- Villa experience but hotel amenities
- More space and privacy then a hotel
- Easier for families to get together
- Personalized services
- Customized vacation planning assistance
- 24/7 concierge services included
- Over 250 high-end luxury properties
- Key executives with over 50 years total rantal and hospitality experience
France - Cote d'Azur
Villefranche has stayed virtually untouched with its fine citadel built in 1557 by the Duke of Savoy along with an incomparable old town with picturesque streets and a world-famous, quite exquisite waterfront, the Rade de Villefranche. Luxury yachts moored out on the bay, quayside cafés and restaurants, a tiny chapel decorated by the artist and poet Jean Cocteau, and a small Sunday antique market make this something of a mecca.
Then comes Nice which was, until 1860, part of Italy and called Nizza : the old town of Vieux Nice is home to the famous Cours Saléya with its daily flower, fruit and vegetable market – antiques each Monday – and many cafés and restaurants. The Rue Droite leads one to food shops, bakeries, the 17th-century Jesus Church and the Palais Lascaris; also Vieux Nice hosts a great fish market on Place Saint-François, Place Garibaldi, the Place Rosetti with terrace restaurants to the front of the Sainte Réparte cathedral, and the Alziari olive oil shop dating back to 1895. Other sights are the Place Masséna, the Russian Quarter with its cathedral and the Cimiez area with large art galleries. Nice is quite definitely a must to visit but, outside of the bustling old town, it is a far, far cry from being the haven of peace and tranquillity that one sometimes expects.
After Nice, the coast is really quite different in that there are no cliffs – the mountains start to rise much further inland – and there is simply not the same exotic and charismatic, Italian influence felt to the east of the city.
Then comes Nice which was, until 1860, part of Italy and called Nizza : the old town of Vieux Nice is home to the famous Cours Saléya with its daily flower, fruit and vegetable market – antiques each Monday – and many cafés and restaurants. The Rue Droite leads one to food shops, bakeries, the 17th-century Jesus Church and the Palais Lascaris; also Vieux Nice hosts a great fish market on Place Saint-François, Place Garibaldi, the Place Rosetti with terrace restaurants to the front of the Sainte Réparte cathedral, and the Alziari olive oil shop dating back to 1895. Other sights are the Place Masséna, the Russian Quarter with its cathedral and the Cimiez area with large art galleries. Nice is quite definitely a must to visit but, outside of the bustling old town, it is a far, far cry from being the haven of peace and tranquillity that one sometimes expects.
After Nice, the coast is really quite different in that there are no cliffs – the mountains start to rise much further inland – and there is simply not the same exotic and charismatic, Italian influence felt to the east of the city.
Next on the coast, we come to Antibes that dates back to the time of the Greeks: under the reign of Henri III, the Fort Carré was built by Vauban and subsequently the magnificent ramparts of the old town; around the turn of the century, Europe's aristocrats built very luxurious villas nearby on Cap d'Antibes around the legendary Hôtel du Cap-Eden Roc; then neighbouring Juan-les-Pins Came into fashion – later to be favoured by Hemingway Picasso, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.
This peninsula has the Eden Roc spa and many extremely modest beaches – the best is the slightly larger Plage de la Garoupe with three good beach club restaurants – but the more ostentatious Juan-les-Pins on the west side has many good sandy beaches, a very wide choice of really charismatic boutiques, many cafés and restaurants, and a great choice of late-night discothèques as well as a very lively annual Jazz Festival held in the elegant Pinède.
This peninsula has the Eden Roc spa and many extremely modest beaches – the best is the slightly larger Plage de la Garoupe with three good beach club restaurants – but the more ostentatious Juan-les-Pins on the west side has many good sandy beaches, a very wide choice of really charismatic boutiques, many cafés and restaurants, and a great choice of late-night discothèques as well as a very lively annual Jazz Festival held in the elegant Pinède.
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