The city of Nice, France on the Côte d’Azur remains one of the most popular old world European holiday gateways. It’s long shoreline along the Promenade des Anglais is one of the greatst sights in the region. We would end up basing ourselves in Nice for seven days while we toured around the region. We would end up at the Le Méridien Nice for our five day tour of the area. Hoping for an elevated experience courtesy of Marriott Bonvoy benefits, would the Le Méridien Nice deliver?

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This post is one chapter on a trip to the South of France and Cinque Terre, Italy. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. For information on how this trip was booked, please see our introduction. For parts of the trip, please see this index.

If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter “X” or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.

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Review: Le Méridien Nice, Côte d’Azur, France

“The Le Meridien Nice offered an ideal location for exploring Vieux Nice with exploration, restaurants and a stony beach, located just steps from the hotels’ doorsteps”

Booking Le Méridien Nice:

Our visit to this property was over a five day stay. We were looking for a centrally located place to base ourselves for our stay in the Côte d’Azur region. With the Le Méridien Nice being centrally located within walking distance to many Nice and Vieux Nice sights, in addition to being near the bus and the Nice Tramway, it made sense to chose the Le Méridien Nice.

We were able to book five months early and locked in a AAA Rate of 218 € ($240 USD) per night for a basic Classic, Guest Room 1 King with a Courtyard View. Our booking strategy was to book the cheapest room possible, and hope for a Marriott Bonvoy Platinum upgrade to a better room. The basic room was a Courtyard View, which wasn’t very inspiring.

I was hoping that the room rate would come down a little bit. Instead, between the five months in advance that we had booked, the base rate ended up climbing up from 218€ ($240 USD) to well over 330€ ($364 USD) a night. If you’re booking a cash rate, I recommend that you book as early as possible.

It’s worth mentioning that as a seasonal property, the rates vary considerably based on demand. During the summer season, rates can go from a low of 515€ ($568 USD), all the way up to 765€ ($884 USD) a night during holiday periods. In the winter season, I found rates as cheap as 179€ ($197 USD). Given the price variability, if you are looking for a discounted rate, it’s best to book early.

As always, I booked through the Marriott Bonvoy website, which as a Marriott Titanium Member, entitled me to a complimentary upgrade to the best available room, including select suites, and a complimentary late check out up to 4 PM. We would end up getting upgraded through pre-assignment into a Deluxe Ocean View; a great value representing savings of over 117€ ($130 USD) per night.

Several days before our arrival, I received an pre-arrival email from Le Méridien Nice. The email provided information about the high number of elite members staying and the hotel would do their upmost to provide an Marriott Bonvoy elite upgrade. While this type of tone setting is never great news, it must reflect the number of Marriott Bonvoy elite members staying at the Le Méridien Nice.

Marriott Bonvoy Opportunities:

The sea side resort of the Côte d’Azur and the city of Nice Ville, France remains a popular spring, summer and fall destination for many international travellers. Given the cost of getting here, it can be worthwhile exploring your point redemption options for a week long stay in Nice, France.

Rooms at the Le Méridien Nice are typically available for a low of 52,000 points in off season. The room rates jump up to 70,000 during the summer months and seem to be fairly static on both weekdays and weekends.

If you value Marriott Bonvoy points at 0.8 cents per point, it only makes sense to redeem points under the right circumstances. For example, it didn’t seem to make sense to redeem 52,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for a room valued at 179€ ($197 USD) when cash rates were under $200 CAD during my low season visit.

During the summer holiday season, if a room was available for 70,000 points (worth 507€ / $560 USD), you’ll have to take a close look to see which combination offered the best value.

Marriott Bonvoy members get the fifth night free when redeeming five or more day stay. Keep in mind that by redeeming five nights, and getting the fifth night free, will increase the value proposition by lowering the average number of points per night.

Nightly Upgrade Awards:

The Le Meridien Nice participates in the Marriott Bonvoy Suite Night Awards or Nightly Upgrade Award Program. At the time of our visit, we applied Suite Night Awards to all of these suite upgrade categories.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get the opportunity to upgrade into a suite. Instead, we ended up with a Deluxe Sea View Room, which was more than pleasant.

Getting to Le Méridien Nice:

After arriving off British Airways Club Europe London Heathrow – Nice, instead of taking a 32€ + baggage with a night surcharge taxi, we ended up going for the more economical option by taking the Nice Tramway from immediately outside the Nice Côte d’Azur International Airport.

Our tram ride was 5€ each, or 10€ round trip. There is also the option of taking the #12 bus (at 1.70€ per person) along Promenade d’Anglais after taking a short walk towards the walkway towards the Sheraton Nice Airport hotel.

