Good comfortable hotel & location no more than 10-15 minute walk from everything. Stayed 2 nights early June 08 with 2 friends. Hotel very easy to find half way between train station and promenade. Reception up small flight of stairs. Reception/lounge area spacious clean and modern. Check in smooth with pleasant & helpful staff. Maps provided.
3 single rooms on floor 2. 2 rooms had balacony with table/chairs and 1 room had small balcony but not big enough for chairs. Bedrooms fairly spacious by French standards with good size bathrooms. Flat screen TV with variety of channels including BBC1(although think London regional version).
Breakfast room just off reception. Average size but usually very quiet when we were there. Good variety on offer - rolls, cereal, ham, cheese, pastries, fruits, yoghurts, toast, boil your own eggs, teas, coffee, juices. Have read other comments about food running low which was the case with us but when we pointed this out stocks were replenished so not really an issue.
Lovely Sicilian restaurant next door to hotel. Great food and fairly average prices. On that note food prices vary quite considerably in Nice but found everything to be of a pretty good standard. Our meal costs varied from 1 course with bottle of wine for the 3 of us at 35euro total to 2 courses with wine and beer at over 100euros but you can tell from the menu in advance how much you are going to pay. There is also a lovely restaurant as you head from the hotel to the promenade. Cannot remember the name but may be "Baracuda"? Fantastic food and great friendly staff.
Recommendations for Nice would be Castle Hill. Lovely walk and views are fantastic. Very interesting old cemeterys on way back down. Tho old town is lovely with lots of little alleyways to explore and great restaurants. Also must visit Monaco/Monte Carlo. So easy and quick to get to on train and fairly inexpensive. Great area for sitting back and taking in the atmosphere not to mention people watching!
Overall I would recommend this hotel having stayed in others in Nice which were more expensive and not that nice. Thinking of going back next year but must admit after wandering through the fab food markets am seriously considering a self catering apartment. If not will definately stay in this hotel.

Le Malmaison looks pretty ordinary from the outside. But it packs a punch. Starting with its location.

Step out of the hotel, and the street leads to the Nice train station (5-7 mins.) on one end and the spectacular Promenade de Anglais (5 mins.) on the other end. Nice is a cozy little town / city, very likeable, and visually appealing and an ideal spot for exploring the cote d’azur via the excellent ligne d’azur (trains).

The unremarkable outer façade of the Le Malmaison hotel could fool you, but once inside, you’re comforted by the clean and spiffy interiors. The rooms are Euro-smart and new. We got room no. 38, without a balcony, but larger on area as a trade-in. The toilets were excellent, with a semi-circular Jacuzzi-like bath tub; the towels super clean. There’s even an attached kitchenette with an electric hob, sink, microwave and a fridge. No cutlery though…but if you ask, they happily provide.

The guys at the reception were extremely helpful with tips, advice and taxi bookings. Special mention must be made of the nerdy ‘Bruno’ (a Toby Maguire lookalike) and the cheerful lady with the ‘dot’ on the forehead (a la Goddess ‘Durga’). Excellent people, right vibes.

The breakfast is basic and make-does. The lady handling it was a little curt and post-10am, we saw her changing into her day-job clothes and strutting out, even as we were finishing our breakfast !

If you’re back to the hotel early and still looking for some activity, you can walk across (3-4 mins.) to the Cinema Rialto on Rue de Rivolli, which runs all the latest English flicks.

Daytime, head for the quaint Cours Selaya area (old town) which is great for soaking up the ambience and choc-a-bloc with restaurants. Nice however is ideal for day trips via train, to Antibes / Cannes (35-40 mins.), Monaco (25 mins.), and Ventimiglia (Italy 35 mins.). Of special interest is the spectacular perfume city of Grasse (55 mins.). They have free shuttles to the city centre from the train stations, and the famous ‘Fragonard’ perfume factory is right there, for a (free) tour !

We only stayed one night at La Malmaison but it was a pretty decent stay. The elevator wasn't working when we arrived and so we had to take the stairs - up three flights. When we got to our room, my first impression was that it felt dark. The carpet was like a dark blue color but when I opened up the curtains (revealing a large window) the room brightened up nicely. The washroom size was quite large, comparable to any 4 star hotel in North America. They had the basic toiletries and a nice towel warmer. The only thing I didn't like about the washroom was that the partition for the shower was not large enough so it caused alot of the water to splash onto the floor (they didn't have a shower curtain, instead they had a half glass partition merged into the tub). The bed was fairly comfortable although the pillows were very flat. The TV had some decent English channels but was quite tiny, my guess is a 24". There was also an in-room safe which I found very convenient. And the service at the check-in desk was quite good, friendly and efficient. We didn't eat there so I can't comment on the food but overall our experience was not bad, but I felt it was overpriced compared to what we pay here, but I'm told that by France standards, it was reasonable (we paid about $317 CDN after all taxes). The location was a bit of a walk from the busy areas, but the surrounding buildings were very pretty and the area felt safe. I would probably stay here again as it was one of the more modern hotels.

My wife and I orginally were in another hotel in Nice but left to find a better one, we ended up at the the La Malmaison Hotel, it was great. First off the staff are the nicest hotel staff I have ever encountered in the world (and I travel), very helpful and always nice. The location of the hotel is in a quiet area of nice away from all the crazy college kids, which was a major plus. From the outside of the hotel it doesnt have the charm like some of the other hotels, but who cares you dont sleep on the outside. The inside is very nice and modern, we stayed in room 43, great room definitly recommend it. Tons of space, AC works great, very clean and modern, TOTALLY worth it. Anytime I go back to nice I wouldnt even give it a second thought, Im going here.