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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Ancien Impérial hotel originated in a villa built around 1880 on Boulevard Carabacel in Nice by architect Sébastien Marcel Biasini. The latter, trained at the Beaux-Arts de Paris, was a key actor in Nice's urban planning, especially in the Cimiez district, where he designed villas and hotels like the Excelsior Regina. The villa, built on the site of the former Meyrargues property, already reflected the classic eclectic style that would later characterize the hotel.

In 1932, the villa was transformed into a hotel under the name of Imperial Hotel by architects Charles and Marcel Dalmas. Charles, a graduate of the Fine Arts of Paris and author of prestigious buildings on the Riviera (Carlton de Cannes, Palais de la Méditerranée), supervised the works with his son Marcel. The renovation preserved the ordered facade, with its three central spans and its front bodies in pavilion, while integrating a central hall distributing the four levels of the building.

The interior of the hotel, designed to accommodate travellers, reveals a preserved decoration from the beginning of the twentieth century: murals, panelling, leather papers and painted ceilings adorn the common spaces (vestibulum, hall, staircase). These elements, attested by ancient photographs, bear witness to the luxurious atmosphere of the time. The ensemble, including the garden and the grills, was inscribed in the Historical Monuments in December 2022.

The Imperial hotel is part of the architectural history of Nice, marked by the rise of seaside tourism at the turn of the 20th century. Its eclectic style, combining classicism and local influences, illustrates the transition between 19th century aristocratic villas and the major modern hotels of the French Riviera. Today, there is still a rare example of the preservation of original interior decorations in a hotel establishment.

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