After taking the tram, we disembarked at Jean Médecin and walked with our suitcases through the streets of Nice. It was about 11 PM by the time we arrived. We didn’t have any security issues walking through the residential and commercial area with our luggages.

The Le Méridien Nice is well located across from the Oceanfront on Promenade des Anglais. I couldn’t imagine a more conveniently located hotel for exploring around the Nice and Cote d’Azur area.

Later on in the trip, I ended up renting a Sixt car for the week in order to do a little exploring. The hotel has a parking garage, which is occasionally full in the late afternoon. I would end up having to park the car a few blocks away. Parking in the Nice Ville area is set at a standard 35€ a night. If arriving by car, I would anticipate the possibility of having to park off property after you’ve unloaded your vehicle. The hotel does offer Valet for 42€, if self parking and walking isn’t to your liking.

Checking into the Le Mériden Nice:

The Le Méridien Nice is located right across from the oceanfront on le Promenade des Anglais. The property is impressive on appearance, and has recently been refurbished top to bottom on the outside and on the inside.

On arrival to the Le Méridien Nice, we led ourselves up the escalators to the first floor (or second floor from the North American perspective) where the lobby was located.

At the top of the escalators, we navigated over to the front desk. We were met by three reception staff working. There was no dedicated Marriott Bonvoy Elite line, but we were promptly checked in.

Compared to other properties in France, the staff at Le Méridien Nice were professional and exceptionally friendly. The reception agent acknowledged our Marriott Bonvoy Titanium status. He confirmed through language that they had “managed to provide an upgrade” through the Marriott Bonvoy Elite program to the deluxe Sea View Room. While this wasn’t an upgrade in terms of room size, this was a major upgrade in terms of room view.

It’s worth mentioning that, along with our arrival email, the upgrade opportunities (to a view) are likely quite limited at this property. The ocean view rooms only consist of one eighth of the hotel rooms at the property. The hotel is configured in a square format. Four sides of the square face inwards to a boring courtyard. The other four outer sides of the hotel only has one side that faces the ocean. The eastern facing side of the hotel has peek a boo views with partial ocean views facing across the garden.

During check in, we also selected the breakfast benefit as the welcome amenity for our Marriott Bonvoy Elite welcome amenity. At times, this often slows down the check in process after staff have to complete breakfast coupons for each day’s stay.

In this case, there were no breakfast coupons and the information was recorded in their reservations system. Anything that speeds up the hotel check in process is great and I applaud the Le Méridien Nice for this electronic solution.

After a pleasant check in, we passed the hotel lobby bar and headed up to room #624. We declined any luggage assistance and self navigated ourselves up to the room. The lobby space was typically busy throughout or stay, and remained a gathering spot for guests, friends and colleagues.

The Room: A Deluxe Sea View, 1 King

After getting off on the sixth floor, we navigated over to Room #624. The hallways at the hotel had been recently renovated in modern colours, although the plush carpet on the floor was a little difficult for rolling suitcases. Room #624 was located almost at the western end of the hallway, and marked a quiet place to spend a week.

Our deluxe sea view room with one king bed was a compact room measuring about 27sqm/291sqft. The room featured a king bed that was fairly firm compared to North American standards (no Sheraton Sweet Sleeper bed plushness).

The bedside was marked with small wooden tables that were more aesthetically pleasing than functional, since they were so small.

A small table and two occasional chairs marked the accents for the room. Since the room was so small, there was no space for larger couches or upholstered chairs.

Towards the entrance of the room, there was the usual in room closet. The closet featured a wall unit that featured an classic Nespresso coffee maker, along with a small in room fridge that was empty. There was also an in room combination safe

In a great gesture, the hotel offered us an additional welcome amenity in the form of a complimentary bottle of rosé wine, along with some tetra packed water. We were also provided an information sheet that set out all the hotel’s hours of operation for it’s facilities.

The Deluxe Sea View Bathroom featured a single vanity sink, along with a stand up shower. Much like the smaller size of the room, the bathroom was a single person affair to to its compact space.

The hotel provided Aqua Senses toiletries, which was a departure than the usual Malin and Goetz toiletries that we’ve previously seen at Le Méridien properties.

The room also featured a floor plan map of the property. The map demostrated the limited upgrade opportunities of only one side of the hotel facing the water. All other rooms are facing the city or the courtyard, making ocean view upgrades likely very limited.

The next day, we enjoyed absolutely spectacular 180 degree views from our room. It was really beautiful to have an ocean view for our stay. This particular view was one that I had a tough time tearing myself away from, considering how long it was from end to end.

In terms of sleep quality, I had a really good sleep at Le Méridien Nice. I would have thought that were would have been a lot of street noise with the Promenade des Anglais right underneath the room. However, it was relatively quiet after dark and aside from a few partiers or the occasional ambulances, we didn’t have much interruption of our sleep.

