Before the advent of air conditioning and mass tourism, winter was the preferred season for genteel visitors to spend time on the Côte d’Azur, enjoying relatively balmy temperatures under the palm trees. At the same time, London, Paris, and St Petersburg endured cold, cloud, and snow.  Travellers in the know still come in winter, leaving Nice’s rocky beaches to the teeming hordes of Ryanair weekenders in European summer.  Those same savvy travellers also know about Le Windsor Jungle Art Hotel, a small gem of a property where art reigns supreme—located on a quiet street two blocks off the very busy Promenade des Anglais. Le Windsor is conveniently situated for  Mediterranean strolls to Nice’s Old Town in one direction, the Museum Of Fine Arts, and the famous Russian Orthodox Cathedral in the other.

Please don’t come to Le Windsor expecting the ordinary; it doesn’t exist here.  This intimate hotel’s guestrooms have been transformed into an art exhibit showcasing diverse styles.  While the rooms are impressive without overdone—indeed, elegant simplicity is the byword—it may be the hotel’s appealing garden that is its main attraction and gives the hotel its jungle name.  Even the most famous palace hotels lining the Promenade des Anglais a mere two blocks away cannot boast of a lush jungle of a garden in the middle of the city; Hotel Windsor’s is a beautiful mix of towering bamboo, large trees and graceful flowers edged by a swimming pool with its moon illuminating the surface by night.

Nice’s Museum of Fine Arts, a short walk from Le Windsor

Zen calm carries into the exercise and relaxation room on the top floor, an unconventional space where Chinese statues observe the room’s activities with blithe interest. Their presence counters the ground floor lobby’s Chinese daybed, exquisitely inlaid with mother-of-pearl ornamentation. The eclectic tastes of Le Windsor’s owners are displayed throughout the hotel in a way that would never be possible in a larger, corporate-owned property.

St Nicholas Cathedral, Nice

The hotel’s restaurant furthers its artistic ethos with an excellent menu offering the best French and international nouvelle cuisine. The menu focuses on the main ingredients rather than their embellishments, so expect to have your tastebuds titillated. In the summer, the garden terrace becomes an outdoor dining room, though guests can also use the garden during Nice’s mild winter.

Though initially built as a private mansion in 1896, the property was transformed into a hotel and has remained one ever since.  As an independent hotel with a singular vision to deliver a product unique in its market, Le Windsor succeeds admirably in presenting all that is revered in French culture without any of its flaws, real or imagined.  Le Windsor Jungle Art Hotel staff are exceptionally friendly and helpful when guests enter the lobby.  Employees also have a good sense of humour, a characteristic observed in the hotel decor’s many quirky features.  The grand staircase is lined with large prints of the famous cartoon character Tintin; the lift, decorated in a rocket-ship motif, emits a voice simulating a launch, counting down the numbers until the door opens at the precise moment of “Liftoff!”  In the rooms, numerous attributes set them apart from typical hotel accommodations.  All the expected comforts are to be found, of course, but so are the surprise design elements and unusual decor, most visible in the Chambres d’Artistes taken from concept to reality by a select group of artists given a free hand to turn each room into an exceptional guest experience.

Written by: Robert La Bua – Global Travel Connoisseur

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