Moments after being shown to our room on the second floor of Le Negresco, my friend and I looked at each other and burst into fits of school-girlish giggles. We both feel a rather naughty sense that people like us really shouldn’t be in a place like this. But we are. And it’s fabulous.
As a vintage travel buff, Le Negresco has long been high on my hotel bucket list. Arguably the most famous hotel on the Riviera, Le Negresco with its famous pink dome has held pride of place on the Promenade des Anglaises for more than a century and is designated as a National Historic Building of France.
“How are we staying here?” my friend asked me, looking around the room.
“We both work hard and we’re having a treat,” I replied.
We all deserve a little luxury sometimes. Luxury hotels have become my poison.
Founded as a luxury hotel by Romanian-born hotelier Alexandru Negrescu, later known as Henri, Negresco – in 1913, Le Negresco’s original reign as Queen of Riviera’s hotels was short lived. The outbreak of World War I saw it commandeered as an army hospital. The post-war fall in the Riviera’s tourism economy further harmed the hotel’s standing and led to its founder’s bankruptcy.
But In 1957 the Augier family purchased the hotel and soon Le Negresco was back.
Madame Jeanne Augier, still its owner and top-floor resident, set about making Le Negresco the must-be-seen-at destination for royalty, movie stars, artists and musicians in the 1960s and 70s and a focal point of the burgeoning pop art scene.
On our way to buffet breakfast in the Rotund, that is decorated with horses from a carousel, we spot a photo collage depicting the hotel’s many famous guests in its golden era of the 1960s.
Among the famous guests to stay here were Monaco’s Prince Rainier III and Grace Kelly, Salvador Dali and the Beatles. The Fab Four are said to have penned the lyrics to the Fool on the hill on the hotel’s letterhead.
Madam Augier has filled the hotel with antiques and artworks sufficient to fill a museum. Instead they fill the rooms and hallways of the hotel. All of the antiques and furnishings in the hotel’s 100 rooms and 25 suites are all genuine.
Rooms range from compact twin and double rooms to suites that are the realm of the hotel’s vvip guests. These are sadly beyond our means.
Our ‘entry level’ twin room (room 209) features black lacquer beds draped with heavy embroidered canopies. The walls are lined with strawberry-pink fabric embossed with roses. We also have wooden cabinets and a bust on the sideboard. I’m not so sure about the bathroom. The basin and bath tub look as though someone has painted them with gold glitter. It’s a bit tacky but easily overlooked.
In fact, the over-the-top slight tackiness is one of Le Negresco’s great charms. The famous azure waters of the Bai des Anges can be seen from the window. It’s plenty nice for our girls own adventure.
The hotel’s two-starred restaurant Le Chantecleer is also beyond our means. We do treat ourselves to a lovely high tea in the wood-panelled Bar Le Relais and enjoy plates of smoked salmon and cucumber sandwiches and sweet treats washed down with Earl Grey Tea.
Walking around the hotel there’s no doubt about it, Le Negresco is in your face. There’s no Scandinavian minimalism here. Bright colours and gaudy carpet, chandeliers are everywhere. I love it.
And then there are the uniforms of the doormen. Dressed in bright blue coats, pantaloons, long socks and shiny black shoes, topped by a hat that appears to have a feather dusting protruding from it, they are a sight.
Not surprisingly, a stay in this iconic hotel doesn’t come cheap. Top-end rooms go for thousands of Euros per night. Yet by booking online months in advance, we were able to secure our room for around $A 400 per night, still a bit pricey but not outrageous. It was well worth the splurge.
The school girlish fits of giggles ended at checkout when we were both genuinely sad to leave.
A version of this article was published in the hotel reviews section of International Traveller Magazine in December 2017.