ASK a seasoned traveller to name a favourite hotel on the Côte d’Azur, and the same names will crop up: the Negresco, Hôtel de Paris, Martinez, Byblos . . . But ask them to recommend somewhere for less than £50, even £100, and they will come unstuck.

Swanky hotels are listed in every hotel guide and glossy magazine imaginable, but finding a room for two for under £50 (especially in high season) which isn’t grim takes a lot more effort.

Simplicity isn’t expensive: a job-lot of white cotton sheets, fresh flowers and real orange juice cost little more than acrylic patterned bedspreads, powdered orange juice and plastic blooms: it’s just a matter of effort, and taste.

Hôtel Lou Cagnard, St Tropez

NOT much comes cheap in St Tropez, but double en suite rooms at this lovely old hotel cost £47, the price of a bottle of wine in a swanky St Trop’ nightclub. The reception was sunny, from the welcome of the receptionist to the decor, in warm paintwashes with burgundy and yellow cushions.

Following a path of stencilled olives up the stairs, I found the bedrooms equally comfortable, with Van Gogh chairs (the ones with a straw seat), simple rustic decor, typically Tropezienne fabrics (off-white coverlets and wasp-print curtains) and pretty ceramic-tiled shelves. Some rooms have a road view (but have double glazing) and the more expensive ones overlook a garden filled with cacti and blooming flowers (hiding the car park at the back). While breakfasting on pots of hot coffee and milk, with a basket of fresh pastries on the tablecloth, surveying the garden and the freshly painted lavender shutters, it seemed hard to believe I was paying so little.

Hôtel Lou Cagnard, 18 ave Paul Roussel, St Tropez (00 33 4 94 97 04 24). Doubles £30-£67. Cheaper rooms have a shower room but share a WC.

Hôtel Villa La Tour, Nice

PART of a small 18th-century convent, this newly opened hotel of 16 rooms is centrally located in the restaurant-filled Old Town of Nice, five minutes from the beach and the main shopping street, Avenue Jean Médecin.

Old travelling chests, art books, brown leather chaise longues and candles create a comfortably stylish welcome. Half the bedrooms are newly renovated and the other half have been “refreshed” with Murano glass lamps and designer linens. Some have terraces but, if not, the narrow frescoed stairway leads up to a tiny roof terrace.

Guests will find it hard not to spend all their time at the Cave de la Tour opposite, a fine wine-tasting paradise.



Hôtel Villa La Tour, 4 rue de la Tour, Nice (93 80 08 15, www.villa-la-tour.com). Doubles £32-£83. Continental breakfast £2.30.

For a less central location but fantastic views, check out Maison du Seminaire in Nice, a beautiful, pink former seminary with no claims to fancy interiors which, at £35, has twin-bedded rooms offering the cheapest seaview on the Côte d’Azur. La Maison du Seminaire, 29 bd Franck Pilatte, Nice (93 26 79 99, www.maison-du-seminaire.com).

Hôtel de France, Monaco

THIS 26-room hotel renovated two floors last winter, giving it a fresher, more contemporary feel than its old-fashioned counterparts.

It is set just back from the port: handy for restaurants, bars and the produce market of La Condamine and Place des Armes. The first floor rooms are easily the best, with newly refurbished decor: cheerful yellow and red check fabrics and a sort of decorated-by-John Lewis feel.

Second- and third-floor rooms are still good, but slightly more old-fashioned. Many have full-length windows and ceiling fans providing a lovely breeze. Bedrooms are off small hallways, separate from the central staircase, so it’s exceptionally quiet.

Patisserie and pots of coffee are served in the delightful breakfast room, which is frescoed with scenes of the sea and seagulls viewed through leafy Romanesque columns.

Hôtel de France, 6 rue de la Turbie, Monaco Principality (00 37 7 93 30 24 64, www.monte-carlo.mc/france). Doubles from £49-£60. The £60 high season rate includes breakfast. From November until March, breakfast is an additional £6.

Hôtel La Jabotte, Cap d’Antibes

CAP D’ANTIBES is one of the most exclusive addresses on the Riviera, the playground of millionaires. Just as you enter the Cap from Antibes, a side road off plage Salis (a sandy, free beach) leads to the peaceful haven of La Jabotte.

Yves, Claude, and Tommy the Westie greet you with a smile and a wag, showing you to exquisite little rooms with blue shutters, built around a pebbled courtyard. Inside, they are colourfully painted and lovingly decorated with tasteful fabrics, subtle wall-stencils and delightful objets.

Shower rooms are pristine with L’Occitaine guest soaps (rather than the cheap job-lot brickettes usually provided). In summer, guests return from the beach to relax in the courtyard, or on their own little terraces, sipping chilled drinks served by Yves and Claude, a rare service for a two-star hotel. Everyone is friendly and relaxed and the artwork-laden breakfast room is abuzz with the noise of parakeets.

The British family I spoke to at breakfast were waxing lyrical, as were other guests. It took them two years to discover La Jabotte and they begged me not to mention it. Sorry!

Hôtel La Jabotte, 13 avenue Max Maurey, Cap d’Antibes (00 33 4 93 61 45 89, www.jabotte.com). Doubles with private bathrooms from £35-£51. Breakfast, £4.70. Free parking. Choose a garden room: the two-bedroom apartment/suites are yet to be refurbished and lack the magic touch.

Hôtel de Provence, Cannes

CANNES is chock-full of conference hotels, but Madame and Monsieur Portier have created a little gem of a retreat between the beach and rue d’Antibes (great for shopping), slap bang in the centre. Leave the modernity of Cannes as you enter a delightful garden filled with pots of orange trees, palms and blue shutters, to an inviting reception with freshly upholstered chairs.

Rooms are small but stylish with one simple, antique chair upholstered tastefully, to coordinate with bedcovers and curtains. Rail-hanging cushions create stylish bedheads and tiled shower rooms are white and clean. Simple touches such as linen tablecloths and fresh flowers in the rooms show that this is a labour of love, not just a business.

Rooms over the garden with terraces cost more, but are worth the extra. Most guests seemed to be repeat visitors, which is a sure sign of customer satisfaction.



Hôtel de Provence, 9 rue Molière, Cannes (93 38 44 35, www.hotel-de-provence.com). Doubles £46-£59 (£66 with a terrace). Breakfast £4.70.

Hôtel Restaurant des Deux Rocs, Seillans

FOR those who want to venture away from the sea, this lovely hilltown village has been designated one of the most beautiful in France. The feather in its cap has to be the Deux Rocs.

The 14 chambres range from petite, through grande to suites, and they are all lovely, with original prints, fabric walls and tuiles on the walls. Breakfast, lunch and dinner can be served on the terrace under the plane trees or in the old stone-walled restaurant and salon with a real fireplace. My favourite small room is number 2, with lots of blue.

Hôtel Restaurant des Deux Rocs, 1 place Font d’Amont, Seillans (94 76 87 32, www.hoteldeuxrocs.com). Year-round prices: petite chambre £37; grande chambre £55; suites £70. Continental breakfast £5.70.

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