Nice (the place) accommodations

I have the Hotel Mercure Grimaldi booked for the first week of April. The reviews on TripAdvisor are very good and seem to meet all of your requirements. I'll be there for 4 nights.

We also highly recommend the Mercure Grimaldi in Nice. We were there a few years ago. Lovely hotel with amazing views. Just across the road from the Promenade, & short walking distance to wonderful cafes, and sites. If you enjoy art don't miss Chagall & Matisse Museums. We also enjoyed a day trip to Monaco.

great advice thank you, the clowns on the wallpaper are a little freaky. Do the rooms have balconies?

You can find a lot of photos on the booking.com website. The best I can tell, most if not all rooms have Juliet balconies; they don't seem to have room for a table or chair. The location looks like a good one to me.

I have the same question about the clowns! What's up with that?

Generally I have good luck at Mercures, but sometimes their themes are a bit much. Those clowns are like a bad joke gone too far.

We stayed at the Best Western Roosavelt. Great location with easy walk to the harbor and main areas.

I stayed at hotel Solara and loved it. Nice and clean, rooms are small but some have balcony/terrace. Located in old town on the pedestrian only street leading to Place Massena, where the tram runs, convenient to the Marche aux Fleurs and other old town sites. A couple of blocks walk to the Promenade des Anglais. Very affordable and gets excellent reviews on booking.com and TA.

EDIT: I'm not sure how many hotels in old town have ocean views, best place for that is to stay in a hotel on the waterfront.

How was the Roosevelt?

Clowns on the wallpaper? We were there in 2013 and this was not the "theme" then! Perhaps the circus came to Nice since we were there? That's hysterical.
It really was a great place to stay!

The best areas to stay are in the Old Town, the Carre d'Or and the few blocks around Place Massena. Often, a search engine will only say "centre" and you need to look at a map. This is roughly the area bordered by the Promenade, the Old Town, Rue Alberti, Blvd Victor Hugo and Blvd Gambetta. For view, La Perouse at the upper edge of Old Town is best, but Hotel Suisse is a lower cost alternative. Le Meridan has great views from their balconies in the upgraded rooms and a rooftop lounge, although the rooms are on the tight side and the lobby is underwhelming.

For rental apartments, go beyond AirBnB as some of the top agencies don't list there (try TripAdvisor Rentals, HomeAway, etc or directly at an agency like Nice Pebbles, YNA or Ashley Parker).

Hi - We stayed here last summer for 3 nights. An airbnb apartment.

The good: The beach was across the street. The rooftop pool had an amazing view of the beaches, the sea, life on the Riviera. Place Massena and market were about an easy 10 minute walk. We ubered over to the train station to catch trains for a day trip up to Monaco and Ville Franche (w sandy beach and nice lunch spots). It was clean, had a kitchen, and a washer.

The just ok: The apartment building itself seemed a bit strange...hardly saw anyone else. The bed folds down, so apartment is small. Here's my airbnb review of the apartment:

"The apartment was as pictured - clean, up to date, ready to go. ( Sometimes pics are old and apartment is run down, but not in this case.). The bed is a fold down type but very comfy. We left it down so we would have more seating throughout the day. Washer worked good. Used a rack to dry. Had most of the kitchen gear we needed. Good shower. Nicoletta was helpful and responsive. The location was right across from the beach, in the thick of things. The beaches in Nice are very pebbly, so bring beach shoes and thick towels. Or go to beach club and rent (that's what we did - about $60 for 2 chaise and umbrella and 2 towels. Plus they have bar and food service to your chairs) Pool on 7th floor good, but no chaise lounges. For us, though, while the apartment was great, we may choose a quieter town with sandy beaches next time."

I've been looking at hotels for a trip in October. I've looked at the Mercure Grimaldi a lot, but I cannot get past those clowns. I just searched for clowns in their Trip Advisor rooms, and there are a lot of negative comments. The hotel's replies are not helping. "Our clown is impressive but kind" and "Our clown is waiting for you!"

I think I've decided on Hotel de Flore. Anyone have any experience there?

Thank you for the information. I think we will forgo the Clown Hotel. Will look beyond Airbnb which is where we were looking and try the other suggestions for rentals

Correction: In my previous posting I mistakingly gave the wrong Mercure hotel in Nice. Should have been "Mercure Nice Marche aux Fleurs Hotel." FYI: Definately no clowns! Phew.

The hotel has an exceptional location, on the beachfront and directly overlooking the Promenade des Angelis. Short walk away from Old Nice, etc.