Update On The Café de Paris Revitalization in Monte-Carlo Monaco

On Friday afternoon, SBM (Société des Bains de Mer) unveiled the exciting, new design plans for the revitalized Café de Paris at an exclusive press conference.

The renovation plans have been approved and the works, which are said to total €40 million, will be completed at the end of June next year.

Architects Alexandre Giraldi and Alain-Charles Perrot are in charge of modernizing the Café de Paris. The aim is to maximize the potential of an iconic building, which honestly was starting to look very dated and not in keeping with the glam potential that Monte-Carlo usually likes to adhere to and showcase.

In the images shown at the press conference, it appears the building will thankfully keep to its Belle Epoque era architectural design, yet offer even more to the people it has already enticed for decades.

With this revitalization, the brasserie of the Café de Paris will be getting two additional floors, including a unique rooftop and a variety of boutiques. The Brasserie will extend onto two floors, with a partially glassed roof that will create a naturally lit ground floor bar.

There will also be an ‘Amazonico’ restaurant, a concept from Madrid that combines tropical and Latin American cuisines. The restaurant, which also has a presence in London and Dubai, will be placed in the Salle Bellevue, which will also be enlarged, and will open onto a large rooftop. With that, there will also be a speakeasy-style bar.

It has been said that there will be an additional 800㎡ dedicated to boutiques which will be accessible from Casino Square to Jardin des Spelugues.

The revealing of this new design shows great respect to the Monte-Carlo Casino Square and once opened, will once again be a much-desired attraction for all to enjoy.

At this time, the Brasserie has moved to the Salle Empire for the duration of the work, while the lemonade terrace has been left undisturbed. The Café de Paris casino and the boutiques will also remain in place, although the SBM boutique has been moved to the Avenue de Monte-Carlo at this time.

Get Packing! Nice Airport Reopens Flights!

Here is something many of us not only in the French Riviera but worldwide have been waiting for, the Nice Côte d'Azur Airport reopens flights to over 100 destinations.

A sure sign that things are coming back to a new normal, with most of the remaining Covid19 restrictions being lifted as of March 14, 2022, now, the Nice Airport has announced they will open again to an almost complete capacity starting on March 27, 2022.

Just in time as people start to plan their summer vacations in the region and the rest of France.

Nice’s airport is considered the main hub of all flight activity in the region, and now, this means instead of all flights going through Terminal 2, now Terminal 1 at the airport will also soon be reopening its doors, with the best sanitary conditions in place.

The airport will be offering 106 flights from 52 airlines (18 in France and 89 international flights, including 8 long-haul flights) to 41 different countries. This number is close to the number of pre-pandemic flights: Nice Côte d’Azur Airport offered a network of 121 destinations to 44 countries in the summer of 2019.

In addition to this news, more direct flights will also be available.

Many travelers have been eagerly awaiting long-haul flights, which will finally be making a comeback with eight direct connections. Air Canada and Air Transat will connect Nice to Montreal.

Kuwait Airways will fly to Kuwait, with a stop at Rome Fiumicino, and Emirates will fly directly to Dubai.

Delta Airlines will offer a daily flight to New York JFK, while La Compagnie and United Airlines will connect Nice to Newark daily. In addition, Gulf Air will operate at Nice for the first time and will open a route to Bahrain.

Seven new destinations will also be added to the airport’s list: Bahrain, Heraklion, Cluj, Reykjavik, Southampton, Tirana, and Valencia.

Five airlines will operate at Nice for the first time: Condor, to Düsseldorf and Frankfurt, Icelandair, to Reykjavik, Fly One, to Chisinau, United Airlines, which is adding a third long-haul flight to New York and Gulf Air.

Nice Côte d’Azur will then be able to maintain its position as the second airport in France to offer long-haul seats, with 380,000 seats offered.

These new additions at the airport signify a welcome recovery from the pandemic, and that the French Riviera still stands as a much-desired travel destination.

New Bike Path from Nice to Monaco

 

If there is one sport much beloved here in France, it’s cycling.

It’s not unusual any day of the year to see people on their own or as a small group heading out on their bikes whether it’s for leisure or in a competitive manner.

Almost a year ago, Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi presented his 2021-2026 Cycling Plan for the greater Nice Cote d’Azur area. This plan is targeted at seeing 10% of all local travel being done by bicycle, with an additional 160 kilometres of bike paths, with 75 of those kilometres being within the city of Nice alone along with increasing the number of parking spaces on both the streets and in parking garages for cyclists.

Finally, the plan is now to become a reality as 100,000 euros have been allocated to renovated and expand, with a promise of this sum to be renewed every year.

What is also interesting about this project is the new link between Nice and the Principality of Monaco. The route planned will use the largest possible number of kilometres so that those people cycling can get the most out of their workout and ride to each destination.

