12 avenue des Spélugues, Monaco
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In Monaco, the slowest corner has the best view. At the hairpin outside the Fairmont Monte Carlo, Formula One cars brake almost to a crawl. For a few seconds the fastest machines on earth can actually be seen, before they dive into the tunnel that runs beneath the hotel. The Fairmont sits right on top of that moment, and it has never pretended to be a hideaway. Its place is in the middle of the action.
The building is a big modern block from the 1970s, a short walk downhill from the Casino. Built partly into the coast, it stacks some six hundred rooms in terraces above the sea, and it belongs to a large international chain without hiding the fact. A full renovation has just freshened it up, though the lobby keeps a pleasant whiff of its decade. Even the heating and cooling come from seawater, pumped up from the bay beneath.
The rooms have been redone in soft creams and ocean blues, and each comes with its own terrace. The question is what that terrace faces. Most open towards the sea or the garden, and some look straight down on the hairpin, front-row seats for anyone who likes engines. In race week, those are the rooms everybody wants. None of them is particularly large, which makes the terrace and its view all the more important. Families now have new suites with kitchens and generous living rooms, a rare thing this close to the Casino.
Lacking a beach, the hotel took the beach club to the roof. In summer Nikki Beach moves in around the heated pool, with white daybeds and plenty of champagne, while the coast stretches away towards Italy. It is loud and entirely unapologetic. Out of season the music drops, and the roof turns almost peaceful, left to the swimmers. Either way, lunch arrives at the lounger without anyone having to get up.
Dinner can be on the roof too, at Amù, a Mediterranean restaurant whose name is Monégasque for love. Downstairs, Nobu has been redone in pale oak, with the sea beyond the windows, and its Japanese cooking with a Peruvian accent is where the hotel impresses most. Amù is for the view, Nobu for the plates. The lobby lounge serves international classics late into the night, a comfort for anyone who comes back hungry from the Casino.
Size has its drawbacks. Service outside Nobu can be uneven, and the breakfast room struggles at busy times. The ballroom seats well over a thousand, so conferences and gala dinners come and go. During Grand Prix week the terraces turn into grandstands. The setting below the Casino is more concrete than Belle Époque. Between the road outside and the party on the roof, quiet is never the main attraction.
The cars slow down at the Fairmont for a few seconds each lap. Its guests are under no such obligation, and the roof is where they prove it.
Heated by the sea
Under the Seawergie programme, the hotel is heated and cooled by the natural temperature of the Mediterranean, drawn through thalassothermal loops.
The Hairpin City View rooms open onto a private terrace above the Fairmont Hairpin, the bend of the Grand Prix circuit that carries the hotel's name, with the town climbing behind it. On race days the cars pass directly below. The Grand Prix Suite adds a separate living room and takes in the marina and the sea as well as the hairpin.
With no beach of its own, the hotel puts its beach club on the roof. Nikki Beach runs in the warm months around one of the two rooftop pools, with white daybeds under parasols, resident DJs and theme parties, and bar service at the loungers. One of the two rooftop pools is heated all year, so the roof stays open for swimming in winter.
Amù takes the other side of the roof in summer: a terrace restaurant whose name is Monégasque for love, cooking from the French and Italian traditions of the Riviera, with Monaco specialities, certified catch of the day and desserts finished at the table. At golden hour the bar serves aperitivo with live music; dinner continues under the open sky.
Nobu occupies a long room of pale wood and tall windows over the sea, with alcoves, a sushi bar and a terrace. Chef Nobu Matsuhisa's Japanese cooking with Peruvian influences runs from sea bass tiradito and black cod miso to wagyu and sushi. It opens for dinner only, and the Nobu Bar beside it looks over the Mediterranean.
At a glance
Where
12 Avenue des Spélugues, 98000 Monaco; on the seafront in Monte-Carlo near the Casino square, at the Fairmont Hairpin of the Grand Prix circuit; Grimaldi Forum and Yacht Club a five-minute walk, Nice Côte d'Azur airport about 30 minutes by car; valet parking with 60 spaces
Why this one
Hairpin rooms face the circuit.
Nikki Beach on the roof.
Seawater warms and cools it.
The Edit Notes
Every room has a private terrace, so the choice is what it faces. Fairmont Garden View rooms look over the hotel's own garden and are the quiet option. Hairpin City View rooms face the Fairmont Hairpin and the town. Deluxe Sea View and, on the upper floors, Signature Sea View rooms face the Mediterranean. Among the suites, the Grand Prix Suite frames the hairpin, the marina and the sea, and the Garden Suite looks across the gardens to the Casino.
The hotel lists the Formula 1 Grand Prix, the Electric Grand Prix, the Rolex Masters and the Monaco Yacht Show among its event dates, and the circuit runs past the door. For a race, the Hairpin City View rooms and the Grand Prix Suite are the seats. For anyone who has come for the sea rather than the cars, those same weeks are the ones to avoid, or to spend in a Garden View or Sea View room facing away from the track.
Nikki Beach takes over its rooftop pool from April to October, with resident DJs and theme parties; Amù serves on the roof from May to October. Out of season both close, but one of the two rooftop pools is heated all year, so a winter swim remains. Nobu serves dinner only and closes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The Lobby Lounge runs around the clock from Thursday to Sunday and into the early hours on other days.
The Junior Suites Garden View are described as fitting a family of up to four, with a terrace over the hotel's quiet garden. The Kids Club runs from 1 July to 31 August, included for hotel guests on registration, and the hotel describes one of its rooftop pools as family-friendly. Outside those two months there is no club, and the livelier pool belongs to Nikki Beach. The hotel does not list kitchens in any room or suite category.
The price question
The money buys a central address with a terrace for every room, a roof that turns into a beach club in summer and a Nobu downstairs. It does not buy calm or intimacy: this is a large conference hotel on a public road that becomes a racetrack several times a year, with the roof's restaurants closing in winter. The real comparison is a smaller hotel on Monaco's beaches or just beyond them.
Book it for a race week in a hairpin room, or for a summer stay built around the roof and dinner at Nobu, with the terrace view chosen first. A couple looking for a quiet seaside retreat, or a family that needs to cook, is better placed elsewhere.
Monte-Carlo Beach
A hotel of the Société des Bains de Mer facing the sea a few minutes from the centre of Monaco, open since 1929, with interiors by India Mahdavi, a private beach and an Olympic-size pool.
Le Méridien Beach Plaza
A Marriott hotel in Monaco with direct access to a private beach, indoor and outdoor pools and private terraces, and a Kids Club in summer.
The Extra Edit
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