In the blink of an eye, the Monaco Yacht Show has crept up on us once more. Now in its 35th edition (23–26 September 2026), more than 100 superyachts will gather in and around Port Hercule, along with brokers, owners, builders, contractors, the press and other industry stakeholders.
The Monaco Yacht Show brings the world of superyachts together, and it can be exhausting, so you'll want somewhere excellent to rest your weary head. Whether you're after a sanctuary away from the crowds or a spot that’s right in the action, BOAT takes a look at the best hotels in Monaco to stay in during the Monaco Yacht Show 2026...
Hôtel Hermitage Monte-Carlo
The Hermitage is a neo-classical glamour queen of a hotel. If Marie Antoinette had been born two centuries later, she would have delivered her bon mots from the balcony of a Hermitage suite – and approved of the complimentary Ladurée macarons and fat white roses. Modern divas from Kim Kardashian to Lindsay Lohan meet journalists in the nooks of the hotel’s marble wedding cake of a lobby before retreating into its hushed, pearly-tiled maze of corridors.
The Hermitage was built in 1900, literally in the shadow of the Hôtel de Paris, but ready to compete. Painter and orientalist Gabriel Ferrier designed the Salle Belle Epoque ballroom; Gustave Eiffel penned the glass dome of the Winter Garden.
Fantastical parties here have attracted jet-setters since the jet was invented; for example, the opening gala of the Bar of the Scorpions (now the Crystal Bar), held in 1969 on Princess Grace’s 40th birthday – her Zodiac sign was Scorpio and she invited only other Scorpios. Balenciaga dressed the Princess in a black ballgown and she welcomed Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, who arrived in an oversized cape embroidered with two scorpions.
Renovated in the 1970s and early 2000s, the rooms are romantic, with rococo furniture upholstered in pastel silks and velvets. But the 361-square-metre Diamond Suite Penthouse is real princess territory. Decorated in taupe, aubergine and gold, it features two sprawling terraces, three bedrooms, three living rooms, two dressing rooms, a playroom and 360-degree views of the principality.
BOOK NOWMonte Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort
Set in the easternmost part of the Principality on the Larvotto peninsula, just 120 metres from the French border, Monte Carlo Bay is a chic and contemporary hotel that boasts one of the finest views of Monaco.
But while the hotel may appear far from the action, Monte Carlo Bay is known to draw the resounding buzz of the show through its doors, thanks to its lush, waterfall-filled grounds and Michelin-starred restaurant, Blue Bay. In fact, you’ll notice that much of the show migrates east as the evening goes on, as the hotel shares the peninsula with top restaurant MayaBay and Jimmy’z, one of the most famous nightclubs on the French Riviera.
BOOK NOWHôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo
In Edith Wharton’s 1905 novel The House of Mirth, her character is drawn to this Monte Carlo hideaway, with its “exotic coquetry of architecture, the studied tropicality of the gardens”. The Metropole today remains Monaco’s snuggest sanctuary. Much of this is smoke and mirrors – it is less than 100 metres from Casino Square – but artfully composed box hedges and an extremely long drive give it the feeling of a secret garden. The lobby's organic atmosphere is enhanced by fantastical flower arrangements.
Since it opened in 1889, guests have felt comfortable enough at the Metropole to indulge their whims. The concierge once had to buy a metre of grass so a guest could practise golf in his suite, and on another occasion, staff used a crane to lift a throne to the Presidential Suite for a visiting king.
The hotel was renovated and reopened in 2004, redesigned by Jacques Garcia, Karl Lagerfeld and Didier Gomez. The resulting atmosphere is honey coloured, velvety, deeply upholstered and low-lit. The monolithic lobby bar feels like somewhere Howard Carter might have sipped his last G&T before setting off to find King Tut. Upstairs, three signature suites – Prestige, Azur and Carré d’Or – cater to different tastes, including one with a Philippe Starck bathroom and another with a view of the Grand Prix circuit.
BOOK NOWMonte-Carlo Beach Hotel
The low, sprawling Art Deco building of The Monte-Carlo Beach hotel was finished in 1929 to lure in high-end summer tourism and the American gossip columnist Elsa Maxwell was drafted in to fill it with fashionable people. She was on good terms with jet sets from Cairo to New York (she introduced Maria Callas to Aristotle Onassis) and thanks to her, the ’20s roared well into the next decade at Monte-Carlo Beach.
A 2009 makeover from Parisian designer India Mahdavi has returned the hotel’s style to its chic, deco prime. The two-bedroom Sunshine Suite features a spa pool and private terrace – but all the rooms are fabulous, with muted colours, stylised prints and “strong visual references from the Riviera of the 30s”, as Mahdavi put it. It’s easy to imagine the crimped starlets and bow-tied bounders lounging around the pool today. Indeed, Leonardo DiCaprio has been spotted keeping up his Gatsby role, smoking cigars and playing poker under the cabanas of the Monte-Carlo Beach Club, while Beyoncé occasionally zips in by yacht.
The hotel is not strictly speaking in Monaco – it’s just over the eastern border in France – but this location makes it the bolthole of choice for visitors who want a break from the principality’s pneumatic glamour. One Michelin-starred Elsa, with its bright restaurant and breezy terrace, is a great lunch escape during the Monaco Yacht Show.
