When you think of the Côte d’Azur, your mind inevitably turns to visions of glamorous, high-end hotels. The first tourists who made our beautiful region famous were for the most part wealthy Brits and Americans looking for luxurious places to stay.
The Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, built in 1870, is associated with major Hollywood stars like Rita Hayworth, Errol Flynn and Marlene Dietrich. Charlie Chaplin, Pablo Picasso and the Duchess of Windsor all stayed here regularly. It is currently home to exhibitions of sculpture and photography. An infinity pool, spa and tennis courts are among the numerous attractions of this exceptional hotel. Every year, the famous and highly exclusive amfAR (The Foundation for AIDS Research) gala is held here to raise funds to fight the disease.
The Negresco hotel, classed as a historical monument, was officially opened on 8 January 1913 by Henri Negresco, a Romanian hotel manager who dreamed of creating his own luxury establishment. If you pay a visit to Nice, you can’t miss the porters in period uniforms and the large pink dome that characterise this grand hotel. With around 121 rooms and 24 suites, it’s known for its collection of paintings by masters and antique furniture. Here, you can contemplate a magnificent portrait of Louis XIV, or Niki de Saint-Phalle’s sculpture Nana janue. In total, the hotel is home to nearly 6,000 works of art. The unique establishment’s most prestigious guests have included Salvador Dali and Grace Kelly.
Finally, if you come to Antibes to study French in France, don’t forget to check out Juan-les-Pins. On the road which leads to the Cap d’Antibes, you’ll find Hotel Belles Rives, one of the most interesting hotels from a historical point of view. Built in the Art Deco style, the Belles Rives was originally known as the Villa Saint Louis. It adopted its current name in 1929. F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda settled here in 1925, making it famous among the jet-set and prominent personalities of the 1920s (Hemingway, Jean Cocteau, Maurice Chevalier, etc.).
Linguistic stay at the Centre International d'Antibes
