Don't look any further for its name, it was simply Henri Nesgresco who had it built in 1913.
Hotel Negresco is a luxury hotel located on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice.
It was awarded its fifth star in August 2009.
It is one of the rare survivors of the hotel industry of the early 20th century.
Its facades are based on a neoclassical pattern, with an opulent quasi-baroque ornamentation.
On 13 June 2003, the façades and roofs of all the buildings overlooking the four streets, as well as the large central hall known as the "royal salon" with its glass roof, were listed in the inventory of historic monuments.
On 1 March 2001, it was awarded the "20th Century Heritage" label.
It was born under the impulse of the Romanian Henri Negresco who for many years and in palaces all over Europe, was the irreplaceable maître d'hôtel for extremely wealthy clients. Negresco entrusted the design of the building to the architect Édouard-Jean Niermans to whom we owe, among others, the Hôtel du Palais in Biarritz, the transformations of the Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo, the Moulin Rouge, the Casino de Paris.
The plan of the hotel adopted and corrected by Negresco is reminiscent of that of the Grand Hotel in Madrid.
A sumptuous inauguration...
On January 4, 1913, the inauguration was sumptuous.
Everyone was ecstatic in front of the large elliptical Louis XVI-style hall, the luminous rotunda, the giant carpet costing 300,000 francs at the time and the furnishings signed by Paul Dumas in the 450 rooms.
The glass roof, as evidenced by its classification as a historic monument, is the work of Edouard-Jean Niermans, who designed his buildings in their entirety.
Modernity is not to be outdone, as witnessed by the electric switches within easy reach, the air suction cleaning, the steam autoclave and the installation of a pneumatic tube mail distribution service in the rooms.
The Negresco survived the two wars and in 1957 the hotel was bought by Jean-Baptiste Mesnage. He entrusted it to his daughter Jeanne who had just married Paul Augier, a lawyer and politician from Nice.
The hotel remained a palace but also became a permanent art gallery.
After her husband's death in 1995, Jeanne Augier continues to run the hotel, which today remains one of the few independent palaces in France.
As the centenary of the Negresco approached, major works were started and gave the palace an astonishing lustre.
Jeanne Augier, with no descendants, decided to bequeath the Negresco and her fortune to a foundation which has three objectives: the defence of animals, the help given to the handicapped or people in distress, as well as active participation in cultural preservation in France, in particular by ensuring the safeguarding of the Negresco Hotel and its collections.
On 7 January 2019, Jeanne Augier died in her apartment in Nice at the age of 95.
Many investors are interested in acquiring the palace, but for the time being, Jeanne Augier's fortune and heritage, including the Negresco, are officially managed by the Mesnage-Augier-Negresco endowment fund.
A showcase for the big screen
We have often seen Le Negresco in the cinema, more than thirty films have been shot there, "La Cage aux folles 2" or "Le Héros de la famille", directed by Thierry Klifa in 2006, in Nice.
Many scenes from this film were shot in a natural setting at the Negresco: the hall, the Versailles lounge, one of the suites, the restaurant Le Chantecler and the bar Le Relais were used.
The entire film crew was housed at the Negresco.
In the credits we find Catherine Deneuve, Emmanuelle Béart, Miou-Miou, Gérard Lanvin, Claude Brasseur, Valérie Lemercier, Géraldine Pailhas.
In 1965, Georges Lautner filmed " Ne nous fâchons pas " with Mireille Darc and Lino Ventura.
Hôtel Negresco
37, Promenade. des Anglais,
06000 Nice
Tél. : 04 93 16 64 00
http://www.hotel-negresco-nice.com/
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator
(free version)
