Our journey begins like a fairytale – right in the heart of Nice’s old town, through a labyrinth of narrow streets with shuttered windows and moody wine bars, nestled in the shadow of castle ruins, and set in a convent from the 1600s. Hôtel du Couvent – named #37 best hotel in the world in 2025* – is beyond atmospheric.
Blink and you’ll miss the hotel’s imposing wooden entrance doors tucked away at the top of a quiet street lined with quaint bars and apartments. We’re taken aback when they open to reveal a courtyard redolent with orange trees so vibrant, even in winter.
A stunning building – the former convent, painstakingly restored but kept true to its original form – embodies all the charm of Mediterranean architecture, complete with arched windows, wooden shutters and a generous courtyard ideal for the French tradition of guinguette.
Surprising for a location this central in the capital of the Côte d’Azur, Hôtel du Couvent’s grounds are expansive, but more surprising still is the fact that this magnificent building was abandoned and unloved for around three decades until it was transformed into a hotel in 2024, much to the excitement of tourists and hotel-lovers everywhere. It didn’t take long for the word to spread and for Hôtel du Couvent to secure its status as a world-class luxury boutique destination.
It’s this intersection between past and present that makes Hôtel du Couvent so special, creating a delicate balance that embodies the simple modesty of its monastic past and the all-out luxury that brings guests back again and again. It’s custom artemisia, vetiver and amber-scented toiletries made by perfume designer Azzi Glasser, an in-room minibar with premium Japanese whisky and Grey Goose, and lavish robes and slippers paired with a chic muted colour palette in earthy tones. The aesthetic is ascetic.
The bedrooms are perfectly understated with lime-washed walls, simple gauze drapes and accents of wood, but balanced with luxe accents like high-quality linen bedding, branded umbrellas and wooden shuttered windows that open to reveal the orange-laden trees in the courtyard. In the higher category rooms, balconies provide the perfect space to enjoy a morning coffee in the sun or an aperitif mixed from your own in-room maxibar. And if you book a suite you don’t even have to mix the drink yourself as these rooms come with their own assigned butler to ensure your every need is met.
The décor is mature and refined but given a fun flourish with elements such as the white plaster light fittings throughout that are designed to resemble inverted madeleines. The madeleine (a sweet French sponge cake often flavoured with citrus) is a central motif in the story of Hôtel du Couvent, originally made onsite by the convent’s nuns as a means to generate income, and still baked freshly in the hotel’s kitchens today. Check-in is made a sweet experience with the accompaniment of these homemade treats alongside a welcome drink.
After years of lying dormant behind closed doors, the team at Hôtel du Couvent is not at all precious about sharing this incredible spot with locals and tourists alike. On Saturday mornings, the courtyard is a hive of activity as local craft makers and vendors set up a local market, open to all.
You can buy fresh flowers from provençal farms, perfectly flaky pastries from local boulangeries (which, of course, include the hotel’s own madeleine offering) and handmade crafts. Families sip coffee on the terrace and admire their newly-purchased wares.
And while this lack of exclusivity is refreshing, there are some areas that remain sacred (pun intended) just for guests, such as the Roman-style thermal spa. To visit the spa is an experience replete with religious undertones: soft lighting, meditative silence and cloister-like architecture. As bathers migrate between hot, tepid and cold pools (a method favoured by the Romans for its supposed benefits to circulation and recovery) against a backdrop of candlelight and concrete, they pass dangling lanterns that symbolise incense thuribles and arches like those found in catacombs. Above the tepidarium, a huge circular hole in the ceiling reveals the dark night sky, and the only sound is the therapeutic patter of raindrops as they splash into the pool. The room transforms during the day with light streaming through the space, bathing swimmers in warm sunshine.
In addition to the spa, guests can venture outside to the hotel’s terraced grounds, where a lap pool surrounded by loungers and greenery is the perfect way to enjoy the long sunny days so synonymous with the south of France. Historically, these gardens would have been used for growing and harvesting the vegetables and herbs used to prepare meals and for selling. Today, the gardens are still fully functional, serving as a means to bring zero-kilometer ingredients to the restaurant’s menus and providing ingredients used by the hotel’s own herbalist, who is on hand to provide tailored consultations.
During our stay, we also make sure to take advantage of the hotel’s movement studio – a calming space open 24/7 for self-serve exercise, stretching and meditation or to take part in daily guided classes such as yoga, pilates and barre.
In the morning, breakfast is served in a grand dining hall with stained glass windows and high ceilings. Below a giant chandelier in the centre of the room, one long wooden dining table caters for communal or group dining, complemented by smaller booths that are shielded by confessional-style wooden panels.
Guests have the choice of a set breakfast menu (included in the room rate) or can dine à la carte from a menu also available to non-guests. We opt for the set option, which somehow almost perfectly reflects the mood of the hotel; it’s simple and wholesome – eggs, bread, cheese – but the quality and care put into every element is exceptional.
The breads and pastries are homemade; the cheese is a slab of soft white goat’s variety drizzled with premium olive oil; the bitter orange jam and lavender honey are made with ingredients grown in the hotel’s gardens. We drink coffee from fine bone china and eat with heavy silverware and linen napkins.
Dinner is an equally considered experience (the Hôtel du Couvent restaurant has a reputation of its own as one of the finest establishments in Nice), best enjoyed after a visit to the hotel’s bar, where custom cocktails are prepared by mixologists in tuxedos. We sip the Convent Spritz (Lillet rosé, sherry, Dolin Chambéryzette, orange flower, cider) by candlelight and lounge music. The popularity and reputation that the hotel has garnered means that occupancy is regularly high, creating a palpable buzz in the communal spaces. While this might mean being more selective when choosing a time to visit the spa to beat the crowds, in the bar and restaurant it gives the sense that this is a place to be and a key new staple of niçois nightlife.
When it comes time to check out, we leave laden with more gifts: branded water and fresh madeleines (this time a special variety filled with lemon curd) for the journey. The team – all of whom have been exceptionally attentive throughout our stay, greeting us by name and providing round-the-clock care – bid us farewell.
As those wooden doors close behind us, the buzz dissipates and we find ourselves in the same quiet street at the top of Nice’s old town once again. Outside, the walls are adorned with plaques from various bodies – The Luxury Collection, Top 50 Hotels, Michelin – confirming what we too have established during our stay: Hôtel du Couvent encompasses unrivalled quality from start to finish, securing it as one of the top hotel stays around. Much like the madeleines in our bag, our stay has been perfectly-formed, filled with sweetness, and leaves us wanting more.
We stayed
in a Colettines category room, priced from €300/night including a set menu breakfast.
Our stay included access to the hotel’s Roman Baths and Movement Studio.
For best rates and offers, book directly through Hôtel du Couvent’s website.
This was a media stay – all opinions are our own.
*The World’s 50 Best Hotel’s list 2025 features Hôtel du Couvent at number 37
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