Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort, Monaco's beach resort

The Monte-Carlo Bay is the hotel that breaks the Société des Bains de Mer’s mould. Its palaces in the centre sell history and Casino Square; this one sells water, sun and space. It stands at 40 avenue Princesse Grace, beyond Larvotto, on a four-hectare peninsula with waterfalls, gardens and a lagoon with a sandy bottom. People searching for it by name usually want to know whether it’s a proper resort or a city hotel with a pool. It’s the former.

A peninsula with its own lagoon

What defines the Bay is its land. Four landscaped hectares reach out into the sea, with a sun terrace, an indoor pool, an outdoor pool and the sand lagoon, which the SBM presents as the only one in Europe. That comparison is theirs and I haven’t been able to verify it, but there’s nothing similar in Monaco. Both pools are heated to 28°C all year, so you can swim in winter as well. The lagoon and the sea access only operate in season.

To me it’s the most pleasant set of grounds in the Principality for spending a day without moving. The trade-off is obvious enough, as you’re right on the edge of Monaco.

Is it a good base for seeing Monaco?

This is where I’d be straight with anyone booking it. From avenue Princesse Grace, the Casino is no longer on your doorstep and the Rock is at the opposite end of the country. To visit the Palace and the old town you’ll need a bus or a taxi. What you do have close by is Larvotto beach, public and free, the Japanese Garden, also free, and the new district of Mareterra on the seafront walk towards the centre.

To get there, the ZOU! 80 from Nice airport and the night 601 both stop at Sporting Bay Hôtel. Timetables and the other options are in how to get from Nice to Monaco.

Bigger rooms than in the centre

The entry room is the Superior with a city view, 44 m², between the second and fifth floors, with stone floors and white-oak furniture. That’s larger than the basic room at the Hôtel de Paris (34 m²) and more than double the Hermitage’s (18 m²). Above it are the sea-view rooms, which are the ones I’d ask for, and at the top the Diamond Suite Eleven, on the eleventh floor, reached by its own private escalator.

Check-in is at 16:00, an hour later than at the other SBM hotels, and check-out at 12:00. From 1 July to 31 August you can use the lagoon and pools from 16:00 on the day you arrive until 11:00 on the day you leave.

Two-star dinner without leaving the grounds

Blue Bay is Marcel Ravin’s restaurant, with two Michelin stars and cooking that crosses his native Martinique with the Mediterranean. It has an open kitchen, a terrace over the bay and menus that change every three weeks, with no published prices. For everyday meals there’s L’Orange Verte, a relaxed bistro, and Las Brisas in summer. The Blue Gin bar has DJs and a sea-facing terrace, and Jimmy’z, the SBM’s nightclub, is close by. I cover it in Monaco nightlife.

What’s not included and what costs extra

A detail worth knowing before you compare. The page for its basic room doesn’t include the Monte-Carlo Beach Club or the Thermes Marins, unlike those at the Hôtel de Paris and the Hermitage. It does include the hotel’s own pools, the jacuzzis, the lagoon in season and the gym. The spa is a different one, the Clarins & myBlend.

It keeps the perks the SBM offers at all its hotels. Free entry to the Monte-Carlo Casino, a private shuttle between its venues, spending charged to the room and reduced rates at the company’s Country Club and at the Monte-Carlo Golf Club, its golf course. With the shuttle, the distance to the centre matters less than it looks on the map, and it’s what I’d use to go up to Casino Square for dinner and get back without calling a taxi.

The tourist tax the SBM adds is €5 per adult a night, parking costs €40 a day and there are two free EV chargers for guests. No dogs or any other animals are allowed.

When I’d choose it and when I wouldn’t

I’d choose it for a summer with children, a pool-and-rest break, or for someone at a conference who wants to switch off once the sessions end. On those stays, 44 m² and the lagoon matter more than the address.

I wouldn’t choose it for a first two-day visit when you want to see everything on foot. For that I’d stay in the centre, at the Hôtel Hermitage if the budget runs to a palace, or in the simpler La Condamine hotels I list in where to stay in Monaco.