Lavie Maison | Hot Tub Seaside Flat

Bubbles rising in the jacuzzi, the low hum of the city beyond the shutters, and somewhere down the block, the sea. Five hundred metres, no more.

Inside: a single-level flat built for slow evenings. The jacuzzi does the heavy lifting after a day on your feet. Air conditioning for August, blackout curtains for late mornings, a proper kitchen for the days you'd rather not book a table.

Grosso sits between the port and the promenade — quieter than the Old Town, closer to real Nice. Walk five minutes to Rue Bonaparte for a coffee where locals actually go, or drift down to the pebbles at Coco Beach.

This one suits a couple, or friends travelling in a pair. A dog is welcome — just tell l'équipe first. Self check-in, so you arrive when you arrive. What stays with you is the water: the jacuzzi at night, the sea in the morning.

Step out and you're in the quieter western reach of Nice, where avenue de la Californie runs long and flat toward the sea, and the buildings hold that pale interwar stucco the light catches at 8h. A tram bell somewhere near Grosso, the newsagent on the corner unlocking his grille, and the smell of pain aux raisins from the boulangerie two doors down.

For le matin, aim for the marché de la Libération, ten minutes up the line — Niçois grandmothers arguing over socca, tomatoes still warm, and a small stand doing pissaladière by the slice. Order it folded in paper and eat it walking. It's the one thing that will make you understand why people here rarely bother going to Cours Saleya.