Pulled into town without reservations, and stopped at the first likely looking hotel, Hotel Bel Soggiorno, expecting to pay the roof to get basic accommodation in this town well known for its Casino, Hotel Royal, and other scenes populated by the tuxedo-clad well-to-do characters hobnobbing with Roger Moore as The Saint. Fought off a hoard of motorcycles for a precarious parking perch half on a sidewalk and ran in to check on our major criteria: Internet, Double bed, and Rate (assuming in December we’d have no problem with availability – as indeed it was one of the few hotels open this month at all).

The lobby was large and bright, and wireless high-speed Internet access was assured, in the room, “everywhere” according to Luca, the duty manager. Double bed, no problem and the rate was €80. All taxes included. As well as breakfast and parking off the street.

The room was large by European standards, immaculately clean, offering a comforting view over the parking lot (and our car), but the treasure of the hotel is Luca himself. First, he allowed us to inspect the room, and to verify the Internet accessibility, as we are doubting Thomases when it comes to these promises, before we checked in. Then he returned to his post where we found him a few hours later, offering an excellent suggestion for one of the best Italian dinners we enjoyed in all Italy (O Lobo – or something, means The Porthole), and gave us driving directions there.

Check out at 12 00 PM is standard policy here, so we enjoyed a quick Continental breakfast and were able to explore a bit of the town in the morning before returning to our room at noon. We then discovered that the Avis office is closed between noon and 3:15PM, which made our rental car return in time to catch our 2:50 train to Nice. We returned to HBS to find Luca at the desk again. We said we might need another night, but asked him to get a quote from a taxi company on the fare to Nice, as we needed to be there by 6:00 PM and the next train was at 6:50. He got the quote (€180 compared to €5 each for the train), but more importantly offered the best advice: The train to Nice is a rare direct schedule; instead, there were frequent commuters to Ventimiglia at the border, where we could catch another commuter directly to Cannes, which was our ultimate destination. All this could start after our car was safely returned, get us to Cannes by 6:00PM, and save the anticipated cost of a taxi from Nice to Cannes.

Service well beyond expectations at a 3-star hotel anywhere. But visit soon, as Luca is clearly on an upward track in the realm of great concierges and will probably be, or at least clearly should be, at the Hotel Royal by next season.