Only ten make the cut. Monaco has fewer than a dozen hotels that matter and a price for each of them. This is the shortlist: ten hotels, each here for a different reason.
9.1/10
5,300+ Expedia guest reviews of the 9 hotels we list
Average of the guest scores Expedia publishes, weighted by review count; read 22 October 2026.
Monaco & around, Monaco / FranceBetter Fit
Not sure which one?
Answer three quick questions and we’ll tell you which of these ten is right for you.
Editor’s note
Monaco is small enough that location is measured in minutes, so we weighted atmosphere and how consistently guests report being looked after. Three of the ten sit just outside the principality, because the best views and the only real hideaways on this coast are beyond the border.
The Better Trip Editorial Team · Travel industry experts
What changed
Not a rankingTen hotels, one at a time.
The grand Monaco hotel for people who would rather not be watched while they enjoy it.
Why go. Direct indoor passage to the Thermes Marins spa and sea-water pool.
The catch. Rooms vary widely: the older wings can feel small and dated for the price. Read it →
€€€€From about €492 a night
The casino-square original, rebuilt for the 2020s. Book it for the fantasy, not for value.
Why go. Le Louis XV, Alain Ducasse's three-star restaurant, downstairs.
The catch. Entry rooms can be small and inward-facing; the fantasy lives in the higher categories. Read it →
€€€€From about €600 a night
Grand-hotel standards, a more private feel, and a pool terrace that people book it for.
Why go. Guerlain spa, Les Ambassadeurs and the Japanese restaurant Yoshi.
The catch. Entry rooms are on the small side and some look onto the road or neighbouring buildings. Read it →
€€€€From about €400 a night
A 1930s Riviera beach hotel with a Michelin-starred restaurant and the best pool on the coast.
Why go. Only 40 rooms, all facing the sea.
The catch. Open for the season only, 13 April to 11 October in 2026, so winter and Christmas are off the table. Read it →
€€€€From about €400 a night
The resort answer to Monaco: lagoon pool, gardens, a two-star restaurant and no need to go out.
Why go. Modern rooms, most with balconies, many facing the sea.
The catch. Twenty-three minutes on foot from the casino square, along an uninspiring road. Read it →
€€€From about €250 a night
Real Monaco, sensible money. The hotel we recommend when the grand hotels make no sense.
Why go. Fontvieille is quiet, residential and next to the Princess Grace rose garden.
The catch. Fontvieille is not Monte-Carlo: the casino square is a bus ride or a hilly walk away. Read it →
€€From about €180 a night
Six hundred rooms on the Grand Prix hairpin. Big, busy and unbeatable for Monaco's central action.
Why go. Rooftop pool deck, Nikki Beach in summer and Nobu.
The catch. Rooms and public areas vary; unrenovated categories feel dated for the price. Read it →
€€€From about €250 a night
The Monaco hotel with its own beach. Pick it for the sea, forgive it the rest.
Why go. Four outdoor seawater basins and a heated indoor pool for the shoulder season.
The catch. Rooms are inconsistent: refurbished categories are fine, older ones feel tired. Read it →
€€€From about €220 a night
Claridge's on a Riviera cliff, with views that make Monaco look like a model village.
Why go. Infinity pool that appears to hang over the sea.
The catch. Nothing is walkable; every outing is a drive or a shuttle down the corniche. Read it →
€€€€From about €700 a night
A private peninsula between Monaco and Nice. The Riviera hideaway that grand hotels cannot imitate.
Why go. Infinity pool over the sea, plus an indoor pool for shoulder season.
The catch. Isolated by design: no walkable restaurants, shops or beaches beyond the grounds. Read it →
€€€€From about €650 a night
Questions people ask
None of the ten is "the best". Each is the best for a different reason, and that reason is the tag on its card. Answer three questions in Better Fit and it will pick the one for you.
Monte-Carlo Beach. A 1930s Riviera beach hotel with a Michelin-starred restaurant and the best pool on the coast.
Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort. The resort answer to Monaco: lagoon pool, gardens, a two-star restaurant and no need to go out.
Columbus Hotel Monte-Carlo. Real Monaco, sensible money. The hotel we recommend when the grand hotels make no sense.
Monaco is small enough that location differences are measured in minutes, so the question is which address suits the trip. Monte-Carlo puts the casino square, the harbour and the shops on foot: the Hermitage, the Hôtel de Paris, the Métropole and the Fairmont. Larvotto, the beach end of Avenue Princesse Grace, is for pools, sea and a calmer pace, at Monte-Carlo Bay or Le Méridien Beach Plaza, the only hotel in the principality with its own beach. Fontvieille, on the far side of the Rock, is where the sensible money goes, and the Columbus is why. Three of the ten sit just outside the borders, in France, because the best views and the only real hideaways on this coast are beyond them: Monte-Carlo Beach and The Maybourne Riviera at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, sea level and clifftop, and Cap Estel at Èze-Bord-de-Mer.
Independently, through extensive research, trusted sources and first-hand visits. Hotels cannot pay to be included, and every one of the ten has to exist for a different reason.
Monaco is small enough that location differences are measured in minutes, so the question is which address suits the trip. Monte-Carlo puts the casino square, the harbour and the shops on foot: the Hermitage, the Hôtel de Paris, the Métropole and the Fairmont. Larvotto, the beach end of Avenue Princesse Grace, is for pools, sea and a calmer pace, at Monte-Carlo Bay or Le Méridien Beach Plaza, the only hotel in the principality with its own beach. Fontvieille, on the far side of the Rock, is where the sensible money goes, and the Columbus is why. Three of the ten sit just outside the borders, in France, because the best views and the only real hideaways on this coast are beyond them: Monte-Carlo Beach and The Maybourne Riviera at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, sea level and clifftop, and Cap Estel at Èze-Bord-de-Mer.
You fly into Nice Côte d'Azur, 30 to 45 minutes by road depending on which of the ten you booked. Bus 80, the Nice Airport Xpress, runs from both terminals without a change, but the better route is tram line 2 into Nice in under half an hour for 1.70 euros, then the coastal train to Monaco-Monte-Carlo in about 23 minutes, calling at Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Èze-sur-Mer and Cap d'Ail. Monacair flies it in seven minutes from 195 euros a head. Do not hire a car. Six CAM bus lines cover the principality at 1.50 euros by card, the boat bus crosses the harbour on the same ticket, and 79 public lifts, 35 escalators and 8 travelators do the climbing for you. Hotel parking is 55 euros a day at the Hermitage and 70 at the Hôtel de Paris.
July and August are the warm, expensive months, highs around 26 degrees and the sea at its best in August. April to June and September into October are better. Three fixtures move prices hard: the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in early April, the Grand Prix, which has moved from late May into early June, and the Yacht Show from 23 to 26 September. Winter is mild and much cheaper, but Monte-Carlo Beach and Cap Estel are both closed.
Two nights covers Monaco and three is the number to book, giving the third to the coast. The train you arrived on is the day trip: Èze-sur-Mer for the climb to the village, Beaulieu-sur-Mer and Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat for the Villa Ephrussi and a flat seafront walk, Nice in twenty-three minutes. If you want the hideaway version rather than the harbour version, invert it and sleep outside the border.
The honest truth about cost: an entry room at one of the grand hotels starts around 400 euros a night in winter and can pass 1,000 in summer, and Grand Prix week multiplies everything and imposes minimum stays. Monaco is a building site in places, loud with traffic for somewhere this small, and the 400 metres your map promises is often 400 metres and sixty metres of height. It is orderly and vertical rather than charming, and if you want old stone and silence you should sleep outside it. Outside those dates Monaco is more bookable than its reputation suggests, and safe, walkable and under an hour from Nice airport by road.
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