The Hotel Negresco on the Promenade des Anglais on the Baie des Anges in Nice was named for Henri Negresco (1868–1920) who had the palatial hotel constructed in 1912. In keeping with the conventions of the times, when the Negresco first opened in 1913 its front opened facing the Mediterranean sea.
Henri Negresco, born the son of an innkeeper in Bucharest, Romania, left home at the age of 15 going first to Paris then to the French Riviera where he became very successful. As director of the Municipal Casino in Nice, he had the idea to build a sumptuous hotel of quality that would attract the wealthiest of clients. After arranging the financing, he hired architect Édouard-Jean Niermans to design the hotel with Gustave Eiffel reportedly commissioned to do its now famous pink dome. The spectacular Baccarat 16,309-crystal chandelier in the Negresco’s lobby was commissioned by Czar Nicholas II, who due to the October revolution was unable to take delivery.
Over the years, the hotel had its ups and downs and in 1957 was sold to the Augier family. Madame Jeanne Augier reinvigorated the hotel with luxurious decorations and furnishings, including an outstanding art collection and rooms with mink bedspreads. Noted for its doormen dressed in the manner of the staff in 18th-century elite bourgeois households, complete with red-plumed postilion hats, the hotel also offers renowned gourmet dining at the Regency-style Le Chantecler under its new chef Bruno Turbot, brought in from Normandy when previous chef Alain Llorca took over the equally fabled Moulin de Mougins.
In 2003, the Hotel Negresco was listed by the government of France as a National Historic Building (Monument Historique) and is a member of Leading Hotels of the World. The Negresco has a total of 119 guest rooms plus 22 suites. Recently the hotel has been renovated for over some million Euro. The Negresco is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2013.
