Aphrodite91

I have a family of 3 doing a trip to London and Nice/South of France for 9 nights next August. 2 adults and a 14 year old. Would like to avoid spending money other than maybe priceline as it just feels so good to get a great deal and stay somewhere for free or cheap

Used 60K*3 US Airways miles for tickets
4 nights at Hilton Park Lane in London for 145K HH

Now need 5 nights in South of France in the Nice area. Interested in visiting Cannes, Monte Carlo. Options are:

1. Get something on Priceline in Nice for maybe $100/night. Visit Monte Carlo and Cannes by train. Downside is beach in Nice not that nice.

2. Hope Club Carlson promotion comes back next year and try to get 5 nights at Radisson Blu Nice.

3. Get 2 Priority Club cards at 80k points each and spend 3 nights at Intercontinental Cannes and 2 nights in Nice using options 1,2,4 combination.

4. Use SPG for Le Meridien Nice.

Any other good hotel redemptions in South of France in that area?

SanDiego1K

I like using this tool to figure out the chain hotels in a particular area. You can filter by chain and by distance. I spotted a Radisson Blu in Cannes.

I used to spend a week in Cannes each year for business. I really liked using it as a base as compared to Nice. I hope you are renting a car as it opens up so much of southern France. There is a wealth of places to go and things to see and do.

christianj

Answer to this really depends on the type of experience you are looking for. In June we did Paris and then took the train to Cannes and stayed at the IC Carlton Cannes for 3 nights and the on to the Le Meridien Nice for 2 nights. IC Cannes is a high end classic hotel with everything being very expensive but definitely worth it. LeM in Nice is a more modern hotel with a good location but IMHO nothing overly special.

If you want high end luxury then I would recommend the Priority Club credit card option for the IC Carlton Cannes.

As for Club Carlson options, based on what we saw I would recommend the hotel in Cannes over the one in Nice.

I would recommend you search the IC, Starwood and CC forums for further details on the specific hotels. I know I posted details on both the Carlton Cannes and the the LeM Nice after our trip.

sunshine-state

I never knew about this site - this will be hugely helpful! Thanks for sharing!

Aphrodite91

Thanks so much for the help!

I think I will go ahead and get the Priority Club credit card especially since the points have good uses elsewhere too and look out for the Club Carlson promotion next year to book at least a few nights with that.

christianj

Just be aware of the fact that the IC Carlton Cannes was supposed to close this year for a renovation but the reno was evidently been pushed back to 2013. No exact details of when and if it will indeed happen in 2013 or not.

LAX88

I recommend 3 and 4 if you can do it. Using PC points for an ICH in Cannes is a really good value based on the rates there. Le Meridien Nice is also quite nice and worth the points. You could chance it with the $100 priceline, but honestly, this is an expensive area that it's not worth slumming it in if you're able to use points.

Nice isn't Nice (or nice) in a $100 hotel.

Aphrodite91

When I was in Nice in 2006, I stayed at Novotel. I paid around $100 a night and it was pretty decent, definitely not slumming. Not right by the beach, but even Le Meridien is across the road from the beach.

skibum7732

Awesome site, tyvm

christianj

Doubt you can find those rates now but you never know. The LeM shares a building with a Mercure hotel which is also part of Arcor like Novotel. Place looked nice but their rates where also at around Euro 299 per night when we stayed at the LeM.

Aphrodite91

So we decided it's too much trouble to move hotels and will spend all 5 nights in Nice so can do a day in cannes, a day in monte carlo, 2 days in nice.

Now the Radisson Blu in Nice is 250k club carlson for 5 nights and Meridien is 48k SPG for 5 nights. Not looking at value, which is actually a better hotel? In particular, which is most comfortable for 3 people?

beachmiles

My wife and I have stayed in both several times. We like both. In fact we plan to stay in both early next summer. I cannot comment on best for three people, but location Le Meridien wins ,hands down. You can walk everywhere.

When we stay at Radisson Blu , we take the city bus, in front of the hotel. The bus is part of being there.

sent

We stayed in Le Meridien Nice and it is a good base to explore. It was our first trip. Le Meridien Beach Plaza (Monaco) pops up on beatthetimer.com from time to time at 170 Euros a night or something like that if you are looking to pay. I had read the beach at Le Meridien Beach Plaza is one of the few beaches in that area that has sand, the rest are mostly rocks and pebbles. You also need to check the beach access policies and prices because if I recall, it wasn't included even if you were staying at the hotel.

However, SPG redemptions for basic rooms are for 2 people. You may be able to pay more points for an upgraded or larger room type, but you have to call to find out those options. You may want to investigate that before you show up with 3 people on an award reservation in Europe.

BigLar

We're going back to Nice next year (after 4 nights in London, probably also at the Hilton Park Lane ). There will initially be three of us, but more coming later.

We did this last year and rented a "villa" - VRBO, HomeAway, etc. Turns out to be about the same/cheaper than hotels (although August is high season), and you get more of a feel for the place. In Europe, a room for more than two is sometimes much harder to find that we are used to here.

Half the fun was poring over the various options before we settled on a place. PM me if you want more info.

nukah

I spent a week in the South of France this summer and stayed at the Fairmont Monte Carlo. I would suggest signing up for the Fairmont Visa. With the annual fee (95$) and $1000 spend in 3 months, you will receive two complimentary nights. Rooms here generally go for around 500 euros. They do have some blackout dates, which won't be known until January 2013, but it's definitely an option. And a great deal if it works out.