Hyatt Regency Nice Palais de la Méditerranée (France): Bottom Line Review

It doesn’t take much to fall in love with the French Riviera. Unbelievably turquoise waters, over 300 days of sunshine per year, charming medieval towns and sweeping vistas make it a magical place. Smack dab in the middle of it all is Nice. While not the most exclusive of the Riviera’s enclaves, it’s one of Europe’s original “resort cities” and a marvelous combination of beauty, authenticity and history.

The Palais de la Mediterranée has long been a landmark on the Nice waterfront. Originally built in 1929, it epitomized the 1930s glamor of the Riviera as a hotel, casino, theatre, bar and restaurant. The original hotel closed in the 1970s, and most of the interior was demolished when it was renovated over a decade later. However, the columned façade still remains and is now a historic monument that fronts Nice’s Hyatt Regency, one of the more unique Hyatt-branded properties that I’ve ever been to.

Hyatt Regency Nice Bottom Line Review

Amongst Hyatt’s properties in Europe, the Palais de la Mediteranée is one that’s often mentioned among folks’ favorites, and deservedly so. Set right on the Promenade des Anglais with a famous Art Deco façade, this might be my favorite Hyatt Regency ever. The location couldn’t be better, the service and elite treatment are superb and there’s marvelous views over the turquoise water of the French Riviera. It’s certainly not cheap, but we loved our stay here. Thumbs Up

Price: The hotel is a Hyatt Category 7 and costs 25K/30K/35K points per night depending on whether it’s at off-peak, standard or peak pricing. We were there at the tail-end of peak season in early-September and paid 35K points per night. Cash rates were ~€675 ($710) per night for a standard room and over €850 per night for a sea view.
Value: Like much of the Riviera, the price varies tremendously between high and low seasons. In winter, you might be able to find a room for ~€200 per night, but in high season, that shoots up to ~€500-600 (or €800 for sea view). Our value for the average redemption of Hyatt points is 1.7 cents each, so even at 35K per night, it’s a good deal in high season. On the other hand, 25K in during the slow times can sometimes be suboptimal deal when compared to the cash rates.
Location: The hotel is located right on the Nice’s famous Promenade des Anglais behind the Plage de Carras (one of the many beaches along the waterfront). It’s about a 10-minute walk to Old Nice. The airport is ~10 min. away by car or an easy ~30-minute trip via public transit.
Room: We booked a standard room with one king and were proactively upgraded to a spacious, ~484sq ft ocean view deluxe room with a marvelous view of the pool area, historic façade and the sea beyond. The size of both the room and bathroom were terrific, and the ocean view balcony was a delightful place to watch the sunset from before going for dinner. For the second half of our stay, we applied a Suite Upgrade Award and were moved to an ~1100sq ft Prestige Sea View Suite. The suite was massive and came with a walk-in closet, dining room that would seat at least six people and a massive balcony that overlooked the pool area with partial ocean views. The room’s most appealing feature was the oceanfront living room that offered a picture-perfect, floor-to-ceiling window with an unobstructed view of the Mediterranean.
Parking: Valet parking is €40/24 hours during low season and €50/24 hours between mid-May and September. There is self-parking available via an attached public parking garage as well, but it seemed like those who tried to use it sometimes had problems find space over the weekend.
Resort/Destination Fee: None.
Internet: Very good throughout most of the property.
Service: Excellent. The front desk that we interacted with always addressed us by name after we checked-in. The airline lost my luggage on the flight from Spain, and the concierge team was very proactive when trying to recover it and communicate with me about what they found. Housekeeping and bell staff were terrific. In typical French fashion, the restaurant coffee service wasn’t always the fastest.
Turndown service: Nightly.
Dining:
- Le 3e Restaurant Terrace: Primary hotel restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, both inside and outdoors. Of course, the ocean view terrace is the prime real estate. This is where the elite breakfast is served. Open daily for lunch from 12-2:30pm and for dinner from 7-10pm. There is also an all-day menu that is served between 11:30am and 11:30pm.
- Le 3e Bar: Bar/lounge located at the rear of the terrace that serves food all day. Both drinks and an all-day menu can be had between 11:30am and 11:30pm.

Spa: Incredibly, there isn’t an in-house spa, but they’re able to arrange some treatments on-property. There is a steam room and sauna that is open for all guests.
Fitness Room: There’s a fitness center on the 3rd floor level beside the indoor portion of the pool that has a smattering of machines, an area for yoga/stretching, a steam room and a sauna. Oh, and a ping-pong table.
Hyatt Globalist Benefits:
- Room Upgrade: We booked a standard room with one king and were proactively upgraded to a lovely ~454sq ft, ocean view king room. For the portion of our stay that we applied a suite upgrade to, we received a double upgrade to a premium, 1100sq ft Prestige Sea View suite.
- Free Breakfast: Served on the ocean view terrace. Coffee, espresso drinks and other beverages were made-to-order and delivered via table service. The breakfast buffet was quite extensive, with both cold and hot dishes. There was a sizeable of egg dishes that could be ordered as well, from two different stations (one indoors, one outside). The eggs benedict was delicious.
- Club Lounge: None.
- Late Checkout: We were automatically given a 4pm checkout.
- Welcome Amenity: A bottle of local wine and a bag of regional crackers. We were actually given the same amenity for a second time when we switched rooms.
Would I stay again? Absolutely. It’s a lovely property with a palpably historic feel, a great location and ocean views galore.

Pros

Marvelous water vistas from the ocean view rooms.
Standard rooms are quite spacious.
Superb location on the Promenade des Anglais, within walking distance of just about anything you want to visit in Nice.
Breakfast on the oceanfront terrace is delightful.
Very good elite recognition and seem to do everything they can to upgrade Globalists.

Cons

Regardless of whether you use cash or points, it’s expensive.
I would imagine that there’s a significant difference in feel between rooms with a sea view and those without (and the prices reflect it).
For those who so desire, there’s no in-house spa (and the fitness area is fairly lackluster).