Principality · Mediterranean
Handpicked by AiA Waves
Monaco is not a country in the way other countries are countries. It is a stage: just two square kilometres of concentrated ambition, old money, and calculated glamour pressed between the French Riviera and the Mediterranean Sea. Formula 1 races through its streets. Superyachts crowd its harbour. The casino at Monte-Carlo has been separating guests from their fortunes since 1863.
And yet Monaco rewards those who look beyond the spectacle. The old town of Monaco-Ville, perched on its rock above the sea, is genuinely beautiful. The restaurants are extraordinary. And the hotels, a handful of true palaces, represent some of the finest hospitality anywhere on earth.
"Monaco is the only place in the world where a Tuesday afternoon feels like the most important night of the year."
The hotels we've selected represent the defining addresses of luxury in and around Monaco. Two are legendary Monégasque palaces; the third, The Maybourne Riviera, perches just across the French border on a cliff above the principality. Each has hosted emperors, royalty and the world's most celebrated names.
Nowhere on earth is so much concentrated into so little space. The finest hotels, restaurants, shops and yachts, all within walking distance. Monaco is luxury distilled to its purest, most intense form.
The Grimaldi family has ruled Monaco for over 700 years. The casino has been operating since 1863. The Hôtel de Paris opened the same year. Staying here is participating in one of Europe's great living histories.
Perched between mountains and sea, Monaco has one of the most dramatic settings of any city in the world. From a suite at the Hôtel de Paris, you look over the Casino Square, the port, and the Mediterranean all at once.
Handpicked by AiA Waves
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Monaco · Place du Casino
A legendary palace hotel overlooking the Casino de Monte-Carlo. Since 1863, the ultimate symbol of Monégasque opulence, with Michelin-starred dining, a world-class spa and suites that define grandeur.
The Hôtel de Paris is Monaco. Walking through its doors, past the bronze horse whose knee you must touch for luck, is one of the great arrival experiences in European travel. The wine cellar carved into the rock beneath Monte-Carlo is extraordinary. Book a suite overlooking the Casino Square and you will understand why this address has defined luxury for over 160 years.
Official photography
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Monaco · Square Beaumarchais
Belle Époque grandeur meets contemporary luxury in the heart of Monaco. Renowned for its Winter Garden with a glass-and-iron dome by Gustave Eiffel, the Michelin-starred Pavyllon restaurant by Yannick Alléno, and the legendary Thermes Marins spa.
The Winter Garden at the Hermitage, with its soaring Eiffel dome and afternoon light, is one of the most beautiful interior spaces in Monaco. The Thermes Marins spa, carved into the cliffside above the sea, is extraordinary. This hotel has the most distinctive personality of Monaco's great palaces.
Official photography
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Roquebrune-Cap-Martin · French Riviera
Perched dramatically above the Mediterranean with breathtaking views of Monaco and the French Riviera. The newest jewel of the Côte d'Azur: infinity pool, private beach and Michelin-starred dining.
The Maybourne Riviera is the most exciting hotel to open on the Côte d'Azur in a generation. The cliffside infinity pool, suspended above the Mediterranean with Monaco spectacularly laid out right beneath you, is as close to a cinematic experience as hospitality gets.