Reserving Nice area B&Bs during Monaco's race?

I was in Nice for a couple of weeks last year, and the manager of my (budget-level) hotel told me the race definitely has an impact. He said the Cannes Film Festival didn't make much difference. However, it was my impression that there were a lot of extra people buying train tickets at the Nice Ville station around the time the Film Festival began, as opposed to earlier in the month.

I don't know whether you need to pin things down this early. Why not go to booking.com (or your hotel site of choice) and see what's available for however long a period you think you might stay in one place. Check not just Nice but maybe a couple of other possible spots, like Menton.

If you only plan to stay put for a night or two, it may be easier than if you are looking for 3, 4 or 5 nights.

Knowing the popularity of Formula1 and the crowds it draws to the Monaco race, I would advise you to seek lodgings as soon as possible. I attend the race in Montreal each June and hotel prices skyrocket and rooms become scarce. I would think the same will take place in the Principality from Wednesday to Sunday nights. You might want to consider looking a little further distance away to get affordable lodging rates.

That period in May definitely is a peak housing time and it would be wise to reserve in advance. You may only find the least desirable properties available. Heading west from Nice may be necessary, say in Antibes or Juan Les Pins (unless you overlap the film festival dates).

Road traffic in that area is a basket case all summer and around the F1 weekend it completely grinds to a halt.

Be patient, or join in, or reconsider.

Thanks all for your input. We chose Nigel's reco to "reconsider," and are choosing to pass entirely on the French Riviera for another time. I'm not all that good in crowds, nor am I enthusiastic about exclusivity that seems likely around Monaco especially during race time.

I'm not sure about your "exclusivity" comment. Yes, some people are very rich and use helicopters or pay top money for hotel rooms, and yes, Monaco can attract flashy cars; and yes a big deal is made by the promoters of the various celebrities and stars who are brought in, and yes there are plenty of big yachts.

But - Monaco is the only race in calendar that can be attended for virtually no admission price. The whole track has places spectators can watch the race from without a ticket, or there are also reasonable priced tickets too.

So it is actually the most democratic race on the calendar.