Palais de la Méditerranée

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The Palais de la Méditerranée from the seaside, photo from 2008

Hyatt Regency Nice Palais de la Méditerranée is a luxury hotel at numbers 13 and 15 on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice . It is owned by Constellation Hotels Holding .

The main facade facing the Promenade des Anglais and the rear facade facing the Rue du Congrès are classified as monuments historiques by decree of August 18, 1989 . The façades of the building have received the Patrimoine du XX e  siècle label .

history

Construction and inauguration of the casino

After the First World War , the wealthy winter guests returned, but the hotels in the hills above the coast lagged behind the new palace hotels directly on the bank. Seaside resorts and gambling became fashionable. During the Roaring Twenties , Nice already had two major entertainment facilities: the Jetée-Promenade and the Casino municipal . In 1920 the politicians came to the conclusion that a third event building was necessary to bind the guests to the city. The project took shape thanks to its financier Frank Jay Gould and the experience of hotelier Joseph Aletti and casino operator Edouard Baudoin, who had the will to build the most beautiful casino in the world. Due to a competition, the building was awarded to the architectural office Dalmas Père et fils .

The project was extensive. Thirty million francs were needed to build and equip the building. The construction work was carried out in 1927 and 1928 and gave work to 350 workers. The design of the facade is reminiscent of the Opéra Garnier in Paris and created an impression: the use of reinforced concrete allowed heights and spans that were not previously achieved. The facades and the interior fittings (entrance hall, staircase in white marble, large glass-painted windows, fine wood paneling and crystal chandeliers) are entirely designed in Art Deco . The south facade is decorated with female figures and sea horse sculptures by Antoine Sartorio .

In the evening the facades are illuminated by spotlights, which gives the casino the appearance of a palace from 1001 nights. The inauguration of the palace took place on two premiere evenings. The theater and restaurant opened on January 10, 1929, and two weeks later the game rooms for boules and baccarat were opened . The two opening evenings were celebrated by the press as the highlight of the tourist season.

Financial difficulties and demolition

In 1934 the structure was modernized; at the beginning of the Second World War it lost its Art Deco character. As a result of bad speculation and the Le Roux affair , the operating company got into trouble and went bankrupt in 1978. The building was bought by investors who wanted to tear it down. In 1981 the inventory and interior furnishings including the famous stained glass were auctioned.

With the exception of the two main facades, the casino was completely demolished in May 1990. The then Minister of Culture Jack Lang decided at the last moment to protect the Art Deco exterior facades as monument historique after the writers Michel Butor and Max Gallo had been able to convince him with their arguments and various associations had put pressure on him.

The Hotel Palais de la Méditerranée

In 2001, the Société hôtelière du palais de la Méditerranée and the Société du Louvre invested 120 million euros in the reconstruction of the building on the initiative of the businessman Jean-Frantz Taittinger . At the end of 2002, Groupe Partouche was given responsibility for the future casino. After reopening in 2004, the hotel joined the Concorde Hotels & Resorts group (which was taken over by the Starwood Capital Group in 2005 ). Now it is a luxury hotel with restaurants, swimming pool, solarium and panoramic views. The facility also includes an event hall.

In 2013 the hotel was sold to investors from Qatar , along with other hotels, including the Martinez in Cannes, the Hôtel du Louvre and the Hyatt Regency Paris Étoile in Paris . The hotel is now owned by the Luxembourg- based Constellation Hotels Holding , which is controlled from Qatar and operated by the US hotel chain Hyatt under the name Hyatt Regency Nice Palais de la Méditerranée .

Hotel description

At the time of the inauguration in 2004, the hotel had 187 rooms designed by Sybille de Margerie. The hotel restaurant "Le 3e" offers Mediterranean cuisine, the hotel bar is designed under Indian influences. The indoor and outdoor pools are heated all year round. The hotel has 1700 m² for receptions, which are divided into 16 rooms.

The hotel officially received its fifth star on September 30, 2009.

Notes and evidence

  1. ↑ Palais de la Méditerranée in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  2. ^ Jean-Luc Flohic, Anita Six: Le patrimoine des communes des Alpes-Maritimes (= Collection Le patrimoine des communes de France. 6). Flohic, Paris 2000, ISBN 2-84234-071-X , p. 680.
  3. ↑ Le patrimoine des communes des Alpes-Maritimes. P. 681.
  4. ↑ La Construction modern. Edition of October 20, 1929, p. 47.
  5. ↑ Le Petit Niçois of January 11 and 27, 1929.
  6. ↑ Nice Matin of March 19, 1981.
  7. ^ Palais de la Méditerranée , on the Nice City Council website.
  8. ↑ Christophe Palierse: Le Qatar reprend les hôtels de prestige de Starwood Capital ( French ) In: Les Échos . June 22, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
  9. ↑ Christophe Palierse: Le Qatar racheté l'hôtel Martinez ( French ) In: Les Écho . February 1, 2013. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
  10. ^ "Quatre hôtels 5 étoiles de plus dans le département". ( Memento of October 8, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) In: Nice-Matin of October 2, 2009.

literature

  • Nadine Bovis-Aimar: Le Palais de la Méditerranée, un défi des Années folles. Nice-Historique, Nice, volume number 51, pp. 4–13, text .

Web links

Commons : Palais de la Méditerranée  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 43 ° 41 ′ 43.1 ″  N , 7 ° 15 ′ 46.8 ″  E