BOOK NOWFairmont Monte Carlo
Perched above the glittering Mediterranean between the Casino and Larvotto Beach, the Fairmont Monte Carlo is a cornerstone of Monaco hospitality. The landmark hotel has long been a favourite of Formula 1 devotees for its views over the famous Hairpin bend and a mainstay in the yachting calendar for its prime position to Port Hercule.
In 2025, the hotel was reborn and unveiled a new aesthetic. The renovation upgraded 596 rooms and suites, as well as the hotel's restaurants. Guest rooms and suites are now bathed in soft beige, white and blue, and there are new 'resort suites' that offer big living areas, kitchens and large terraces, a popular choice for those looking for the perfect base for the Grand Prix.
The easiest way to spot the Fairmont Monte Carlo is from the continuous stream of supercars that revolve before its entrance, which spurs directly off Monaco's famous hairpin bend. Sitting just off Casino Square, the hotel couldn't be in a better position, with sea views to the front and a plethora of bars and the hairpin bend behind. The refresh also extends to the hotel’s restaurants, including Amù Monte Carlo, meaning love in Monégasque and Nobu Monte Carlo, which return in renewed form.
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BOOK HEREHôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo
Twenty paces from the Casino de Monte-Carlo, the Hôtel de Paris is such a well-worn pied-à-terre for high rollers that their superstitions have left a physical mark: the lobby's bronze statue of Louis XIV riding has had the horse’s right knee shined by the generations who have rubbed it for luck.
The hotel began welcoming guests just a year after the opening of the Casino de Monte-Carlo in 1863, and was designed to rival Parisian institutions like the Hôtel du Louvre and the Grand Hôtel. The glitterati arrived on cue, US President Grant rubbing epaulettes with Grand Duke “Serge” of Russia, while artists Verne, Verdi and Dumas feasted their imaginations on her belle époque beauty.
Extravagance was the only rule in the hotel’s early days. Beams were installed in the ceiling of one room so Empress Elizabeth of Austria could practise the trapeze before bed and one grand duke always arrived with 50 gardeners, who would work through the night so that he could open his window on to a new garden every morning. Sumptuous balls were a house speciality, from Errol Flynn’s 1950 wedding to the 1956 marriage of Prince Rainier III and Grace Kelly.
These glamorous ghosts are part of what has kept the gloss on the Hôtel de Paris. Twenty-first-century starlets and moguls tread the same tiles as belle époque bounders and 50s film stars. The hotel lets guests dive into its illustrious history through its beautifully kept marble halls, characterful antiques and suites named after famous guests, such as the Princess Grace Diamond Suite with costs starting from €40,000 a night.
BOOK NOWVilla La Vigie
So it’s not a hotel, and technically it’s just over the border in France, but Villa la Vigie is the most exclusive address around. Sitting high on the Pointe de la Veille promontory, its vistas sweep from Monaco to Roquebrune-Cap-Martin (the views are so good that the Germans seized it as an observation post in the Second World War).
The neoclassical monolith was built in 1902 by the English baronet William Ingram, owner of The Illustrated London News and a liberal politician. He held lavish parties, where his rare animals roamed the gardens and tropical birds fluttered freely. Forty years later, the Nazis were more troublesome tenants, digging trenches and planting mines in the gardens to protect their prize. When they left, La Vigie was renovated and the lush gardens restored (and de-mined).
The villa’s most famous resident was Karl Lagerfeld, who set up camp each summer from the late ’80s to the early ’90s with a brigade of supermodels and fashion royalty. Today, the villa can be rented for holidays on a weekly or monthly basis. Sleek interior décor in pale tones and sumptuous fabrics allow the elegant architecture to shine, while tall windows flood the place with light.
There are six bedrooms, two dressing rooms and a 237-square-metre terrace that wraps around two sides of the building; there is no finer spot on the Riviera for a sundowner. Privacy is a major draw for high-net-worth visitors, so the private road and forest-cloaked gardens are a big plus, as is the sea-view spa pool. An electric car will whisk you to the nearby Monte-Carlo Beach Club, where a private 10-person tent on the beach awaits La Vigie guests. Mention that you’re staying here if you want to raise some eyebrows.
BOOK NOWThe Maybourne Riviera
Another hotel that is just over the Monaco border, but it's worth the (small) journey to the rocky peninsula of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, if only for the view. The Maybourne Riviera opened in 2022, and since then it's been perched on a cliff edge overlooking all of Monaco to the east - the building itself, however, was built in 1870. The hotel is perhaps best known for its modernist architecture and sensational views of the glittering sea beyond. The Maybourne Riviera collaborated with renowned designers such as Bryan O’Sullivan and Rigby & Rigby for the jaw-dropping creation, with artistic direction by Michelle Wu.
The property has 65 suites and studios, each with gravity-defying balconies and, in some cases, private infinity pools. You can also book an entire floor of the hotel, which can accommodate up to 13 guests across four or five bedrooms.
Wellness is a key component of the hotel, not just because of its huge infinity pool surrounded by bright orange sun loungers, but because of Surrenne Riviera, the hotel’s next-generation spa. Each floor focuses on healing rituals, spa origins, and cutting-edge science, with signature treatments, fitness programmes, and personalised therapies.