Hotel Negresco is a luxurious five-star hotel on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, on France’s famous Côte d’Azur.

The hotel takes its name from its founder, Henri Negresco. As a young boy he worked in his father’s hotel until the age of 13 when he decided to travel and search for his fortune. He managed to win a reputation in Paris as a “maître d’hôtel” and it was then when he finally decided to try his luck on the Côte d’Azur. He was first the “maître d’hôtel” at the Hotel Du Helder and then as the director of the Casino Municipal de Nice’s restaurant, a hotel which became favoured by kings, princes and rich visitors of the French Riviera.

Negresco fell in love with the French Riviera and he started to dream about building a palace on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, the building we know today as Hotel Negresco. It is worth mentioning that along with Henri Negresco, some other artists also contributed to the building of this hotel, including wealthy industrialist Alexandre Darracq, Dutch architect Edouard Niermans and of course the famous engineer Gustave Eiffel who was in charge of the roof construction.

It is one of the few survivors of the hotel industry from the early 20th century. The hotel itself was built in 1912 and opened a year later. Its façade is based on the neoclassical style and is one of Nice’s most emblematic buildings.

The hotel also houses the luxury restaurant Le Chantecler, the only restaurant with two Michelin stars in Nice. For anyone who may want to take a little peek inside the hotel, the lounge and bar is open to the public so long as you buy a beverage of some kind.