Around the Hotel Property:

The Le Méridien Nice is a fully featured resort property. It contains all the features of a full service hotel in a smaller urban footprint. While we were drawn to the hotel for all of it’s features, we ultimately didn’t end up using many of them. Instead, we spent our time exploring the areas off property and around the Côte d’Azur at large.

Outdoor Pool:

The roof top contained the hotel’s outdoor pool. It was a fairly small place, and we didn’t end up swimming in the hotel pool.

The roof top also contained the hotels’ Peska by La Terrasse rooftop restaurant. The restaurant is Mediterranean seafood featured. With all the terrific restaurants located throughout Nice, we didn’t end up returning to Peska by La Terrasse.

The pool itself was set back from the ocean front. As a result, it didn’t contain an infiniti pool feature or anything deluxe along those lines.

The views of the Promenade des Anglais from the roof top were spectacular, and a great reminder of why Nice is so popular with visitors.

Hotel Gym:

Much like other international hotels, the hotel offered a small gym. The gym space appeared to be in a converted and expanded hotel room.

In the case of the Le Méridien Nice, this space appeared to be a bit of an after thought, as it was located well away from the pool. The gym also offered a view of the hotel’s interior courtyard, which was decidedly austere.

Access to the gym was by room key fob. The gym was manned by an attendant during my visit.

The Beach:

Immediately across the street from the Le Méridien Nice is the ocean front beach. While the beach in Nice will never be known as one of the world’s best beaches due to it’s stony shoreline, it’s still a spectacular water front that stretches for miles.

For those that didn’t enjoy sitting directly on the rocks, the hotel has partnered with “La Plage”, which offered a slightly discounted percentage rate for a beach chair and umbrella rental.

During our visit, the posted rates were:

• Sunbed 22€ a person
• First Line Sunbed 25€ a person
• Double Bed at 55€ a person
• Parasol / Umbrella at 6€
• Beach Towel at 6€

The rates can add up quickly for comfort, but it looked like a very pleasant and comfortable experience.

Food and Beverage:

The Le Méridien Nice contains two restaurants, the Mediterranean oriented rooftop Peska by La Terrasse and the Breakfast @ Le Riviera. There is also the on property lobby lounge of Latitude 43°4′, which proved to be quite popular throughout our stay.

If these restaurants aren’t to your liking, the Le Méridien Nice is steps away from heaps of restaurants located just off the property behind the hotel on Rue Massena.

Breakfast @ Le Riviera:

Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Breakfast

The Breakfast @ Le Riviera represented the hotels’ breakfast restaurant. It occupied a panoramic view space immediately fronting the ocean, making for a terrific breakfast space to start any day.

The breakfast was offered between 7:00 AM and 10:30 AM. As Marriott Bonvoy Titanium level members whom had selected the breakfast benefit as part of the welcome gift, we were given full access to the breakfast buffet. Breakfast buffet was otherwise charged at 29€ ($32 USD) if breakfast wasn’t covered as part of your room rate.

During our visits at a leisurely 9 AM, it was a bit of a mayhem experience. There was lots of crowding and families trying to get organized. While we never had a wait for a table, it was a busy experience. As a result, I wouldn’t expect a quiet or tranquil dining environment over the breakfast period.

We were given instructions to order eggs ordered off the menu, although there were some soft scrambled eggs on the breakfast buffet. In particular, the breakfast omelettes were really well presented. All the staff were exceptionally pleasant despite the face paced environment.

The breakfast buffet offered flaky and tasty croissants; the kind you would expect to get in France and that can’t be replicated anywhere else. We were given full reign of the buffet. I might add that the buffet didn’t change at all in terms of content during our five night stay, unlike what you’d see at some resorts that shuffle the food items a little bit in order to add a bit of variety.

I was happy to report that Bottega Prosecco Sparking wine was also available daily on free flow. Although, a shortage of stemware made it often a less than easy experience actually getting a glass. At times, bottles ran empty; although I didn’t actually see many partaking in sparkling indulgence on a weekday morning.

The Breakfast @ Le Riviera was a fantastic way to start a holiday in a comfortable environment. I really enjoyed the environment and the food quality. Starting your day off with a glass of Prosecco and a cappuccino in Europe, is a great way to start.

Bottom Line: The Le Méridien Nice

The Le Méridien Nice was a great hotel to be based in during our visit in Nice.

While it wasn’t the most luxurious hotel, it offered the right combination of a convenient location, friendly staff and the right ambience. The ability to be upgraded into a terrific ocean view courtesy of Marriott Bonvoy Elite benefits was a value added experience that made the stay much more enjoyable.

Overall, I would happily return again to this property.

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If you have stayed at Le Meridien Nice, was the location of the property to your liking ?

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