My second question: we are meeting friends arriving in Nice by air and need a place to stay one night not too far from the Nice airport, before heading to our villa. We're not big on conventional hotels, even for one night.I've checked the reviews and there's one possible in Roquebrune.... any other suggestions?

Nice is great very good transportation train bus taxis all good to all near towns including monaco. you can try the same chain as in your other thread.like this one
http://www.accorhotels.com/accorhotels/fichehotel/gb/no...78/fiche_hotel.shtml

We found that staying in Antibes was great. Actually we were on Cap d'Antibes. It's a really quick drive into the airport from there. Plus its a lovely quiet pine-scented place. We stayed at http://www.hotel-lagaroupe-gardiole.com/2sommaire.html
Linda

Hi dedenia...

We have stayed a couple of times in and around Vence, which is up in the hills above the sea-- great views of the mountains. Depending on the time of year/time of day, this can be an easy area from which to access the Nice airport (which is to the west of Nice). We stayed in Vence once before a morning flight out of Nice and made it down to the airport in 30 minutes after breakfast. St. Paul de Vence would be another option, and this is a beautiful and very interesting village.

You might want to consider La Bastide aux Oliviers. See some ST reviews here.

Kathy