Hyatt Regency Nice Palais de la Méditerranée

Pizzas from a wood-fired oven on full view since 1956, with a terrace on a pedestrian street and a brightly colored room upstairs.

A pink dome, a collection of art and rare furniture from the Louis XIV era to today, and the hotel's own private beach.

Good coffee and pastries, with no full meal for kids to sit through.

A sea-view apartment with two bedrooms for up to six, in the hotel where Matisse and Chekhov stayed, near the Cours Saleya market.

Five floors of fashion, accessories and beauty behind red-ochre Turin-style arcades, with a kids' space on level 2 and a restaurant looking over Place Masséna.

A large local bookstore is a good place to pick up French picture books or something for the flight home.