Hôtel Mistralin, Nice

We walked up from the Promenade des Anglais, leaving the joggers and the pebble beach behind, and found Hôtel Mistralin on rue du Congrès in the heart of the Carré d'Or. It greets you in colour: a facade in faded apricot, a lobby of glazed terracotta floors, rattan, and ceramic the green of a split fig. After the city's parade of cream-and-gilt grandes dames, the effect was a relief, like opening a shutter on a bright morning. A young receptionist handed us a chilled rosé from just up the coast and pointed out, unprompted, the quietest stretch of beach. The whole place hums with the easy informality of somewhere built for summer.

The room

Our room caught the southern light most of the day and made the most of it. Walls washed a pale citron, a rattan headboard, a terrazzo-topped desk and woven Provençal textiles set the tone, with a small Juliet balcony just wide enough for a morning coffee. The detailing was considered rather than expensive: hand-glazed tiles framing the basin, a linen wardrobe curtain in place of doors, locally made olive-oil soap. The bathroom was compact but bright, with a generous walk-in shower behind fluted glass. It is not a large room, but it is a cheerful one, and the light does more for the spirits than square metres ever could.

Mistralin bottles the Riviera in its sunniest mood: all citrus, rattan and salt air, with none of the Belle Époque heaviness.The Suite Edit

Service & food

Service is relaxed and good-humoured, the sort that lends you a beach towel and remembers your name by the second day. The kitchen keeps things light: a Niçois breakfast of fougasse, fresh figs, brousse cheese and blood-orange juice, and a short rooftop menu of pan-bagnat, anchovy toasts and socca to soak up the aperitivo. It does not pretend to be a dinner destination, and on our last night we'd have liked one more option than 'go out'. The rooftop is the real draw: a clutch of deckchairs, a decent Provençal wine list, and just enough of the Baie des Anges visible between the rooftops to feel smug about it.

The verdict

Hôtel Mistralin is for sun-seekers and design-minded couples who want the sea close and the mood unbuttoned, and who would rather spend on a long lunch than a marble lobby. The honest caveat: this is a compact hotel on a working city street, the rooms run small, and the rooftop's sea view is a sliver rather than a sweep, so manage expectations if a panorama is the point. For everything else, it is a joyful, well-judged base from which to fall in love with Nice all over again.