Rare Vineyard View Posted July 13 #1 Share Posted July 13 We will be staying over for three nights early April. Disembarking in Monaco. We do not want to stay in Monaco. Been there. We’ve visited Eze as well. We are considering Nice, as that is the airport we fly out of midday. Does anyone have a better suggestion for a home base? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinburgher Posted July 13 #2 Share Posted July 13 5 hours ago, Vineyard View said: We are considering Nice, as that is the airport we fly out of midday Good choice. Best location as there are many many hotels in all price ranges to choose from, restaurants the same, good public transport and a number of museums,and sights/attractions including markets and parks to visit. Check the usual websites for info and ideas before you arrive, also how to use public transport as the city is quite large and you may want to occasionally use it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hlitner Posted July 14 #3 Share Posted July 14 Agree that NIce is a very good choice. In fact, 2 years ago when we disembarked at Monte Carlo (from a Seabourn cruise) we had a car/driver take us directly to the Hyatt Regency in Nice. Nice is a perfect place to use as a base to explore various parts of the region. Hank 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare marazul Posted July 14 #4 Share Posted July 14 (edited) @Vineyard View our favorite hotels in Nice are La Perouse and Hotel Suisse. They are next to each other. Killer views over the Baie des Anges. Right at the end of the old town and around the bend from the old port. Walking distance to the Flower Market. Quick comment on the Hyatt. It is not in walking distance of the old town and the area behind in on Rue de France is not the best. Good beach across the street. It does have parking. Edited July 14 by marazul 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare carlmm Posted July 14 #5 Share Posted July 14 Just to add, there is also a regular and easy train service from Monaco to Nice, if this is something you might consider. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Vineyard View Posted July 14 Author #6 Share Posted July 14 Thank you all for your feedback. I sincerely appreciate this. I am glad to hear that you concur on our thoughts to use Nice as a home base. I started looking at hotels, and had found two, one was Hotel Suisse. The other Hotel West End. I have sent inquiries to both. Will also look at La Perouse. Thanks marazul! I am happy that there is a lot to see, restaurants and museums to choose from, as well as market and parks to explore. Thank you Edinburgher Hank, we will be disembarking from Seabourn Encore. Not sure transportation yet. Will probably look at private car, or maybe train as suggested by carlmm (TY), depending upon ease with luggage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hlitner Posted July 15 #7 Share Posted July 15 4 hours ago, Vineyard View said: Thank you all for your feedback. I sincerely appreciate this. I am glad to hear that you concur on our thoughts to use Nice as a home base. I started looking at hotels, and had found two, one was Hotel Suisse. The other Hotel West End. I have sent inquiries to both. Will also look at La Perouse. Thanks marazul! I am happy that there is a lot to see, restaurants and museums to choose from, as well as market and parks to explore. Thank you Edinburgher Hank, we will be disembarking from Seabourn Encore. Not sure transportation yet. Will probably look at private car, or maybe train as suggested by carlmm (TY), depending upon ease with luggage. We had originally thought about getting a taxi at disembarkation. But, we had a bunch of unused On Board Credit, and the Seabourn Square folks offered to arrange for a private car/driver (I think it was about $120). We thought it a great way to use our OBC. We walked off the ship onto the pier (it was just after the COVID restart and the port terminal building was closed) and our car was waiting for us right on the pier. I would not even consider the train, if traveling with any luggage. The Monte Carlo train station is on the other side of town from the port so you would need a taxi to get you to the train station. The trains are essentially commuter trains and take you to the main station in Nice, which is probably not going to be close to your hotel, so you would need another taxi to get from train to hotel. And all this while dragging your luggage through two train stations, on an off the train, in and out of taxis. Not my idea of fun. There are lots of decent hotels in Nice. We tend to like the Hyatt, Meridian, or Negresco, but there are many other options. For us, we like to be within walking distance of Old Town, but this is not overly important if you are relatively close to one of the tram lines. Nice has all kinds of restaurants in every price/quality category. If you want to go to one of the better restaurants, you might think about booking a reservation a few days in advance (even further out for the top places). Hank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Vineyard View Posted July 15 Author #8 Share Posted July 15 Thank you Hank for this information. While we won’t have OBC, knowing this information is really helpful. I would absolutely consider that price from SB for a direct transfer. Guessing direct taxi or independent driver without OBC if I can arrange that prior, might be a better option price wise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare marazul Posted July 15 #9 Share Posted July 15 9 hours ago, Vineyard View said: Thank you Hank for this information. While we won’t have OBC, knowing this information is really helpful. I would absolutely consider that price from SB for a direct transfer. Guessing direct taxi or independent driver without OBC if I can arrange that prior, might be a better option price wise. For transfers look at Friend in France. https://www.friend-in-france.