Famous for its cosmopolitan sophistication, the Principality Of Monaco is like a postage stamp stuck on the bottom of France.
The former Formula 1 champion Nelson Piquet - at the time residing on a yacht in the tax haven's harbour - once said it was like 'riding a bicycle around my living room'.
At less than a square mile, it's about the same size as New York's Central Park. Yet the world's second smallest country boasts a great football team, royal family, symphony orchestra and ballet, plus a famous gambling den: the Casino de Monte-Carlo.
Lying east of Nice and west of Italy, on the most dazzling section of the French Riviera, Monaco is a glistening marbled monument to conspicuous consumption - a magnet for high-rollers and pleasureseekers since the Jazz Age of the early 1920s.
Its phalanx of five-star hotels command (and get) eye-watering prices because the rich like to stick together to top up their tans and shopping bags. Amazingly, it is also a classy act.
A veritable Tardis of a place with hidden quarters and affordable stuff, such as the indoor Marche de la Condamine, where there's a variety of affordable restaurants popular with the locals and tourists who don't wear a Rolex.
For €880 a night walk through a revolving door at Hotel de Paris and get swept back 100 years. A huge chandelier hangs from a stained glass cupola above a jungle-like flower arrangement that could be a portal into a Henri Rousseau canvas. To your left is Le Bar Americain, featured in two Bond movies. To the right is the Alain Ducasse three-Michelin-starred restaurant, Le Louis XV.
The cellar holds 450,000 bottles, the biggest hotel stock in the world.
Built next to the casino as a bolthole for gamblers in the late 19th century, Hotel de Paris is one of the great palace hotels - the acme of old-school hospitality.
The Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier suites are named after the late head of state and his Hollywood actress wife. The room rates? A mere €60,000 a night. They are, of course, vast and full of objets d'art from the royal palace.
Like several other hotels and the casino, the Hotel de Paris is owned by the local Societe des Bains de Mer (SBM), of which the Grimaldi royal family are majority shareholders. The corner rooms and suites overlooking the bay, the harbour and the town are the best (reckon on between €2,750 and €6,675 a night).
Don't forget to check out the spa and pool, which are accessed via a marble-lined foot tunnel.
BOOKING: Doubles from €880 (hoteldeparis.com).
Or for €285 a night how about the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort which is a laid-back place to stay that hosts the Beach Club and an Olympic-sized heated saltwater pool.
Also owned by SBM, the Bay Hotel is a summer favourite with clients of its sister establishment Hotel de Paris.
Rooms are big and swish, with great deals possible. Most command magnificent sea views and face the immaculate garden with its umbrella pines and pergola surrounded by palm trees.
Famous French chef Marcel Ravin runs the two-Michelin-star Elsa restaurant and the decor is decidedly modern and funky, which goes well with the hotel's original art deco architecture.
There are two informal restaurants. This hotel is family-friendly ... and won't break the bank.
BOOKING: Doubles from €285 (montecarlosbm.com).
