This whole blog exists because of one small studio on the Promenade des Anglais, 35 square metres, third floor, no lift, thirty metres from the sea. We rented it out ourselves starting in 2015, and honestly, everything we now know about the Nice rental market we learned from that one address before we learned it from anywhere else.
This page used to be the actual listing for our first rental studio in Nice, right on the Promenade des Anglais, and we are keeping it up as a record of where this site started rather than as a live offer, since the flat has long since been rented out permanently. What follows is the story of that studio, what it taught us, and what still holds true for anyone hunting for a similar place on the French Riviera today.
What this studio looked like, in short:
- 35 m², sunny, an open and partly sea-facing view, at 311 Promenade des Anglais, Nice, a kilometre from Nice Côte d’Azur airport.
- An American-style kitchen, a small 3 m² dressing area, a shower room, and a double sofa bed for two.
- Listed in 2015 at 580 €/month charges included, electricity and phone extra.
- A genuinely small studio in a genuinely central location, which turned out to be exactly the combination Nice’s rental market rewards.
Why we chose the Promenade des Anglais in the first place
We did not choose this address for the view alone, although waking up with a glimpse of the sea never gets old. What convinced us was the combination: walking distance to the airport, close to every daily amenity, and a location that would always appeal to both long-term tenants and shorter stays. A third-floor walk-up without a lift put some tenants off, we won’t pretend otherwise, but it also kept the building quieter and the rent more reasonable than a lift-equipped equivalent nearby.
The living space, looking toward the open, sunny side of the studio
What actually came with a rental like this in 2015
The studio was fitted out for someone who wanted to arrive with a suitcase and nothing else: dishes, cutlery, a fridge and freezer, hobs, a microwave, a coffee maker, even a vacuum cleaner and an iron. On the multimedia side, an LCD television, a DVD player and a hi-fi system were included, with internet access available on request, air conditioning handled the heating and cooling both. Looking back, that level of furnishing is precisely what a furnished rental in France is meant to offer, and it is still the standard we would recommend to anyone renting out a studio here today.
The sleeping corner, with the double sofa bed folded away during the day
What 580 euros a month actually bought back then
At 580 € a month charges included, this studio sat comfortably within what a small, well-placed Nice rental cost in the mid-2010s. The market has moved a great deal since: based on figures we gathered researching Nice’s current rental trends, a comparable studio today typically runs somewhere between 500 € and 850 € a month depending on the exact street and building, and central, sea-adjacent addresses like this one now sit toward the upper end of that range. Whether that counts as a lot depends entirely on what you compare it to, but the direction of travel is clear enough.
The building itself, on the Promenade des Anglais
What we would still tell someone looking for a similar studio today
A few things about this particular flat still hold up as advice, whatever the year. A no-lift building on a lower floor is worth considering seriously if it saves you meaningfully on rent, especially for a couple or a single tenant rather than a family with a lot of luggage or mobility needs. A genuinely complete furnished kitchen, down to the coffee maker and iron, removes a whole category of moving-in stress that an empty unfurnished flat does not.
We still have the original photos from this listing on our computer somewhere, and every so often we pull them up just to remind ourselves how much smaller our first step into this whole world really was.
Frequently asked questions
Is this studio on the Promenade des Anglais still available to rent? No, it has been rented out on a long-term basis for years now, this page stays online as the story of where our site began rather than a current listing.
Was 580 €/month a typical price for Nice in 2015? For a small, well-located furnished studio, yes, broadly in line with the market at the time, though rents in this exact area have risen substantially since.
Is a third-floor apartment without a lift a dealbreaker in Nice? Not necessarily, plenty of tenants trade the stairs for a quieter building and a somewhat lower rent, it comes down to your own priorities and mobility.
What made this studio easy to rent out at the time? Its location above all, thirty metres from the sea and a short trip to the airport, combined with being fully furnished and ready to move into immediately.
This is our own personal story as former landlords of one small flat, not a professional property assessment: current tenants and owners should always check today’s actual listings and rules rather than a 2015 snapshot.
If you are curious how furnished studios like this one are typically set up today, our guide on the differences between a furnished and unfurnished rental apartment covers that in detail. And for where Nice rents actually stand now, our overview of current rental market trends picks up exactly where this story leaves off.
Originally listed in 2015, rewritten in July 2026 as a look back rather than an active listing.