We reserved for 2 nights earlier this week (21 and 22 October 2010). We arrived late, about 1:15 p.m. vs. noon, as travel has been a little disrupted with the strike. We were driving so had to find fuel. We arrived at the office building in which the apartment is located (HSH is not on one of the plaques on the outside of the building - you will find a sticker on a door buzzer). Thankfully the front door was open so we went to the apartment. A note on the door indicated that someone would return at 5:30 p.m. but to push the button for a mobile phone. We talked to Mr. who said he would be there in 20 minutes. He arrived in 50 minutes. He showed us our room, took our passport information, showed us a few things on the city map, and asked for payment in advance. Had I been smart, I would have paid for 1 night, withholding the second night. He left. We were provided with keys, a towel each and a map.
The room was very large with an attached bath with shower. It was not clean. The room had large dust bunnies with wads of hair in them and the bath was moldy with a bare compact flourescent bulb hanging from a wire in the ceiling.
So we left our stuff and set out to see the city. When we returned, the room was very cold - the weather recently has been much cooler than normal. So we pushed the mobile phone button again and ended up having to leave a message asking for heat on Mr's voice mail. No response. So we closed the shutters, hoping it might help. It didn't.
In the morning, we discovered that there was no hair dryer in the room. Unfortunately, I discovered it after I had washed my hair. My friend and I decided we could not spent a second night without heat, so we left before the 10:30 check out time.
Before we checked out, we looked for the breakfast. There was no breakfast and no one was there to ask (owners live someplace else). The room where breakfast would have been prepared also is the laundry room, the hang up your stuff to dry room and was filthy. I opened the refrigerator to select a beverage to pay for and shut it immediately as the stench coming from the fridge was awful. We saw no one during our stay except when we checked in.
We went to the tourist information office and they found another hotel with the same ranking. That hotel had heat, wifi , elevator, helpful cheerful staff, a hairdryer and several blocks closer to the beach (yes, closer!) with close parking and was just 5 euro more a night for the room, not per person (that's $7 US when I bought my euros).
We were able to check in to our new hotel at noon and at 12:09 p.m. I sent Mme. an email telling her that we had left because no heat and asked for a refund of our second night. She responded at 12:44 p.m. that she had turned on the heat. I again asked for a refund. No comment on the refund as of this writing on 26 October 2010.
Observations: We never saw the charming wonderful people that everyone raves about. There really was no heat and there was a bare flourescent bulb hanging from a wire in the bath.
There was significant mold in the bath and the room was not clean. The towel I received had a sour smell once water hit it. It smelled like a towel that had been left in a washer too long before drying. Since I saw a whole load of washed towels sitting in the washer when we arrived and those same towels were there when we left, this supports my sour towel theory.
This was not a good value for the money - evidenced by a hotel with same star rating and a nominal cost difference that was closer to the beach. I've been travelling in France for 4 weeks and this was undoubtedly the very worst place I've stayed. I have stayed at dozens of B&Bs and nothing has ever been like this. This is about a half step up from a youth hostel and not a B&B. Don't let the name fool you.
If you are driving and it is the off-season, even though our second hotel was excellent, I still suggest staying in a smaller town and driving in for the day. For example, stay in Le Lavendou and drive to Nice. Much cheaper, save on parking and still easy access. Of course this approach won't work in season.
