Monte-Carlo Beach, Monaco's beach club that sits in France

Monte-Carlo Beach has a Monaco name, a Monegasque owner and a Monaco crowd, but it stands on French soil. It sits on the tip of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, just over the border along avenue Princesse Grace, and it belongs to the Société des Bains de Mer, like the Hôtel de Paris. I’ve read through its official 2026 rates, which the SBM does publish as a PDF, and here’s what I think is worth paying for and what isn’t.

Hotel, club and pool since 1929

The SBM bills it as “a hotel, a club, an institution”, open since 1929. The hotel has 40 five-star rooms and suites designed by India Mahdavi, and out on the headland stands Villa La Vigie, which the SBM offers for family holidays and celebrations. The Exclusive rooms measure 30 m² with a 4.5 m² sea-facing loggia, and the ground-floor Superiors have a terrace with steps down to the La Vigie promenade.

What made the place famous, though, is the club. The Olympic-sized pool is heated seawater at 28°C, 0.80 to 3.50 metres deep, with two diving boards, a small pool for under-3s and a bar. Interior designer Dorothée Delaye reworked it, and the hotel itself points out that in 2017 it won the Villégiature award for best hotel pool in Europe. Next to it is the private beach, with 200 tents, 90 cabins and 30 sunbeds for hire by the day or the season.

How much is a day at Monte-Carlo Beach?

Here’s the surprise. Plenty of people assume it’s guests only, and it isn’t. The pool is open to hotel guests, to guests of other SBM hotels and to day visitors, who pay an entry fee that includes a sunbed. The price depends on the date and the spot. From 13 to 30 April a pool sunbed costs €120; on weekdays in May, June and September, €200; at weekends in June, €260; and in July and August, €360. The pontoon sunbed, over the sea, runs from €150 to €390. All per person, with two towels.

Children aged 6 to 12 pay half and under-6s get in free. Valet parking is included. Cabins, cabanas and private sun terraces are rented separately and also require an entry fee of €70 to €100 per person.

If you’re staying at an SBM hotel, check what it includes first. According to the company, a room at the Hôtel de Paris or at the Hermitage comes with Beach Club access in season.

Is Monte-Carlo Beach worth it?

For me, once, and chosen well. I’d pay for a pool day on a Tuesday in June rather than a Sunday in August, because the gap is €200 against €360 for the same sunbed. And I wouldn’t pay €390 for the pontoon in high summer with Larvotto just across the border, public and free; I compare the options in Monaco’s beaches.

What I’d do without hesitation, budget permitting, is have dinner at Elsa. It’s Marcel Ravin’s restaurant, with a Michelin star and seafood cooking, and in 2023 La Liste gave it an award for ethical and environmental responsibility. The other three restaurants are Le Deck, Mediterranean; Maona, Greek; and La Vigie Zanoni, Italian.

Opening times and the 2026 season

The beach and the pool open from 13 April to 11 October 2026. From 21 June to 31 August the club opens 9:00 to 20:00, and from 1 to 11 October 9:00 to 18:30; for the rest of the season the website gives no hours. The five cabins with terraces, for 2 to 4 people, open from 21 June, 10:00 to 20:00, from €400 a day and by phone booking only. The Petit VIP kids’ club, for ages 4 to 12, ran daily from 1 June to 31 August and at weekends only in September, until the 27th.

Getting to Monte-Carlo Beach

It’s on avenue Princesse Grace, just over the border from Monaco’s Saint-Roman district. By car, from Nice you come off the A8 at exit 56, and from Italy at exit 58. If you’re walking from the Principality, it helps to know that La Rousse-Saint-Roman is the last neighbourhood before the border.

Two practical points for British visitors. You’re in France, so your phone is in the EU, and once you’re back in Monaco, UK providers apply their own terms. And the rest of Roquebrune, with its castle and medieval village, is in things to do in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin.