Hôtel Royal Riviera

Description:

• Rising five graceful stories above the thin line that separates the quietly prestigious towns of St.-Jean and Beaulieu, this hotel evokes the Riviera's Gilded Age, having been constructed in 1904. Fans of Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald know they frolicked here in the '30s, creating pages that might have been torn from Tender Is the Night. In 1988, an unfortunate modernization destroyed much of the Belle Epoque charm of the palace, before Grace Leo-Andrieu, one of France's most inventive hoteliers, arrived from Paris to help the hostelry regain its old reputation. She can't help the location near the train tracks, which makes some of the front rooms noisy, but she's done everything else in her power to make the hotel increasingly more chic by the minute. It occupies a .4-hectare (1-acre) tract with a beach of its own, to which tons of sand are added at regular intervals. Bedrooms are posh and plush, with big windows, private balconies, deep sofas, and fruitwood armoires. The largest and most appealing are the corner units (any room ending in "16"). Regardless, each is charming, elegant, chic, and modern. Bathrooms are fairly routine but well equipped, with robes.

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Highly Recommended 2010