Nice isn't the best place in the world for mid-priced hotels. It's often safer to choose a brand name; a Mercure, Holiday Inn or Ibis, rather than risk a nasty shock. So it's good to see Hotel Windsor in Rue Dalpozzo bucking the trend. From its exotic ‘Moroccan' garden and pool to the talking rocket-themed lift, the Windsor is a by-word for quirky style.

Hotel Windsor was built in 1865 but has an aura of the 1930s and staying there certainly takes you back to a time when travelling was still a touch exotic. The hotel was bought by the Redolfi-Strizzet family during the war, along with the Hotel Villa Borghese in Greoux-Les-Bains, but it was their children, Jean-Claude and Bernard who really pushed the two hotels into a different era.

Bernard wanted to create a different type of hotel, not classically European, but based on the hotels he'd seen on his travels in Asia and Latin America. He set about completely re-styling the Windsor. In the 1970s. he commissioned Antoine Baudion to paint mural frescoes in different parts of the hotel, along themes of dreams and travel. In the 80s, Bernard began a new long term project, allowing artists to stay and paint their own room. Thus many of the bedrooms are named after the French and foreign artists (such as Jean Pierre Bertrand, Francois Morellet, and Glen Baxter) who painted them. A stylish way to get your hotel decorated!

Perhaps the most startling thing about Hotel Windsor is price. Outside high season it's still possible to stay there for well under €100 per night, which is good value for the centre of Nice. The Windsor regularly hosts visiting musicians, actors and artists, all adding to its unique atmosphere. There's a restaurant with a Mediterranean menu and a very small swimming pool. It's well worth a visit. Even the website is an experience!

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