Interiors of this Belle Époque grande dame are replete with marble. "You get total luxury," yet the service is personal: "On July Fourth, we returned to our room to find a gift of tiered desserts topped with an American flag." At Le Grill, "the retractable roof was opened to let in the air, the stars, and the sounds of the sea."

(187 rooms)

"A striking example of a classic European hotel," this Belle Époque landmark has a glass-domed atrium. Guest rooms are done in a cool palette and have slate bathrooms. The Joël Robuchon restaurant features a contemporary Mediterranean menu. The spa has a sauna, hammam, caldarium, ice fountain, and aromatherapy showers.

(141 rooms)

Designed by Pierre-Yves Rochon, who did Paris's George V conversion for Four Seasons, it's a $260 million Art Deco-style extravaganza of 334 rooms set on 10 acres, all with balconies—75 percent of which have that all-important Med view. The signature treatment at Le Spa Cinq Mondes is the Royal Lulur Ritual, a treatment package inspired by the wedding day customs of the princes and princesses of 16th-century Indonesia. It includes a Turkish bath, papaya scrub, Lulur exfoliation, and Balinese massage. There's also a 320-foot lagoon pool with sandy bottom, an indoor pool and a kiddie pool, four restaurants, several bars and, of course, a casino. If that's not enough gambling for you, the Sporting Monte-Carlo, with Alain Ducasse's Bar & Boeuf nightclub/restaurant, is next door.