THE REGINA

At the end of the 19th century, the European aristocracy, charmed by the mild Riviera climate and the beauty of the landscapes, decided to visit Nice. However, in 1880, the queen Victoria of England noted that no hotel could match her requirements. So, a powerful construction company of the time promised to build a comfortable palace: Excelsior Hôtel Regina. The work began under the direction of the architect Sébastien-Marcel Biasini. The building of Belle Époque style was completed in 1897: imposing and luxurious, it covers a surface area of 6,260 square meters spread over five floors with a length of 104 metres on the southern facade. The queen Victoria settled there on the left wing: a wrought iron crown still overlooks the old apartments today. Inside, the palace is filled with modernity: lifts to all floors, central heating, hot water, cleaning of waste water systems... A magnificent 8,250 square meters private garden is set in front of the hotel and it is accessed through a polished metal and marble footbridge that can be seen from the road. In this green area, lawns, badminton and croquet pitch, cycle track and tropical greenhouse delight the residents. Requisitioned by the army during the First World War, and then converted into a hospital, Excelsior Hôtel Régina was bought by a real estate agency in 1920 and the building became "Hôtel Regina". But the stock exchange crash of 1929 led the managers of the hotel in bankrupt: auctioned, the 400 bedrooms were transformed into 98 apartments while the new buyers gave the site its final name "Le Régina". Arriving from the Cimiez boulevard, you can admire a white marble statue dating from 1912 representing Queen Victoria receiving armfuls of flowers offered by young girls. Today, the building is often used as setting for many filmmakers. Façades, roofs, stairs, terraces, veranda, large lobby, corridors and secondary halls of the ground floor, decorative elements (wood panelling, blocks of letter-boxes, lighting, mirrors), gateway to the garden above the Régina sleeper, garden (including the façades and roof of the former refreshment bar) and the monument to the glory of Queen Victoria located on the public estate have been listed since 1992 as historical Monuments.