There are hotels that overlook the sea. The Anantara Plaza Nice seems to be one of them. Perched on the Promenade des Anglais since 1936, in this Belle Époque building whose ochre facade evokes a century of summer resorts, it embodies what is most distinctive about the Riviera: the belief that luxury and authenticity are not mutually exclusive, that you can stay in a luxury hotel and eat like a local, swim in the Mediterranean, and return to enjoy a massage using Thai techniques—Anantara being a hotel collection founded in Thailand.
Dolce Riviera: Summer on the Agenda
For the summer of 2026, the hotel is launching Dolce Riviera, a program of experiences designed to reveal a different side of Nice. The name says it all: the “good life” here isn’t just a cliché from a brochure—it’s a concrete promise. The program combines experiences centered on the sea, dining, culture, and wellness, with the aim of offering an enriched stay rather than mere lodging. What the hotel calls “immersive” reflects a major trend in contemporary luxury hospitality: transforming a stay into a journey of discovery, turning free time into a time of genuine connection with the place.
Nice, That Underrated City
There’s something about Nice that the brochures don’t mention enough: the city is strange—in a good way. It’s neither truly French nor truly Italian; it has its own character, its own dying dialect, and its own cuisine (socca, pan bagnat, pissaladière) that has nothing to do with what you eat in Lyon or Paris. It has museums so rich in art they’re almost overwhelming—the Matisse, the Chagall, the Museum of Modern Art—and markets so abundant they’re almost overwhelming. The Anantara Plaza Nice, through Dolce Riviera, is betting that its guests will want to step inside, not just view it from the balcony.
What Dolce Riviera Reveals About the Luxury Hotel Industry in 2026
Offering a structured summer program is nothing new. But doing so with such a wealth of local and sensory experiences—weaving together gastronomy, heritage, and wellness into a cohesive narrative—is more rare. Dolce Riviera positions the Anantara Plaza Nice not as a gateway to the French Riviera, but as a destination in its own right, capable of generating its own travel stories. This is the distinction that the most ambitious luxury hotels have been striving to establish for years.
The Promenade des Anglais continues to change, to reinvent itself, and to search for its post-traumatic identity. The Anantara, unflappable in its century-old building, offers that rare luxury: continuity. And this summer of 2026, it’s bringing that to life through its program.
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