Hotel Negresco

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The Hotel Negresco on the Promenade des Anglais

The Hotel Negresco on the Promenade des Anglais on the Baie des Anges in Nice, France was named for Henri Negresco (1868-1920) who had the palatial hotel constructed in 1912. In keeping with the conventions of the times, when the Negresco first opened in 1913 its front opened on the side opposite the Mediterranean.

Henri Negresco, born the son of an innkeeper in Bucharest, Romania, left home at the age of 15 going first to Paris then to the French Riviera where he became very successful. As director of the Municipal Casino in Nice, he had the idea to build a sumptuous hotel of quality that would attract the wealthiest of clients. After arranging the financing, he hired architect Édouard Niemans to design the hotel with Gustave Eiffel reportedly commissioned to do its now famous pink dome. The spectacular Baccarat 16,309-crystal chandelier in the Negresco's lobby was commissioned by Czar Nicholas II, who due to the October revolution was unable to take delivery.

Bad luck came to Henri Negresco when World War I broke out two years after he opened for business and his hotel was converted to a hospital. By the end of the War, wealthy visitors to the Riviera had dropped off to the point that the hotel was in severe financial difficulty. Seized by creditors, the Negresco was sold to a Belgian company and Henri Negresco died a few years later in Paris at the age of 52.

Over the years, the hotel had its ups and downs and in 1957 was sold to the Augier family. Madame Jeanne Augier reinvigorated the hotel with luxurious decorations and furnishings, including an outstanding art collection and rooms with mink bedspreads. Noted for its doormen dressed in the manner of the staff in 18th-century elite bourgeois households, complete with red-plumed postilion hats, the hotel also offers renowned gourmet dining at the Regency-style Le Chantecler under its new chef Bruno Turbot, brought in from Normandy when previous chef Alain Llorca took over the equally fabled Moulin de Mougins. Lighter lunchtime menus run €45 and €60; later in the day try the "Chantecler Menu" at €90 and the sample-a-bit-of-everything menu, called "Découverte" (any other restaurant in France would call it "Menu Dégustation") for €130. These prices were accurate as of September 2006.

In 2003 the Hotel Negresco was listed by the government of France as a National Historic Building and is a member of Leading Hotels of the World. The Negresco has a total of 119 guest rooms plus 22 suites.