When Valéry Grégo got a call from the mayor of Nice, asking whether he’d be interested in transforming a 1604 convent into a luxury hotel, the Parisian hotelier had no idea that it would take him over ten years and cost over €100 million. He’s talking to me on the eve of the opening of L’Hôtel du Couvent, surrounded by about a hundred workmen, panicked looking staff, a spa full of painters and the sounds of blaring fire alarms. What he knows now, he says, is that “this is definitely my last. It feels like my life’s work.”
When the 88-room hotel is finished, and the staff have settled in, there certainly won’t be any other place like France’s latest luxury hideaway. It lies tucked beneath the ruins of Greek and Roman civilisations on Castle Hill, and towering above the characterful medieval kingdom of Savoy and 18th and 19th-century French structures of Nice’s Old Town. But the hotel brings together the historic and modern in a way that feels totally fresh.
Within the nunnery’s original creamy walls and beneath terracotta-tiled roofs lie soothing, monastic interiors created by the smart Parisian design duo Festen. These respect the spartan, spiritually austere spirit of the building, while introducing sumptuous spots of beauty: a polished antique refectory table glowing beneath gothic arched ceilings, an Italian font-like basin beside a simple oak bench.
That it’s so aesthetically and spiritually pleasing is because every single detail has been considered by Grégo — a former science and philosophy masters student-turned-banker-turned-hotelier, adorned with tattoos and earrings — and his architect brother, Louis-Antoine. They paid particular attention to aligning the philosophical, physical and cultural elements of the project. Everything within the 2.5-acre site circles back to the history of the building, and to Nice itself. The spa, whose tepidarium, sauna and caldarium are housed beneath arched ceilings lit through two enormous circular holes in the roof, is based on an old Roman bathhouse. The food, mostly produced on their own farm and cooked on fires and their own bakery, is like, Grégo says, “a Nicoise which grandmother might have made — but given a twist by a super-chef”. There’s even a pharmacy tucked within the old cloisters whose design is based on the original used by the nuns. It’s lined with wooden drawers and glass bottles of local plants from which the town’s charming herboriste, Grégory Unrein, dispenses bespoke and ready-to-use mixtures for a range of issues — from a tisane to aid sleep, to botanical mixes to help digestion and boost energy.
The gardens, when fully grown, will perhaps be the hotel’s crowning glory. Originally designed by Tom Stuart-Smith then rustically planted by French olive-farmer-turned eco-gardener, Angello Smaniotto, they combine practical veg beds that would have once been tended by nuns, alongside romantic wild Italianate gardens like those that lay on the hilltop above. Borders are thick with jasmine and fennel, cornflowers and poppies. Dotted about are plenty of spots for rest and contemplation: chapel-like follies in which to hide with a book; olive-tree planted terraces, lined with loungers for shady afternoon naps; a stainless-steel lap pool from which to admire views to the sea; beds of wild aromatic Mediterranean herbs.
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Below the garden, the Grégo brothers have created 70 rooms and 18 suites. These lie within the refurbished 17th-century C-shaped convent and its neighbouring Z-shaped new wing. One part of this is designed like the typical Savoyard balconied building, which stood there before it was bombed in the Second World War. Another part is contemporary and walled with louvres, which keep the sun out and allow the cooling sea breeze in. Those in the former monastery are the loveliest: some are cosy former nuns’ cells with adjoining marble shower rooms, others are expansive Papal suites with a private garden, a vine-covered roof terrace with sea views or a kitchen in which to cook produce from the hotel’s weekly farmers’ market.
In each of them, the detailing is sparse but thoughtful: pretty antique silver and glass vases filled with arrangements of seasonal flowers designed by the Montmartre florist, Muse; tubes of botanical-scented unguents by La Bottega; antique religious statues alongside spiritual contemporary art; and wide beds swathed in rustic linens by Silva that drape over the original polished limestone floors.
Like the décor, the food is rooted in a sense of place. While, as Grégo says, “no one wants to eat or live like a nun”, the ingredients and styles of cooking are simple and authentic. The chef, Thomas Vetele, who was the 36th candidate Grégo interviewed, isn’t a star — yet. But his father had published a book of monks’ recipes, and the chef understood exactly what the unconventional hotelier wanted: garden salads grown on their own farm an hour away, drenched in local olive oils and Mediterranean herbs; fresh fish cooked on the fire; hearty breads and air-light croissants cooked in the nuns’ old bakery. Certainly, the cheese and herb omelette I had for breakfast was the lightest I’ve ever had, and the fritto misto, fresh from the fishmarket, perfect for lunch, with a thick lemony aïoli and a glass of cold local rosé.
When the dust from the builders has settled, the serenity has returned to these thick, cool old walls, the birds are flitting between the fruiting trees and you can float in the tepidarium pool, looking up at shards of the famously clear Cote d’Azur light, this place will be heaven. Already the garden is pretty close to paradise.
Doubles from €390 to €6,000 for La Tres Grande Suite, marriott.com/en-gb/hotels/ncehc-hotel-du-couvent-a-luxury-collection-hotel-nice-france/overview/
