Hôtel du Couvent, a Luxury Collection Hotel

The convent dates from 1604 and was home to the Poor Clares, at the foot of the castle hill that rises over Old Nice. The restoration, led by the hotelier Valéry Grégo, cost some US$115 million and kept the original buildings, and it opened as a hotel in 2024. The nuns' cells became bedrooms, many with their alcoves, terracotta floors, fireplaces and vaulted ceilings intact, finished in lime plaster and oak.

The cloistered gardens survived. Tom Stuart-Smith, a winner at the Chelsea Flower Show, redesigned the sloping grounds around them with citrus trees and edible plants. Produce comes down from the hotel's own organic farm at Touët-sur-Var, in the hills behind Nice, and the bread is baked on site. In 2026 the hotel ranked No. 38 in The World's 50 Best Hotels and won its Art of Design Award.

• The baths A thermal circuit below ground modelled on Roman baths, with daylight falling through a stone oculus onto the caldarium, and an indoor pool.
• The apothecary A resident herbalist brews teas and remedies to order, and workshops are held in the old convent pharmacy.
• Gardens and lap pool Terraced gardens by Tom Stuart-Smith, a kitchen garden that supplies the apothecary, and a 20-metre lap pool outside.