Hotel Negresco

In front of you stands the most celebrated hotel on the Côte d'Azur. Its story begins with a man who knew luxury from the other side of the table.

1Henri Negresco's dream

Henri Negresco was a Romanian who had made his career as a head waiter in the grand establishments of the Riviera. With the backing of investors, he commissioned the architect Édouard-Jean Niermans to build a palace fit for the kings and millionaires who wintered in Nice. The hotel opened on 4 January 1913. For its main salon, a Baccarat crystal chandelier of 16,800 pieces was made, the twin of another intended for Tsar Nicholas II.

The glory was short-lived. War broke out in 1914 and the hotel became a military hospital. Negresco died ruined in 1920. In 1957 the Mesnage family bought the building, and their daughter Jeanne Augier ran it for more than sixty years, filling it with works of art.

Legend has it that Negresco wanted the pink dome to be modelled on his mistress's breast. It is only a legend: no document confirms it.

2A place of remembrance

A few steps east, in the garden of the Villa Masséna, the city remembers the 86 victims of the attack on the Promenade des Anglais on 14 July 2016. The sculpture «L'Ange de la Baie» (The Angel of the Bay) was unveiled there in 2022.

3What to look for

• The pink dome on the corner, the emblem of the Promenade.
• The «NEGRESCO» lettering on the white façade.
• The liveried doorman, a hotel tradition.