Antibes seafront, La Salis

Royal Antibes

★★★★★

Antibes is the best-balanced town on the Riviera — an old town with ramparts, a market and the Picasso Museum, a giant yacht harbour, sandy beaches, and the wild coastal path of the Cap d'Antibes on its doorstep — and the Royal Antibes puts you right in the middle of it. The hotel stands on Boulevard du Maréchal Leclerc, the seafront road running south from the old town along the Plage de la Salis toward the Cap, with the sea across the road and views of the bay and, on clear winter days, the snow-capped Alps behind Nice. It has 43 rooms in a contemporary style, many with sea views and balconies, including six standard rooms with balconies added in 2025, plus a separate residence with self-catering apartments for longer stays. In season, the Royal Beach, the hotel's private beach and restaurant across the road, serves lunches and dinners with your feet nearly in the sand; there is also a restaurant and bar in the hotel. The Royal Spa, run with the marine skincare brand Phytomer, has a sauna, jacuzzi and hammam (access by reservation), and there is a Technogym fitness room. Private underground parking is a valuable bonus in a town where parking is scarce. The hotel is four-star rated and open from mid-February to the end of December, closing for several weeks in early winter, and its rates span a wide range depending on season and view, from moderate in winter to high in summer.

Why stay: the Royal Antibes gives you the Riviera's best of both worlds. Walk ten minutes north and you are in old Antibes for the Provençal market, the Picasso Museum and the ramparts; walk south and you reach the Plage de la Salis, one of the best sandy beaches near Nice, and the start of the coastal walks around the Cap d'Antibes, with its millionaires' villas, pine-shaded coves and lighthouse viewpoint. Juan-les-Pins, the jazz-age resort on the other side of the Cap, is a short drive or bus ride away.

Living in it: sea-view rooms are worth the premium for the morning light over the bay and the Alps. Rooms are modern and comfortable rather than grand. The private beach and restaurant operate in season only; out of season, the spa and nearby old-town restaurants fill the gap. Note the hotel is on a busy seafront road, so light sleepers may prefer upper floors. Breakfast is extra, and parking is on site, a rare luxury.

Base math: Antibes station is about fifteen to twenty minutes on foot or a short taxi ride, with trains to Nice in twenty to thirty minutes and to Cannes in ten to fifteen. Nice airport is about twenty-five minutes by car. For travellers who want a smaller, calmer base than Nice, with sandy beaches and easy access to both Nice and Cannes, Antibes is ideal, and this is one of its best-placed hotels.