HOTEL THERAPY: Hyatt Regency Nice Palais de la Méditerranée

Our first trip to Nice lasted 12 days, and our home base for the entire time was the Hyatt Regency Nice Palais de la Méditerranée

My husband and I decided a couple of years ago that we wanted to live in Europe. We have been traveling there ever since we first met, and we always feel at home when visiting, but we wanted to know what it would be like to live there. To get our feet wet, we chose Nice, France as a possible location to call our home away from home. We both speak some French, and we love French culture, art, food, and the progressive people who make France a place visitors from around the world want to experience.

Pool Area

Our first trip to Nice lasted 12 days, and our home base for the entire time was the Hyatt Regency Nice Palais de la Méditerranée. Located on the legendary Promenade des Anglais and close to Nice airport, this historical luxury hotel on the French Riviera is the perfect place to stay when you want to experience and get to know what Nice has to offer.

The hotel has 187 rooms, including nine suites offering views over the terrace and the pool, or of the Mediterranean sea. We chose a sea view room with a balcony, as we wanted to wake up everyday and imagine what it would be like to live in a villa overlooking the sea.

Sea View Room

This being our first time in Nice, we made sure to get up by 8 A.M. everyday so we could enjoy a swim in the pool and then a hearty breakfast before exploring this beautiful seaside city.

The pool is both indoors and outside, where you can swim from one side to the other. After drying off, we quickly changed into our shorts and polo shirts and chose a table on the terrace. The breakfast buffet includes everything you could want, including fresh fruit, yogurt, pastries, eggs, cold cuts, an assortment of fruit juices, and a wonderful omelet station.

The Indoor Swimming Pool

One morning we wanted strawberry yogurt, but there was none left. I ask the chef if they had any in the refrigerator. Immediately, she went into the kitchen and returned with fresh strawberries, which she proceeded to chop up and add to some plain yogurt. Viola, Yaourt à la fraise! Needless to say, we fell in love with her, as we did with many of the other people who work in the hotel. Everyone made us feel at home, and some of the wait staff even stopped by our table to speak with us in French so we could become more proficient with the language.

Musee Matisse

If you love the sea as much as we do, Nice will soon cast its spell upon you, as it did to the artist Henri Matisse. When he first visited he wrote to his wife: “From my open window you can see the top of a palm tree” and “sky and sea blue, blue, blue.” He soon became captivated by the city and its natural beauty and decided to move to Nice. “When I realized that every morning I would see this light again, I couldn’t believe how lucky I was,” he wrote. The views from his studio overlooking the Promenade provided inspiring vistas of the sea and sky, and clearly made an impact on his artwork.

While visiting Nice, make sure to set aside an afternoon to visit the Musee Matisse. The collection includes 31 paintings, 454 drawings and prints, 38 cut-outs and 57 sculptures, covering all periods of the artist’s life. As you roam from room to room, you will appreciate even more the astounding creativity of one of the world’s greatest artists. When you exit, make sure to stop outside and admire the building and the grounds. Today, a giant Calder sculpture adorns the courtyard and complements the villa and the artistic treasures that await visitors inside the museum.

Hyatt Regency Nice Palais de la Méditerranée Gym

Wherever you go during the day as you explore and experience the art, culture, and cuisine of Nice, wonderful pleasures await you back at the hotel. Relax and rejuvenate in the sauna and Turkish bath, located on the 6th floor, or head to the fitness center on the third floor, where you will find everything you need to keep in shape. Open 24/7, it is equipped with state-of-the-art machines for strength training and cardio.

When it comes time for dinner, you will have many delectable culinary options in Nice, but make sure to reserve at least one night to dine on the terrace at the Le 3e Restaurant at the Hyatt Regency Nice Palais de la Méditerranée. Request a table overlooking the sea, and order one of their signature cocktails. Perhaps the Buddy (Sailor Jerry rum, pear juice, passion fruit juice, vanilla syrup), or a Porn Star Martini (Vodka, passion fruit juice, sugarcane syrup, egg white, prosecco).

The Dinning Terrance with Amazing Sea Views

As you toast to the future, and the possibility of moving to Nice, satiate your appetite with delightful starters, including: burrata with cheese from Saint-Laurent-du-Var and strawberries, watermelon, seasonal tomatoes, and fresh basil; or ceviche with marinated sea bass, leche de tigre, guacamole, and sweet potatoes.

Some of our favorite entrees were the sea bass with hummus, citrus sauce, vierge, and chickpeas with coriander; and the grilled picanha beef served with sweet potatoes and paprika, romaine lettuce, and chimichurri sauce.

There is a wonderful assortment of desserts to tempt you at the restaurant, but we suggest you first take a stroll along the Promenade des Anglais to do some people watching and enjoy the invigorating salt sea air, before returning to the hotel for some mango mousse and creamy passion fruit with lemon and an almond biscuit.

Living life to the fullest is something many French people believe in and practice every day, and the Hyatt Regency Nice Palais de la Méditerranée provided us with everything we needed, as well as the perfect location, to enjoy all that Nice has to offer.