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Vineyard View Posted July 15 Author #10 Share Posted July 15 2 hours ago, marazul said: For transfers look at Friend in France. https://www.friend-in-france.com/ Thank you again marazul! I just sent them an inquiry. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare marazul Posted July 15 #11 Share Posted July 15 6 minutes ago, Vineyard View said: Thank you again marazul! I just sent them an inquiry. One of our favorite restaurants in Nice is La Merenda. A small place with a Michelin starred chef, Dominic Le Stanc. Reservations are tricky, but last time the concierge of the Hotel Suisse got them for us. It seem that they can now be made on the website, but only 10 days ahead of time. Niçois specialties. https://lamerenda.net/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Vineyard View Posted July 15 Author #12 Share Posted July 15 Thank you for this information marazul. I sent inquiries to Hotel Suisse with questions about their Superiure rooms vs their Privilege (both are same size rooms), and Suite. They all look lovely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinburgher Posted July 16 #13 Share Posted July 16 (edited) On 7/14/2024 at 11:11 PM, Vineyard View said: I am happy that there is a lot to see, restaurants and museums to choose from, as well as market and parks to explore. Thank you Edinburgher Now you only need browse the usual information websites to find the sights/attractions of most interest to you. The Official Nice Tourism website, Tripadvisor, Frommer's, Fodors, Rick Steves, Youtube and any others which appear in the results for "Nice France tourist information"😀 Edited July 16 by edinburgher 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare marazul Posted July 16 #14 Share Posted July 16 On 7/14/2024 at 6:11 PM, Vineyard View said: and museums to choose from A favorite is the Palais Lascaris, a 17th C mansion right in the Old Town, now a museum. There is an elevator on the sidewalk right next to the Hotel Suisse that takes you up to the Château de Nice, not a castle but gardens overlooking the entire bay and Roman ruins of an old fort. There are also stairs. Don't skip sitting at one of the outdoor restaurants at the Flower Market in the evening. It is a wonderful experience. Don't pay attention to their TA ratings. Many, like La Cambuse and Le Safari, serve good local dishes. Make sure you order wines from Bellet, the smallest AOC in France, located in the hills above Nice. They are very hard to get elsewhere because of the small production. Great rosés. During the morning try socca at the market. The Thérésa Socca stand is a classic and it is right in front of La Cambuse. They bring the socca to the market on a bicycle. They also serve pissaladière and pan bagnat, other niçois classics. The stand is now run by her granddaughter who I understand has a PhD from Columbia U. They also have a little restaurant nearby. And, of course, they have a website: https://www.theresa-nice.com/ And look at this site for lots of ideas: https://www.explorenicecotedazur.com/en/ We might be in Nice when you are. We are debating whether to fly there from Barcelona after our cruise. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Vineyard View Posted July 16 Author #15 Share Posted July 16 Marazul, thank you for all this great information! I’ve never heard of socca. Great tip about wine as well as restaurants and museum. We are really looking forward to visiting this region for the first time! I really appreciate all of this! Interesting TA reviews on Hotel Suisse. I have reach out to them a couple times and their response was to look on their website, which I have done. Do you by chance have experience with their Superiure vs Privilege rooms? How are the balconies for enjoying coffee or wine from? The rooms appear pretty small, but the suite cost is double the cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare marazul Posted July 16 #16 Share Posted July 16 5 minutes ago, Vineyard View said: Marazul, thank you for all this great information! I’ve never heard of socca. Great tip about wine as well as restaurants and museum. We are really looking forward to visiting this region for the first time! I really appreciate all of this! Interesting TA reviews on Hotel Suisse. I have reach out to them a couple times and their response was to look on their website, which I have done. Do you by chance have experience with their Superiure vs Privilege rooms? How are the balconies for enjoying coffee or wine from? The rooms appear pretty small, but the suite cost is double the cost. We have only stayed in their regular rooms, whatever they call them. They are fine. They only have a Juliette balcony. Here is a picture. It is the building on the right. And a view from the room at night. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Vineyard View Posted July 16 Author #17 Share Posted July 16 Thank you Marazul. I appreciate this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare marazul Posted July 17 #18 Share Posted July 17 On 7/16/2024 at 11:58 AM, Vineyard View said: Do you by chance have experience with their Superiure vs Privilege rooms? I looked at the website. I am pretty sure we were in a Superieure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Vineyard View Posted July 17 Author #19 Share Posted July 17 Thank you! I’ve looked at several places. I think it boils down to which view….. I am leaning towards Suisse…. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Vineyard View Posted July 31 Author #20 Share Posted July 31 I have spent an inordinate amount of time looking at hotels. Ideally we would like a comfortable balcony/terrace to sit on with a sea view. We decided against Le Meridian and Hyatt. Too many years of corporate travel….and they reminded me a bit too much of that. I thought we had found the right room/place at the Anantara in a lovely room….however all their terrace rooms with full sea view are directly under the bar/restaurant. I received confirmation from the hotel today that they often do have music even though we are there mid week, and that the bar/restaurant/music is open until midnight. I am disappointed in that outcome but glad to know ahead. Not sure if anyone has any experience at this hotel in a room on the 5th floor? So I am back to choices. Westminster looks lovely but reports of noisy rooms. Any experience with balcony sea view rooms? Restaurant and decor looks really attractive. Suisse looks lovely but only outside area to relax is a small balcony off a small room. I do not see any outside bar/common area and their responses have been ‘look at the website’ when I asked questions. That leaves in our narrowing down, La Perouse. It is a higher price point than I had budgeted, but reviews are almost all very positive. The Superior Room is being quoted along with the Deluxe ($$$). DH has a bad hip, so needing a bit of comfort on the balcony (which was key driver for Anantara). Any feedback is appreciated as always. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare marazul Posted July 31 #21 Share Posted July 31 La Perouse is wonderful.Go for it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinburgher Posted July 31 #22 Share Posted July 31 (edited) 14 hours ago, Vineyard View said: however all their terrace rooms with full sea view are directly under the bar/restaurant. I received confirmation from the hotel today that they often do have music even though we are there mid week, and that the bar/restaurant/music is open until midnight. I am disappointed in that outcome but glad to know ahead. Not sure if anyone has any experience at this hotel in a room on the 5th floor? Read reviews on Tripadvisor and on hotel booking websites as past guests may mention any noise issues they experienced and doing so may help you decide. Edited July 31 by edinburgher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Vineyard View Posted July 31 Author #23 Share Posted July 31 7 hours ago, edinburgher said: Read reviews on Tripadvisor and on hotel booking websites as past guests may mention any noise issues they experienced and doing so may help you decide. Thank you. I have read a lot of reviews on hotels in Nice….almost ad nauseam! Normally don’t do this quite as much. It’s just so mixed on so many hotels but if there is a trend, or often mentioned in a review that also includes a lot of positives, then it seems more reliable. ‘Anantara are Mostly very positive, but the premium sea view rooms with terrace do have several mentions of loud music and noise from above going until midnight at times, and restaurant chairs for breakfast being moved starting at 0600. The alternative sea view rooms on lower floors with small balconies appear to mostly look at the park filled with trees, which is lovely, but often not much sea view. disappointing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinburgher Posted August 1 #24 Share Posted August 1 9 hours ago, Vineyard View said: It’s just so mixed on so many hotels but if there is a trend, or often mentioned in a review that also includes a lot of positives, then it seems more reliable. I agree with you that when reading reviews a "trend of sorts" does appear and I too find that helpful. Many people are dismissive of online reviews thinking too many are fake, but I still encourage people to read them as not every one can be a fake. And hotel booking websites only allow verified reviews from guests who booked through them. I hope you find a hotel which meets your requirements. I find looking for accommodation much more stressful than planning actual sightseeing. An extra note to say that the location of the Anantara is a busy one so traffic noise could be an extra issue as Nice is a busy city. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare marazul Posted August 1 #25 Share Posted August 1 @Vineyard View Personal reviews: La Perouse is wonderful. We were not be bothered by noise from above or below in the rooms. There is traffic noise when you open the windows, but not nearly as much as you would get at the Meridien or Anantara. The terraces and pool area are beautiful and perfect for sitting and relaxing outdoors. So is the restaurant terrace. Great food. I have stayed at the Hyatt and Meridien on business and yes, they are business hotels. On one occasion Le Meridien did not honor the room reservation and we got a room in the back. The Hyatt is not in walking distance of the center of Nice and the area behind it is not the best. I have stayed at the Suisse and La Perouse and would again at either one. All rooms face the sea in both. You are right, the restaurant at the Suisse is indoors and downstairs. There are no rooftop terraces and gardens like at La Perouse. La Perouse is definitely a cut above. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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