Fairmont Monte Carlo

Description:

• Although a bit down the scale from the two previous choices, this is also a deluxe palace, built by the Loews Corporation but bought in 1998 by a consortium of local investors and renamed the Monte Carlo Grand Hôtel. Fairmont Hotels & Resorts took over the property in early 2005, renaming it again.

  It hugs the coast below the terraces that support the famous casino, on one of the most valuable pieces of real estate along the Côte d'Azur. Architecturally daring when built (some of its foundations were sunk into the seabed, and some of the principality's busiest highways roar beneath it), the resort is viewed as an integral enhancement of Monégasque life. It contains Monaco's highest concentration of restaurants, bars, and nightclubs -- think of it as Las Vegas with a Gallic accent. The guest rooms are conservatively furnished with a pastel decor and flooded with light from big windows with views over the town or the sea. All units contain large bathrooms with tubs and showers. The restaurant L'Argentin serves grilled steaks, Argentine-style.

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Recommended 2010