Some of the reviews were worrisome and it’s ranked lower than what I’m usually comfortable with but I threw caution to the wind when Teko suggested he wanted a hotel on the Promenade des Anglais and showed me Le Royal Hôtel. Even if it went against our château theme for the trip – as consolation, it’s a converted palace as I later found out – the photos looked good and some of the reviews were glowing so there was some hope that this three-star property would deliver. When I sent a boiler plate email with accommodation requests to all the hotels on this trip, only the Le Royal was M.I.A. in replying back – not a promising sign, but I was still hopeful.

When we walked into a simple and clean lobby, and spoke with the reception staff I gradually felt good about the hotel. It wasn’t luxurious in the obvious sense, up until we went to our room on the top floor where I found this view from my bed.

The sea view that we booked was indeed the same as in the photos. The room itself, much like a Moxy or Doubletree is a typical three-star room though larger than usual, with clean, modern decor, functional with everything we needed for the night.

There was a moment earlier today when both of us sat down on the side of the bed, right next to each other, looking at the wide, open Mediterranean Sea staring back at us out the window. For a moment we felt wistful, nostalgic, and hopeful for the future – it was almost as if we could see forever. It was a reminder of a realization of where we started and what we were now, one of those moments that we live for. These and hopefully more are truly things we don’t need money to buy.