Novotel Monte-Carlo, Monaco's practical base by the station

Plenty of people assume that sleeping inside Monaco means paying what a palace on Casino Square charges. It doesn’t, and the Novotel Monte-Carlo is one of the hotels that proves it. It isn’t a hotel to show off about. It’s a hotel for using Monaco comfortably, and seen that way I think it’s one of the smartest practical choices you can make here.

Why the station matters more than the star rating

The Novotel stands at 16 boulevard Princesse Charlotte, and Accor’s listing puts Monaco-Monte-Carlo station three minutes’ walk away. For me that single number sums the place up. If you fly into Nice, Visit Monaco reckons on roughly 60 daily trains from Nice to Monaco, each taking 23 minutes. Step off the platform and you’re dropping your bags almost at once. The station is underground with several exits into town, and which one to use for where is covered in Monaco-Monte-Carlo station, exit by exit.

Accor describes it as an accessible alternative to Monaco’s formal luxury hotels, which feels fair. It’s a 3-star, like the Ambassador in La Condamine, and the only thing below it I’ve been able to confirm in the whole of Monaco is a single 2-star. Every option by area and category is laid out in where to stay in Monaco.

The rooms, size by size

The basic room is the Riviera Superior at 25 m², with a queen bed and sofa bed or two singles, looking over the town, the garden or the mountains depending on which you get. One garden-side room is adapted for reduced mobility. The Riviera Executive is the same size but adds a balcony and may face the garden, the harbour or the sea.

Above those are two 35 m² suites for four. The Family Suite has a king-size bed and a double sofa bed, and the Junior Suite adds a terrace with a sea or harbour view. As a couple, I’d take the Executive, because for the same floor space you get a balcony, and in Monaco the view is half of what you’re paying for. With two children in tow, I’d go for the Junior Suite.

I won’t quote a nightly rate. Like every hotel in Monaco, Accor sells by date and publishes no honest “from” price I could compare for you.

A pool, a garden and an early breakfast

What surprises me most here is the pool. It’s outdoors, set in a garden with loungers and parasols, and has its own bar, which you don’t expect from a 3-star in a city this cramped. Next to it are a gym with Technogym kit, a sauna and a hammam.

The restaurant, Azzurra Kitchen, serves Mediterranean food inside or on the terrace, and the bar has a pool table. Breakfast starts at 06:30 and finishes at 10:00, and you can have it at the buffet, in your room or to take away. That last option is handy if you want to be up on the Rock early or catch a morning train to Menton.

Where you can walk from the door

The listing gives distances that help with planning. The Casino gardens are five minutes on foot, the harbour about ten and the Monte-Carlo Casino about ten too, so dinner on Casino Square and a stroll back is easy. The Grimaldi Forum is 15 minutes away and the Oceanographic Museum, up on the Rock, around 20.

Monaco is small but very steep, and the public lifts spare you a lot of climbing. How to chain them together is in getting around Monaco. If you’re planning an afternoon at the Casino, visiting the Monte-Carlo Casino covers the times, the entry fee and the dress rules.

Who I’d send here, and who I wouldn’t

I’d recommend it to three kinds of traveller. Anyone arriving and leaving by train who wants no other logistics. A family who needs a four-bed suite and a pool for a mid-afternoon break. And anyone in Monaco for work, since there are meeting rooms and a coworking space, with the Grimaldi Forum a short walk away.

I wouldn’t pick it for the full Monte-Carlo experience. For one special night, the hotels on Casino Square are a different world, and if you want a terrace off your room and a boutique feel, the 3-star I’d compare it with is the Columbus in Fontvieille. For the Monaco Grand Prix, I’d book many months ahead, here or anywhere else.

Two things to check before you book

First, the reviews. Accor’s page shows 4.5 out of 5 from 2,841 reviews, but they’re gathered by the seller, so I’d read them alongside other sites. Second, the extras. The hotel welcomes pets and has a car park but doesn’t publish what either costs, so ask when you book. Getting here from the airport by train, bus or car is covered in Nice to Monaco.