MONACO

Modern luxury is on a grand scale here: from five acres of landscaped gardens to floor-to-ceiling champagne refrigerators and triple-height windows that characterize the ground floor interior design. Vibrant colors abound from blue and teal to lime green. The most impressive feature is the pool complex, whose glass-paneled conservatory (with an indoor pool and hot tub) stretches across a bridge to a sand-bottomed lagoon, cascades and outdoor pools bordered by sun terraces. All rooms are spacious. Facilities: Bar, Fitness Center, Kids Club, Parking, Swimming Pool, Restaurant, Sauna, Spa, Steam Room/Hammam, Wi-Fi. A nightclub, concert venue and restaurants are within a two-minute walk. For children from 3 to 12 years old, in a shady palm grove, there is a kids club where children can do everything from stringing beads to cooking classes and table tennis

Five-star boutique hotel with a Michelin-starred chef dedicated to zero waste. Is well known for its beach club, olympic-sized swimming pool and cliff top restaurant. The hallmark of this luxury hotel is in its name: a long private beach created specifically for water sports enthusiasts, where you can find everything from parasailing to rafting. The bathrooms are finished in white marble. All rooms have balconies, while the exclusive superior rooms have a terrace with steps leading down to the La Vigie waterfront. Food & Drink Manon Fleury leads Elsa: the world’s first Michelin-starred 100 percent organic restaurant. The Mediterranean menu focuses on local produce and wild fish. Fleury is a zero waste pioneer in her kitchen, using everything from vegetable tops to eggshells. The star of the show is La Vigie, a cliff-top restaurant with Balinese-inspired décor. You will find this unforgettable summer place hidden among umbrella pines on stone steps. Your ascent will be rewarded with some of the best sea views on the Riviera while you relax to the beats of a local DJ. Facilities: Bar, Beach, Kids Club, Parking, Swimming Pool, Restaurant, Spa, Steam Room/Hammam, Wi-Fi. Marmorata Kids Club is undoubtedly one of the most luxurious kids clubs in the world. Operates from July to August. BAFA-certified staff offer everything from water sports to cooking classes, music workshops and treasure hunts. There is also a children’s pool and children’s playgrounds with ping-pong and table football.

The hotel is set on a herringbone brick driveway dotted with jasmine and orchids. It combines privacy and central location close to Casino Square. The Métropole Shopping Center is next door, while numerous restaurants and high-end designer shops are within a 3-minute walk. The hotel even has its own sound designer that soothes and excites your eardrums depending on the time of day. Floral fabrics and tapestries create the feeling of a country house in the city center. Karl Lagerfeld redesigned the rooftop pool, and then the talented architect Didier Gomez restored the luxurious Givenchy Spa. Bathed in natural light, each of the 126 rooms and suites is decorated with rich fabrics and old-styled furniture. The marble bathrooms are stocked with terry dressing gowns and toiletries by Parisian designer Hermès. Numerous room types can be confusing. The rooms are spacious and the junior suites have an additional seating area. Food & Drink: A good buffet breakfast is served in the green courtyard with a citrus orchard when the weather permits. The oriental bar is open throughout the day. It serves light meals and snacks prepared in the kitchen of the Michelin-starred MET Restaurant at the Metropole Hotel, as well as delicious cocktails. The MET itself has been completely redesigned by the fashion house Raptus&Rose. In a space inspired by roses, Chef Luca Veritti explores the innovative possibilities offered by the freshest classic Italian ingredients. Facilities: Bar, Laundry, Beach, Kids Club, Parking, Pool, Restaurant, Spa, Wi-Fi. The suites have a separate bedroom and are a good option for families. In summer there is a kids club for children from 4 to 12 years old.

Everywhere you turn, you’ll notice Belle Époque details from the stained-glass rotunda to ornated urns and ornated mantel clocks. Somehow this hotel combines the luxury of a 19th century palace with the friendly convenience of a resort hotel. Countless corridors and private terraces link this curved hotel, while a secret underground passage leads to a futuristic glass-fronted spa. The hassle-free service includes a complimentary shuttle service to a nearby private beach club. The 7,000 square meter thermal spa impresses with treatments that are so modern you might not even have heard of them – when in doubt, just lie back on the sun terrace while admiring the view of the harbour. Furniture and wallpaper in the Louis XV style are a must in the bedrooms. Superior Queen Rooms are either elegant or cramped, depending on your point of view. The Superior King Rooms are more spacious and the Deluxe Garden View Terrace Rooms are more than double sized, so if your budget allows, it’s worth upgrading. The cheapest rooms in the hotel are the deluxe rooms with sea view, but they need to be booked in advance. The marble bathrooms include monogrammed towels and Acqua di Parma toiletries.

The restaurant scene has undergone significant changes with the arrival of Yannick Alléno, who brings his three-Michelin-starred culinary talent from Paris to the Côte d’Azur with the Hermitage gastronomic restaurant of the same name. Using fresh ingredients from the hotel’s own vegetable garden, Alleno weaves his magic into deceptively simple Mediterranean dishes with airy sauces. As he says: “If the dish is a sentence, then the sauce is a verb.” Specialties include frozen melon soup with peanut and anise ice cream, grilled blue lobster with ginger butter, and cheese soufflé with grated nutmeg and celery sauce.

Facilities: Bar, Laundry, Beach, Kids Club, Parking, Pool, Restaurant, Spa, Hammam, Wi-Fi. Children are welcomed with gifts, vouchers and a children’s playroom, and they can also use the kids club at the partner hotel (Monte Carlo Beach). Baby equipment is always in stock, from bottle warmers to toilet training seats.

For an unforgettable Monte Carlo experience, it’s hard to beat this legendary location in Casino Square, combined with views of the Mediterranean harbor. Step out of your hotel into the square to listen to an opera at the Salle Garnier, try to hit the jackpot at the casino, look at the parked Ferraris by a cup of coffee at the Café de Paris, or explore the immaculate gardens. Designer shops and restaurants are within 100 meters and the port is a 5-minute walk. A major renovation has breathed new life into this five-star hotel, built in the late 19th century to house high rollers from the nearby casino. While the famous glass dome in the Belle Époque lobby has remained intact, two guest wings have been rebuilt from the ground up. Talented interior designer Pierre-Yves Rochon combined historical features with light modern touches. The inner courtyard with a garden is created with palm trees and marble colonnades. All rooms are luxuriously paneled on the walls, decorated with Art Deco details and TVs that blend into the wall like a mirror. The original cornices were discovered during a recent renovation and are now on display. Additional luxuries range from locker rooms to Nespresso machines tucked away in a drawer.Marble bathrooms have double sinks and a separate toilet. Even the budget Superior rooms have large balconies overlooking the quiet courtyard. Gastronomy is the forte of the hotel. Set in a rococo style with Art Nouveau elements, the Louis XV restaurant serves three-star Michelin cuisine, accompanied by wines from a 600,000-bottle wine cellar. The top-floor retractable roof restaurant Le Grill is the French Riviera’s premier soufflé spot, and a trip to Monte Carlo is incomplete without an afternoon drink and live jazz at the hotel’s American bar. Facilities: Bar, Laundry, Beach, Kids Club, Parking, Pool, Restaurant, Spa, Wi-Fi.