Maison Albar Le Victoria

In Nice, a hotel called Victoria seems to explain itself. The Queen spent several winters on the hill at Cimiez, and the seafront is named after her countrymen. Anyone checking in might expect lace curtains and tea at four. Le Victoria, just off the Promenade des Anglais, is named after someone else entirely. Its Victoria is the fifth generation of the Albar family, who own the place. The Queen wore black for forty years. Her namesake's hotel is dressed in azure.

The building used to be another hotel and has been redesigned throughout, in the spirit of a Riviera villa of the 1930s. Lacquered wood and Biot glassware give it a polish that never turns formal, and lace is nowhere to be seen. Art commissioned for the house hangs on the walls, and even the corridors have a scent of their own. Outside is the Carré d'Or, a minute from the sea and a few more from Place Masséna.

There are a hundred and thirty-two rooms and suites, and the ones facing the sea, with a balcony, are worth asking for. The city side has terraces, but not the sea. The smallest sea-view rooms are snug, while the larger ones open onto loggias. Families can take one of the Merveilles suites, facing the hills, with room for everyone. The Victoria suite, the grandest of all, comes with a sea-facing terrace slightly bigger than the suite itself. On the Riviera, that is simply a matter of priorities.

Nobody here is waiting for tea at four. The ritual moves up to the roof instead, where an infinity pool on the sixth floor faces the Baie des Anges, with the hills rising behind. The pool shuts before dinner, which settles the order of things. First comes a swim with the bay below, then a glass from the rooftop bar while the sky over the water turns pink.

Dinner stays on the roof, at Taulissa. Glenn Viel, who cooks at Baumanière in Les Baux, oversees the menu, with Fred Grava in charge of the stoves. The food is generous and made for sharing, from a chicken that arrives in its own pot to a baba served from a small cauldron. The old town can wait for another evening. Breakfast and lighter meals are served downstairs at Café Victoria, on a sunny terrace.

Not everything is quite as easy-going as the azure suggests. The Oria spa is large and has a ten-metre indoor pool next to its hammam. That pool, though, comes with a treatment booking, and in high summer it is kept for treatment guests. The hotel has no private beach, only loungers at a partner beach across the Promenade. The roof draws outside diners as well as residents.

The Queen came to Nice to rest, dressed in mourning. The other Victoria has lent her name to a pool on the roof and supper for sharing. By the sea, the younger one has the better idea.