Leave the modernity of Cannes
as you enter a delightful garden filled with pots of orange trees, palms and
blue shutters, to an inviting reception with freshly upholstered chairs.
Rooms are small but stylish with one simple, antique chair upholstered
tastefully, to coordinate with bedcovers and curtains. Rail-hanging cushions
create stylish bedheads and tiled shower rooms are white and clean. Simple
touches such as linen tablecloths and fresh flowers in the rooms show that
this is a labour of love, not just a business.
Rooms over the garden with terraces cost more, but are worth the extra. Most
guests seemed to be repeat visitors, which is a sure sign of customer
satisfaction.
Hôtel de Provence, 9 rue Molière, Cannes (93 38 44 35, www.hotel-de-provence.com).
Doubles £46-£59 (£66 with a terrace). Breakfast £4.70.
Hôtel Restaurant des Deux Rocs, Seillans
FOR those who want to venture away from the sea, this lovely hilltown village
has been designated one of the most beautiful in France. The feather in its
cap has to be the Deux Rocs.
The 14 chambres range from petite, through grande to
suites, and they are all lovely, with original prints, fabric walls and
tuiles on the walls. Breakfast, lunch and dinner can be served on the
terrace under the plane trees or in the old stone-walled restaurant and
salon with a real fireplace. My favourite small room is number 2, with lots
of blue.
Hôtel Restaurant des Deux Rocs, 1 place Font d’Amont, Seillans (94 76 87
32, www.hoteldeuxrocs.com). Year-round prices: petite chambre £37;
grande chambre £55; suites £70. Continental breakfast £5.70.
