The Hotel Negresco serves as part hotel, part museum. Primarily a hotel, it also houses an amazing collection of classic art work. Everything from historical portraits to contemporary sculptures, this takes the idea of a hotel to the next level. Also interesting is its rich history. Built in 1912, this grand palace is unlike other historical monuments where you get a sense of how small everything was a hundred years ago, this palace is…well, palatial! The lobby is a comfortable size, but step into the Royal Lounge, and you are greeted by a 16,000 piece Baccarat crystal chandelier. Yes, 16,309 to be exact. These fine little French Baccaratian crystals, the story goes, were supposed to be delivered to Russian Czar Nicholas II. But the delivery was blocked as a result of the October Revolution in 1917. So it stayed in France, and in this hotel to be viewed by the public at any time.
And so are the other 6,000+ pieces of art located throughout the property and in the rooms. Jeanne Augier has been the patron saint of the Negresco since 1957 and her impeccable taste in art is evident from the moment you walk in the building.
For refreshments and dining, you’re in luck! The bar, named Bar, is a classic looking all walnut wood design dating back to the 1913 opening of the hotel. Just amazing to imagine this is what the early century patrons were also experiencing for a cool one on a summer day. And the beuty of it, this is not a recreation, this is the actual bar. The way the hotel has been kept up is just amazing. It does not feel like it’s been painted over with a dozen coats of paint from the decade of improper care. And since they give you the best in art and drinks, then food must be at the same level, and it is. For dinner tonight, we’ll be serving a 2-Michelin star dining experience at Le Chantecler Restaurant. Yes please! The Yuzu soufflé is a must!
Our room was listed as a Superior Room, but everything about it was beyond Superior. The room was listed as 269 sq ft (25 sq/m), but we must have been bumped up to a Superior Plus, because the room felt twice that size. Maybe they do not include the salon area, a cozy little seating area with a full size couch and antique Japanese panels. We had a beautiful hand carved head board, complete with a little Cherub watch over us. The bathroom was gorgeous French modern countryside with bold strips in my favorite French Blue. But my favorite was the wall paper. The salon side of the room was rich, golden yellow, the bed side was a steel Blue hue with flowery embossing that gave the room an elegance you don’t often find in hotels these days. And that’s the appeal of Le Negresco. It’s not just some old hotel. It’s a hotel that meticulously maintains it’s traditions. Everything sparkles as if brand new.
One nuance of the hotel, each floor has a different theme. The 3rd floor is Chinese. The 4th floor is American Jazz. A huge art piece playfully portrays American Jazz great Louis Armstrong in a colorful play on his famous cheeks. But none of the floors compares to the Atrium. Center stage for the Baccarat Chandelier, the atrium is filled with sculptures and paintings of French royalty and various other art pieces. The hotel is a living museum, and by living, it’s right there in front of you. No lines to wait in, no guards telling you to step back. Seeing this was quite a thrill for a light weight museum geek like myself.
In an ultimate twist of irony, during WWI, the hotel was used as a hospital in mid-1916. Sadly, 100 years later, the hotel saw medical duty again. In 2016, when a terrorist attacked bystanders on the Promenade des Anglais, the Hotel Negresco was used as a triage center to treat wounded to coordinate hospital delivery.
