Monte Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort

The quickest way to oblivion for a travel destination is to coast on past glamour, and this is a sin that parts of the Côte d’Azur have been accused of. Fortunately not everyone in Monaco is looking backwards — the new, massive and endlessly stylish Monte Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort is proof of that.

In contrast with the historical gravity of the older hotels, the Monte Carlo Bay is a self-contained resort of the new school. The conventional wisdom is that there’s a little bit of Vegas about it, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing — the design, by Pierre-Yves Rochon, may be self-consciously glitzy, but it’s never over the top. And for all the palatial grandeur of the public spaces, you may be surprised to find the rooms looking relatively low-key by comparison.

Physically, of course, no comfort is spared. This is still Monte Carlo, and this audience expects top-shelf luxury. They won’t be disappointed with the rooms, or with the pool, an indoor-outdoor lagoon-style affair, complete with sandy floor. A lavish spa is de rigueur, as are a handful of restaurants, first among them the sunny and bright Blue Bay, overseen by Marcel Ravin.


How to get there: Monte Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort is approximately 35 minutes from Côte d'Azur International Airport.