The links proposed have been researched and overall well determined as automatic counters have been clocking bike traffic since October of 2019, with 13 spots in Nice, three in Saint Laurent du Var, two in Cagnes-sur-Mer, with one each in Carros, Broc, and Gattieres.

As anyone knows, the Promenade des Anglais at any time of the year is the busiest crossing point where on average 4000 daily crossings have been made since May 2020. 

Monaco has been known for years for its eco-friendly, green movement, and cycling is at the top of the list when it comes to that alternative form of transportation.

The launch of the electric bike company, MonaBike a couple of years ago is indicative of such a shift with stations set up throughout the Principality. Or, another wonderful, alternative experience can be found with Velo Monaco.

And in the city of Nice, Vélo bleu rental locations are also situated throughout the city for both tourists and locals to take advantage of as an alternative to cars or even public transit.

Little by little, cycling is becoming the more popular way around the region. Cycle safely.

Summer 2022 Holiday Villa Rental Season

 

It’s definitely started.

The requests for summer holiday villa rentals from my business, Experience The French Riviera have been coming in fast and furious the past week, almost as though winter has been forgotten about already and people are ready to move on.

Reminiscent of before the Covid19 pandemic took hold of all our lives, with restrictions slowly lifting globally, it’s time to live fully again with those planning ahead to have the best summer vacation season.

The consensus seems to be the same with our regional villa rental partners, the time to book is now, as we mentioned in our recent meetings, we fear those who hesitate are sadly going to miss out.

All the travel reports we are reading state that although last year felt very much like before, there was still a lot of caution in the air as restrictions could change quickly with most villa requests being last minute. 

You can tell already due to the number of requests and confirmed bookings, this season will be crazy busy.

Smaller quality villa rentals at the lower end of the budget spectrum are already about 70% booked out.

People are also booking for longer periods as they seem to want to discover their holiday surroundings more but also have a base to stay without moving frequently. Weekly rentals are still available with just over half of our clients looking for a month or two vacation stay to enjoy with their friends and/or family.

Helpful tips:

The time to plan is now.

Sit down with who you are traveling with and decide where in the region you would like to be most that will cover your holiday interests.

This next one is big - be realistic in what you can get for your budget.

We want to make your holiday dreams come true but again, in the meetings with other partners of late, if clients are asking for something that completely surpasses their budget, they are going to be left feeling disappointed and we don’t want that for you.

Here in the French Riviera, anything by the sea and within walking distance to everything is going to be expensive, especially at the height of summer.

Keep in mind, even those with a high range of disposable funds, still have to make sacrifices so it comes down to what is more of a want than a need.

Ask yourself what is most important for your holiday rental.

What are your plans while here? Will you be staying in the villa most of the time or out and about? What kind of place will you require that you can afford? What is important in terms of amenities close by? Beach? Shops? Restaurants? Nightclubs?

Most everything in the region is accessible, it comes down to how you will spend your time.

Dates for your holiday are also important for us to know. If you are a bit flexible on those, great! More options might be available.

 

Villa owners book weekly, usually Sunday to Sunday as it works best for their calendars and is easier to manage with maintenance and cleaners for the next guests arriving.

Weekend rentals are very rare to come across and there is really no such thing as renting a villa overnight.

Have an event or wedding in mind? Villa owners usually need a permit for those types of things but we can certainly introduce you to the right partners in mind who work solely with people wanting to have an event.

The number of total guests is also important. It will be one of the first questions a villa owner will ask, also if there will be any children and their ages so that they can make sure their property is safe for them over anything.

Something that also came up quite frequently last summer was clients seeking a 4-5 bedroom villa rental but intending to have 15-20 people stay. Owners won’t go for that and if they find out, the client may be asked to leave their property. Two villa rental options close by might work though as an option.

Having a budget range is also key. This helps us narrow down the search quickly for what is available for the dates requested and again, also offers you more choices.

We are used to and can always negotiate with an owner on rates depending on the situation. We also have a reputation for not being commission hungry and are happy to be more flexible on our commission to get the client what they want.

Again though, a budget has to be realistic. We understand talking about money can be a delicate subject so feel free to connect with us one on one and we can confidentially let you know honestly what properties tend to rent out for in the location desired and what we can do for you.

We don’t want your time wasted, so this helps move things a bit faster for both of us and we can then work on a plan together to get your holiday villa rental.  

When you are ready, it's time to book as what tends to happen here is when stock becomes low for everyone, then the bidding wars for a villa rental start.

Keep in mind, if our properties become completely booked, we can certainly and without hesitation introduce you to one of our local business partners who might be able to help.

One of the main ideas behind starting Experience The French Riviera 11 years ago was to form long-term legal business partnerships with others as part of a shared economy to help those discover the region at its best and so that you have the most memorable stay ever.