15 Nice Hotels Where Matisse, Chekhov and Dufy Checked In
The pink-domed palace where Isadora Duncan died outside the door, the first hotel on the Promenade, the room Matisse painted in 1917, the pension where Chekhov wrote Three Sisters, and a convent reopened in 2024.
Nice built its hotels for the winter visitors, and the painters and writers followed. This list has the Negresco, open since 1913 under its pink dome, the West End, counted as the first hotel on the Promenade when it opened in 1842, the Beau Rivage, where Matisse painted his room in 1917, the Oasis, the old Pension Russe where Chekhov worked on Three Sisters, and the Hôtel du Couvent, a seventeenth-century convent in Vieux Nice reopened in 2024.
The list is grouped by character, not ranked. Each hotel’s name links to its own site, so you see the current rate and book direct.
The Promenade palaces
Hôtel Le Negresco · Promenade des Anglais
The Negresco opened in January 1913 for the Romanian-born hotelier Henri Negresco, to plans by Édouard-Jean Niermans, and was listed as a historic monument in 2003. The dancer Isadora Duncan was killed on the Promenade in front of the hotel in September 1927 when her scarf caught in the wheel of a car. The hotel’s own telling credits Gustave Eiffel’s workshop with the pink dome and says the Salon Royal’s Baccarat chandelier was one of a pair ordered by Tsar Nicholas II.
Hôtel West End · Promenade des Anglais
The West End opened in 1842 at 31 Promenade des Anglais, and the hotel and the Nice tourist office count it as the first hotel built on the Promenade. The tourist office lists it among the city’s heritage sites for its Belle Époque facade.
Westminster Hôtel & Spa · Promenade des Anglais
The Westminster opened in 1880 on the Promenade des Anglais. The regional heritage inventory records it as the former Hôtel Dalmas, later renamed the Westminster.
Hôtel Le Royal · Promenade des Anglais
The Royal is a Belle Époque hotel on the Promenade, recorded in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur regional heritage inventory as the Hôtel Royal. The French holiday group Vacances Bleues runs it today.
Hyatt Regency Nice Palais de la Méditerranée · Promenade des Anglais
The Palais de la Méditerranée was built in 1929 as a casino and entertainment palace for the American millionaire Frank Jay Gould, designed by Charles and Marcel Dalmas. The Art Deco facade was listed as a historic monument in 1989 and kept standing when everything behind it was demolished in 1990; the hotel behind it opened in 2004. The 1977 disappearance of the casino heiress Agnès Le Roux, tied to a fight for control of the casino, became one of France’s longest-running criminal cases.
Belle Époque behind the seafront
Anantara Plaza Nice Hotel · Carré d’Or / Place Masséna
The Plaza on the Avenue de Verdun traces its history to 1848, by the hotel’s account. It traded as the Boscolo Exedra before Minor Hotels reopened it as Anantara’s first French hotel after a two-year renovation led by the owner Covivio. It faces the Jardin Albert 1er, with the Promenade one block south.
Hôtel Villa Rivoli · Carré d’Or / Promenade des Anglais
The Villa Rivoli is a Belle Époque villa on the rue de Rivoli, one block behind the Negresco, run as a small hotel. The hotel dates the villa to 1890.
Hôtel Nice Excelsior · Musiciens / Gare
The Excelsior is a Belle Époque hotel on the Avenue Durante, a short walk from Nice-Ville station. The hotel dates its building to the 1890s and keeps a palm garden behind the facade.
Hôtel Petit Palais · Cimiez
The Petit Palais is a Belle Époque villa on the Cimiez hill, uphill from the Promenade and near the Matisse Museum. By the hotel’s account the villa was the home of the actor and playwright Sacha Guitry in the 1920s.
Where the painters and writers stayed
Hôtel Beau Rivage · Vieux Nice
Henri Matisse took a room at the Beau Rivage when he arrived in Nice in December 1917 and painted Interior at Nice, Room at the Beau Rivage, now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Anton Chekhov is said to have stayed on his first visit to Nice in 1891. The hotel stands on the rue Saint-François-de-Paule beside the Opéra de Nice, at the edge of the old town.
Hôtel Oasis · Musiciens / Gare
The Oasis was the Pension Russe at 23 rue Gounod, where Anton Chekhov stayed in the winters of 1897 to 1898 and 1900 to 1901 and worked on Three Sisters. The plaque marking his stay is itself recorded in the regional heritage inventory. It still runs as a hotel with a garden courtyard in the Musiciens quarter.
Hôtel WindsoR · Carré d’Or / Place Masséna
The regional heritage inventory records the WindsoR’s building as first opened as the Sun Hôtel Luchon Palace before it became the Hôtel Windsor. Contemporary artists have been invited to design rooms, Jean Le Gac among them; the twenty-fifth artist’s room was unveiled in 2007. It now styles itself Le WindsoR Jungle Art Hotel, for its tropical garden.
Old town and the castle rock
Hôtel du Couvent, a Luxury Collection Hotel · Vieux Nice
The Hôtel du Couvent occupies the seventeenth-century Couvent de la Visitation in Vieux Nice, restored over a long project led by the developer Valéry Grégo. It opened on 20 June 2024 with interiors by Festen Architecture and Roman-style baths, affiliated with Marriott’s Luxury Collection.
Hôtel La Pérouse · Port / Colline du Château
La Pérouse is built into the flank of the Colline du Château on the Quai Rauba Capeu, above the Baie des Anges. It reopened in 2024 after a full renovation with interiors by Friedmann & Versace.
Hôtel Suisse · Port / Colline du Château
The regional heritage inventory records the Suisse as the former Albergo Clerissi, then the Pension Clérissi, before it became the Hôtel Suisse. Raoul Dufy painted L’Hôtel Suisse à Nice et le tournant de Rauba Capeu around 1927 and 1928.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are these hotels ranked?
No. The groups sort them by character, and the order within each group carries no meaning.
What made a hotel interesting enough for this list?
A story. Every entry was a Promenade palace with a documented past, a Belle Époque villa listed in the heritage inventory, a house where a painter or writer stayed, or a convent or old-town house with a name attached. Comfort alone did not qualify.
Why are there no prices?
Rates change daily and a priced list goes stale in a month. Each hotel’s name links to its own site, so you see the current rate and book direct.
Should I stay on the Promenade or in the old town?
The Promenade hotels put you on the sea with the beach across the road and the tram a few streets back. Vieux Nice puts you in the lanes with the market on the Cours Saleya, louder at night and a ten-minute walk to the same beach. The Musiciens quarter by the station is quieter and cheaper, with the trains for the coast.
Which hotel puts me closest to the day trips on this site?
Most day trips from Nice run to Monaco and Èze, to Cannes and Antibes, to Saint-Paul-de-Vence, or into the Verdon gorge. The hotels around Nice-Ville station and the Promenade sit closest to the trains and the coach pickups.