Hotel Windsor - Nice, France Review

Overall 5.00 of 5 (by 1 user)

typeamom
AshevilleAsheville, NC

This is my favorite hotel ever, and I've traveled a lot!

world-traveler, a travel & lifestyles writer, family traveler, married, 5 star traveler, former resident of Nice, an art lover, author of guidebook on France and Spain

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Pros

cool rocket-ship elevator, kid-friendly and fun hotel, friendliest staff ever, English-speaking staff, undiscovered hotel, great honeymoon hotel, not a chain hotel, short walk to the beach, pool in a lush courtyard, rooms painted by artists with murals, reasonably priced hotel, artsy hotel

JUL

2007

I have stayed in every almost kind of accommodation you can think of: everything from rugged camping to intimate bed-and-breakfasts to roadside motels to four-star European castles. I have stayed in some of the world's finest hotels. Still, there is one modest, locally-owned boutique hotel in Nice that I remember with the most fondness. It's the Hotel Windsor Nice.

This isn't the fanciest hotel. It isn't even close to the most expensive. There are hotels with bigger rooms in Nice, and there are hotels with more services. But this hotel, relatively undiscovered by the masses, should be teaching every other hotel how it's done.

For one thing, I believe it's a calculation of all the special little things that truly make a hotel. There also has to be some uniqueness. This hotel has several rooms that were painted with murals by local artists. We stayed in the Happy New Year room, which was so bright and cheerful you just can't be in a bad mood.

Our first stay there was during our honeymoon, sans children. We had actually reserved a room at another hotel that was so horrible we only stayed one night before happening on this hotel while wandering in search of better digs. We checked into the room, and were greeted with a bud vase with a brilliant melon-colored flower from the local Cours Selaya Flower Market.

Every time we needed help, whether it was simple advice like where to eat or more advanced questions like where a shipping store was that could send a certain kind of package a certain kind of way (in which the phone book was whipped out, and several French phone calls made that surely saved us hours of agony), the staff jumped eagerly to help. By the time we checked out, they felt like friends.

When we decided to move to Nice, we booked a stay there again for the time between arriving and finding an apartment. We went through several delays before we could apply for our French visa.

The French government requires proof you have a place to stay when you arrive. I must have emailed the Hotel Windsor ten times to change our reservation, and refax a confirmation of the reservation. They did so every single time without the slightest complaint. They even held onto our Happy New Year room so we could relive our honeymoon memories.

We arrived this time with a 1-year-old with us. She loved the rocket-ship elevator, and the framed children's book cover art in the halls. We dined in the hotel restaurant just to make life easier, and they never complained about making a special dish that is 1-year-old friendly. We would sit and dine and she, donning a miniature black turtleneck, grooved in her seat to jazz music over the sound system.

We also didn't quite know when we would check out, but again the staff was helpful and relaxed about the whole thing. When we were ready to leave, we would let them know.

Whenever we arrived at the door with our daughter in stroller, a staff member would always rush up not just to hold the door for us, but to help carry the stroller up the stairs.

This is not a hotel with a fancy concierge desk, but we were always able to get fabulous assistance from anyone at the front desk. They also have several nice services for hotel guests, including a sauna or they can arrange a massage.

Most of all, this hotel is the best hotel ever because the staff makes you feel welcome and helped, and the decor and rooms are unique and funky.