Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo

The Hôtel de Paris is the only hotel on the Place du Casino. The Société des Bains de Mer opened it in 1864 to serve its new casino, and between 2014 and 2019 rebuilt almost all of it behind the façade, replacing two guest wings and cutting an interior courtyard planted with palms and lined with jewellers. Richard Martinet and Gabriel Viora ran the work and the hotel reopened in March 2019. This is where Monaco stages itself: Ferraris idling outside, the casino across the square, Alain Ducasse's Louis XV through the lobby. If you have one night in Monaco and want the version from the films, nothing else comes close.

The rebuild matters. Guest feedback since the reopening reliably praises the rooms, which are now larger and brighter than the grand-hotel norm, the rooftop pool and wellness area, and the reworked garden wing. There are 206 rooms, among them 41 junior suites, 48 suites and seven Diamond Suites at the top, and what separates them is mostly what you see from the window: the square and the casino, the sea, or the courtyard. On the ground floor the Bar Américain still does live music and cocktails, Cédric Grolet sells pastry from a counter on the patio, and a sommelier will take you down to Les Caves de l'Hôtel de Paris, the cellar beneath.

Three restaurants and the Bar Américain mean a complete Monaco evening without leaving the building. Le Louis XV-Alain Ducasse holds three Michelin stars in the 2026 guide. Le Grill is on the eighth floor under a roof that slides open in summer, holds one star and is run day to day by Julien Lasseaux under Dominique Lory. Em Sherif Monte-Carlo brings Lebanese cooking and a DJ to the patio in season, and reopens in spring 2027. The Wellness Sky Club on the top floor is 500 square metres of heated outdoor pool, solarium, sauna, hammam and Technogym kit, kept for house guests aged 16 and over, and you also have passage to the sea-water pool at the Thermes Marins next door and to the Monte-Carlo Beach Club in season.

Everything is priced for the address, and breakfast, drinks and parking draw regular complaints. Entry rooms can be small and inward-facing, so the fantasy lives in the higher categories. It suits a celebration, a milestone anniversary or a first visit where the address is the point. It is less suited to anyone who wants peace: the square is loud and busy from lunchtime until late, especially in summer, and the lobby is a spectacle. For similar money and a quieter night, the Hermitage behind it is the better choice.