stevens397

Title says it all. Planning a trip to France in 2014 and will start in either Nice or Cannes. Anyone have any insight about how these hotels compare and and suggestions or recommendations?

Many thanks for any advice!

SanDiego1K

honey4life12 reported on both hotels in June. S/he would be an excellent person to contrast them.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hyatt...er-thread.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hyatt...er-thread.html

I'm partial to the town of Cannes. I used to do business in both towns, albeit more often in Cannes. I prefer Cannes. It's a smaller town. The hotel is right across the Croisette from the water. I love having breakfast at one of the many casual restaurants that are right on the water. There's nothing like having my feet on sand looking at the Med. It's an easy walk to the old town, though it can be quite a hike up the hill once there. And in my opinion, it's easier to drive in and out of Cannes to get to the wealth of other places I enjoy seeing in southern France.

But I haven't stayed in either hotel - yet.

stevens397

Thanks SD. Your response was very helpful because I really am more interested in which city to stay in, as long as the hotels are roughly equivalent.

When you think of the crappy places some people have to travel to for business, sounds like you did pretty good!

Thunderroad

And thanks to both of you for posting and answering the question, which is something I've been curious about as well.

Flamenguista

I'm in the same predicament of choosing which one to stay at. It would be a stay of 3 nights at the very beginning of July. We will have 4 complete days in the area (not including travel), with the first day being in Monaco. We wont have a car rental and do plan on trying to get out to walk around and see the smaller villages and/or quieter beaches. We also plan on trying to do a organized tour of the Cotes de Provence wine region.

Any opinions on which hotel makes a better base for me and the wife?

beachfan

If you want to explore small towns, you might want to reconsider the car rental. So many cool places an easy car read - Villa Ephrusi (and the nearby Villa Kerylos), St. Paul de Vence, Haut corniche, Eze, etc. I don't think small towns are within reasonable walking distances of these cities, you would need to take a bus.

Althernatively, a day in Monaco, a day exploring Cannes, a day exploring Nice is most of your stay and you don't need a car to get from one to the other no matter where you are based. You could rent a car for one day if your really are itching to explore.

Nice is more central to the sights than Cannes, as it is in between Monaco and Cannes, and closer to Eze, St. Paul de Vence, the villas I mentioned, etc.

LondonElite

I prefer the Martinez, and I agree that you'll need a car to explore the area.

Flamenguista

Thanks. Eze was a place where I wanted to send half a day, but from what I saw and read, it looks like a fun hike up from the train station, which was the plan. Am I wrong in assuming we can find a quieter beach or in the same way, by hopping off the train and walking some?
The wine portion of the trip will need a tour or driver regardless of if we have a car or not.

We have much less time than we want unfortunately, so the plan was to choose either Cannes or Nice and not spend anytime at the other.

Day 1 Explore Monaco
Day 2 Explore Cannes or Nice and spend half day on their beach
Day 3 Eze hike and spend half day, then off to a quieter beach, Cannes or Nice in the evening
Day 4 Cotes de Provence Wines or rental car and explore, Cannes or Nice in the evening

Am I wrong in assuming that Cannes has a much nicer beach atmosphere?

LondonElite

I would seriously consider St Paul de Vence and Antibes for exploration.

Cannes beach is much nicer than Nice. Cannes beach (along the Croisette) is mainly 'private' insofar as it is for the hotels that line the road. Renting a lounger is not cheap, mind you. Cannes has sand (I believe artificially reloaded every season) whereas Nice is mainly pebbles.

SanDiego1K

I've now stayed at the Cannes Martinez and continue to prefer staying in Cannes to Nice. There are boat excursions possible from the harbor during the summer. We took the boat to St Tropez where we went to an art museum and strolled along the water front to a restaurant where we ate well.

beachfan

Which is the better hotel, assuming a DSU.

I am familiar with the towns, but not the hotels

LondonElite

Martinez

suite2suite

Martinez without a doubt.

beachfan

It's been a long time since I was in Cannes, but enjoyed it. Love Nice, been a couple of times.

Will be taking roughly 9 days in the area, and thinking of splitting the time. Haven't been to either hotel, but it seems like the one in Cannes is nicer, and the one in Nice is closer to some of my favorites (St. Paul de Vence, Eze, Cap-Ferrat, etc.)

Given that, I was thinking four nights Cannes, 5 nights Nice. Any compelling reason to do more time in Cannes? It will be mid-September

This assumes TSU availability for both.

suite2suite

For me the best choice is GH Cannes/Martinez. Three stays, three super great experience.
HR Nice. Three stays, three series of bad experience. Had booked early check-in...room not ready until 4:45pm. Valet parked.... called in..no one picked up...went to Lobby... No valet... Mgr calls Valet...no one picked up. Turned out only one attendant was working. Waited almost half hour for the car. Master switch by the bed did not work. Hotel was unsuccessful to have a guest take down the clothes they had left hanging on the balcony to dry, because guest had a "privacy" sign on their door. Not what you want to look at for three days. Every morning unable to get a table outdoor... long wait. Asked for egg white omelette, got a regular omelette.......