Where to stay in Nice, France

Many travelers think a good location in Nice is one where you can see the beach from the balcony of your room.
These hotels will usually be "beach front", I put it in quotes because the first row of buildings from the water is separated from the beach by a broad avenue.
When you locate a possible hotel, look at it on Google Earth or Viamichelin websites and try to confirm it's on the first row of buildings from the the beach.
Then your next step is to try to confirm that your room has a "beach view", which will of course cost more but, as they say, if you want to play you have to pay.
Some of the others may have specific recommendations. We stayed in a room like I've described above, but I don't remember the name of the hotel.

My wife an I stayed about 10 minutes away from nice in port st laurent ,about 5 minutes from the airport ,it was a holiday inn , beautiful spot ,right on the beach ,balcony facing the water ,restaurants along the boardwalk ,walking distance to the train station ,5 minute train ride to nice and 25 minute train ride to Monaco .

We stayed in Hotel le Royal and it was as Kent described, we had a great view of the water and beach from our room.

Hi Max, we stayed at the Nice Marche aux Fleurs (www.accorhotels.com) in May and would recommend it. It's centrally located and right on the promenade, facing the ocean.

I've not stayed there myself but the Hotel Suisse has been mentioned and recommended here several times. It is right on the promenade along the beach.

Hotel prices looked resort-inflated to me, so in August I stayed for several nights in a loft apartment reserved through AirBnB that was very close to but not on top of piazza/place/square Massena -- for the price of a cramped double I had a kitchenette with washing machine, convection oven, cooktop, fridge, coffee table that expanded into a dining table, and a micro balcony. Skylight. Contemporary design. It was top floor of building on Rue Deloye near Pastorelli.
If ambitious, you could get fresh pasta at shops in the old market and hold your own dinner party in the downstairs part of the apartment. But why would you when there are great non-touristy places along Pastorelli, including RS recommended L'Ovale, which has charcuterie that will blow your mind (and then your aorta)?
There are also plenty of touristy places, too, if that's what you're after.
(Owner of this apartment left her own page or two of recommendations, in which she begged visitors not to patronize the cours selaya restaurants that cater to tourist traffic -- it's like feeding the pigeons in Times Square)