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A Nice and Simple Intro to Nice: The Hotel Armenonville

Where: 20 Avenue des Fleurs, Nice, France, 06000

August is just about the time we start thinking about a trip to the South of France. Lavender! Heat! Beaches! All good. Less good: the fact that you’ll have to fill your bucket with euro notes to pay for your room before you can use it to build a sandcastle on the beach.

But there are bargains to be had in the south of France. One of our personal favorites is the Hotel Armenonville in Nice (coincidentally, one of our favorite towns). It’s nothing if not basic (don’t go expecting any kind of boutique flounce) but it’s spotless, the rooms are like staying in an old style French mansion without being twee, and the prices are always rock bottom: €61 ($80) for a double room without a bathroom, or €78 ($102) ensuite (in winter you can get much better deals, too).

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Fashion Hotels / Hotel Fires / Nice Hotels / France Hotels / → All Tags

Even Bomb Threats Are Chic At French Riviera Hotels

Thanks to a bomb scare which turned out to be a false alarm, the French Riviera became everything we've imagined and more yesterday. When the posh seaside Hotel Negresco alerted its 158 guests and staff to a bomb threat, they fled the building in all states at the break of dawn.

Among them was French fashion designer Jean Paul Gaulthier, who fled the hotel clad only in a white dressing gown and joined other alarmed guests by the beach. Apparently the bomb threat was called in by a woman who said that it would detonate at 6:00 AM, and when it hadn't by 7:00 AM, the scene dispersed and the hotel returned to normal.

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Hotel Reviews / Nice Hotels / → All Tags

Nice's Nicest Hotel

Where: 13-15 Promenade des Anglais,, Nice, France, 06011

As we've been saying, all the world is in Southern France right now. Well, ok, so at least all the Parisians that is and the New York Times. The Times recently went to Nice to check out the Palais de la Mediterranée, an historic hotel who has seen Josephine Baker and other jazz stars, representing an era of retro class. If that weren't enough the Tattingers took over the hotel in recent years--maybe you've heard of their other enterprise, only one of the world's best Champagnes.

Nice location in more ways than one, according to the Times reviewer, "this is your top bet in Nice". So what do you get for the best of Nice? For starters, rule says that if you're staying just one night and a suite is open, it's yours without a question or additional charge. Each room has internet and the mini-bar comes with a curiosity--binoculars to check out the spectacular view or probably the beach's naked bodies.

With a room service menu of Iranian caviar and Lafite Rothschild Champagne, one has to wonder who is staying here. Natch, the Times fills us in:

On an afternoon at the end of May, the lobby hummed with 40-ish Russian women in miniskirts, businessmen attending conferences in the extensive meeting facilities and some honeymooning Americans pulling Gucci luggage.

But if you're willing to hand over some extra Euros for this luxury then you're in for a treat and have bypassed the motel closet sized rooms elsewhere in this pricey city.

Related Stories:
· Check In Check Out [New York Times]
· Palais de la Mediterranée reviews [TripAdvisor]