There is no other country more synonymous with success like Monaco. There just isn’t. This tiny principality, with France on one side and the glorious Mediterranean on the other, is the physical representation of the good life. If you are here, you are “in.”
But you still gotta find a place to stay, and when every property is billed as “luxury,” the word loses its definition. What is the best of the best when the best of the best is all around you?
If your digs have the “Monte Carlo Societe des Bains des Mer” stamp, you are definitely in the right direction — if not at the finish line. Managing some of the toniest hotels and casinos in Monaco, nay, the world, this is a company for whom “luxury” means something.
As it happens, Monte Carlo SBM is actually hard to avoid; 52 of their 58 properties cram into the 0.78 square miles of Monaco’s territory. It is a fool’s game to name a king of the hill, but after 150 years of exemplary service, the usual go-to, the Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo, is going through a refurb. But no fear! The Hôtel Hermitage Monte-Carlo stands ready — and is hardly anything to sniff at.
Imperial, palatial, and radiating the elegance of the Belle Epoch, the atmosphere is nevertheless decidedly carefree and “joie de vive.” While built in an age of very rigid social strictures, the whole point of the Hôtel Hermitage was to throw that damn man-corset out the window (it was the only way to maintain the line of a tuxedo). That idea lives on to this day; you are on vacation, after all.
And when Gustave Eiffel, of eponymous tower fame, had a hand in the look of the place, you know you are in for something good. You get a good dose of him when you enter — Eiffel designed the lobby. He is also the brains behind the sublime dome of the hotel’s winter garden.
But while all that and being laid-back is all fine and good, this is still a prestige address. Of the 278 rooms, 25 are suites and 52 are junior suites. A rarified nine are “diamond suites;” Euro-flick fans will want to check out the one favorited by and named after Marcel Pagnol, one of the Great Ones of French cinema. With uninterrupted panoramas of the English courtyard, the Rock of Monaco and Prince’s Palace, the view is no less inspiring today as it was in the day.
Like I said: “Luxury” means something. Or it should, anyway.
For more information, go to montecarlosbm.com or contact Steele Luxury Travel to plan your trip at [email protected] or 646.688.2274.