Ancien Impérial hôtel

English translation

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History

Still in operation, this hotel originates from a villa constructed around 1880 on the edge of boulevard Carabacel, on the site of the former Meyrargues property. It is the work of Sébastien Marcel Biasini, Nice architect trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in the class of Charles Auguste Questel, who, after an early career in Paris, returned to settle in his native city. He is notably responsible for the development plan of the new Cimiez district, on which he built villas and hotels, including the Excelsior Regina. In 1932, the Impérial Hotel opened its doors in the villa remodelled for this purpose by the Dalmas father and son: Charles, trained at the École des Arts Décoratifs in Nice then graduated from the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, author of some of the most prestigious buildings of the French Riviera in the early 20th century (Carlton in Cannes, Winter Palace and Palais de la Méditerranée in Nice), designer of Parc Carabacel where he built several hotels for travellers and villas; Marcel, who succeeded him and had a less prestigious career. Arranged at the back of the courtyard, the building presents an ordered façade with three central bays preceded by a covered porch terrace and framed by two avant-corps in the form of pavilions. The rich architectural decoration in eclectic classical style with superposition of orders, pediments, balustrades, continues on the lateral façade. Indiscernible from the exterior, the programme of the hotel for travellers reveals itself in the distribution and interior decoration. Of square plan, triple in width and depth, the building is designed on four levels around a central hall which commands the entire distribution. A collection of old photographs, presumably taken shortly after the opening of the establishment, attests to the preservation of the original décors in the vestibule, hall and reception rooms on the ground floor, as well as in the staircase: wall paintings, wainscoting, leather papers and painted ceilings still evoke the hotel setting of the early 20th century.