Nice for under £100 a night
WE POUND THE STREETS ... YOU REAP THE REWARDS!
THE flashbulbs, glitter and pizzazz may pop and fizzle further down the Cote d’Azur, but Nice, the largest city on this stretch of coast, possesses true star quality. Compared to the yachts and casinos in nearby Monaco and Cannes, a more demure sense of style prevails, with Art Deco architecture and some of the best museums and parks outside Paris. Best of all, you can have breakfast in London and be on the Place Garibaldi in time for a glass of fizz and some impeccably fresh seafood for a languorous lunch.
Where to stay Hotel Ozz
DON’T let your perception of hostels as being full of fleas and flip-flops put you off. Hotel Ozz is part of a new breed of ‘sharing hotels’, though you don’t even need to do that if you take one of its small en-suite double rooms bathed in soothing blue tones. Complimentary round-the-clock hot chocolate and coffee is a generous touch.
B&B doubles from £46 (hotel-ozz.com)
Hotel Saint Gothard
ROMAN baths, olive groves and shuttered villas give a serene feel to the Cimiez neighbourhood, formerly home to Henri Matisse (there are Matisse and Chagall museums here). Less than a 15-minute walk away, Hotel Saint Gothard has rooms in muted grey and blonde tones, a breakfast room with a vaulted ceiling and a hotch-potch of street art.
B&B doubles from £70 (hotelstgothard-nice.com)
Hotel Le Geneve
EASILY the most centrally located budget hotel in the city, Le Geneve is just off Place Garibaldi, on the edge of the old town. The downstairs bar/restaurant Cafe des Chineurs is a riot of retro flock wallpaper and mismatched furniture. The rooms are all in charcoal tones and have modish furnishings.
B&B doubles are from £87 (le-g-chineurs.com)
Hotel Villa Rivoli
THIS white stucco villa, just two blocks from the seafront, looks like the kind of place in which W. Somerset Maugham or Evelyn Waugh might have holed up to write. Louis XIV furniture, Toile
de Jouy fabrics, a piano in the salon and a pretty garden combine to create a period-era beauty with contemporary comfort.
B&B doubles from £87 (villa-rivoli.com); prices can fluctuate.
Where to eat
Chez Theresa
SOMEWHERE between pizza and polenta on the taste scale lies socca, the French Riviera street food dish made from chickpea flour. Chez Theresa has been at the Cours Saleya market for almost a century; a huge slice of socca with a glass of rose is £7.70.
cheztheresa.fr
Le Neuf Cinquante
THE clue is in the name at this Italian bistro: the mains cost, yep, €9.50 exactly. A cosy, stonewalled joint, dishes are incredibly high quality, from gnocchi with rabbit to grilled swordfish and a mean salade nicoise.
Address: 8 Rue Lascaris
Lou Pilha Leva
THE popularity of moules frites, made with creamy, saffron sauce and priced at just £8.15, means a queue is likely at this hole in the wall in the old town — but it’s worth the wait. The kitchen also serves slabs of socca, courgette tarts and sardine fritters.
Address: 10 Rue du Collet
Pizza Cresci
ORDER a pizza for £9 and you’ll be relieved when, as is customary here, only half (still the size of a Michelin tyre) is served to you.
maison-cresci.fr
How to get there
BA has return Gatwick to Nice flights from £62 (ba.com). More information at ee.france.fr