Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo: our review of the iconic palace on Casino Square

On Casino Square, facing the Monte-Carlo Casino, the Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo has embodied since 1864 the finest expression of the Société des Bains de Mer (SBM, founded 1863). The renovation carried out between 2014 and 2018, under the direction of architect Richard Martinet and interior designer Bruno Moinard, did not betray the Belle Époque spirit of the place: it stripped away several decades of clumsy additions and restored its original light.

Our recent stay confirms the palace’s top position in our official ranking of the best hotels in Monaco. A few steps through the lobby, a night in a Garden Suite, dinner at Louis XV-Alain Ducasse and an afternoon at the Thermes Marins de Monte-Carlo are enough to understand why.

Past the bronze revolving door, the lobby retains the wow factor that delighted guests of the 1920s: polychrome marbles, painted vaulted ceilings, Lalique chandeliers. The equestrian statue of Louis XIV in the middle of the lobby (its left boot, polished by 160 years of superstitious touches, gleaming like the sun) remains an iconic landmark. The service is old-school in the best possible sense: porters in bicorn hats, a concierge of surgical efficiency, a valet who manages to park a Bentley on a pedestrian street without scratching a single wing mirror.

Nobody executes an arrival quite like the Hôtel de Paris. It is a performance, yes, but also a technical mastery found only here and in two or three Parisian addresses.

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Across 207 keys (including 74 suites), our 60 m² Garden Suite featured a balcony overlooking the inner courtyard and its retractable dome: in the morning, breakfast is taken under the open Monegasque sky; in the evening, the roof closes silently. The noble materials (Statuario marble, Hungarian-point oak parquet, Cassina leather) create an intimate atmosphere without excess. The 14 m² bathroom in cream marble, double vanity, freestanding bathtub, Italian shower, Diptyque bath products.

The prestige suites (Princess Grace, Winston Churchill, Suite Riviera) reach 350 m². 180-degree views over the Bay of Monaco from the upper floors, dedicated spa access, personal butler service, Rolls-Royce transfers. This is the format reserved for multi-day stays or extended families.

This is the table. Opened in 1987 and awarded three stars as early as 1990, Louis XV-Alain Ducasse is one of the oldest triple-Michelin restaurants in the world. The service is exceptional, the refined Mediterranean cuisine clear and compelling, and the cellar (350,000 bottles) offers access to rare verticals that never leave the palace. Le Grill, on the top floor with its panoramic rotunda over the bay, serves a simpler menu (grilled fish, market vegetables, heritage breeds) at a considerably more accessible price point. For breakfast, Côté Jardin opens onto the inner courtyard: it is one of the most beautiful in its category.

◆ Wellness

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Thermes Marins de Monte-Carlo: 12,000 m² of seawater

The Thermes Marins de Monte-Carlo, accessible directly from the hotel (and shared with the Hermitage), offer 12,000 m² of wellness: a heated indoor seawater pool, hammams, sauna, treatment rooms, and a rare medical section (thalassotherapy, cryotherapy, anti-ageing, longevity programmes). Access is included in suite rates. It is today one of the last European spas where leisure relaxation and medically supervised treatments can be genuinely combined in one place.

Independent review: rating established by the La Revue des Hôtels editorial team based on a visit, on-site observations and internal comparisons within the Monegasque palace segment. Images are editorial illustrations.