I recently stayed here with my new wife for four nights during our honeymoon. I booked the hotel based on the reviews on this site. I booked through their online site, but when I emailed a few days later to confirm, they told me that the deck/sea view room I had booked (and payed 50% for) was not available. When I asked them to refund my money, they realized that I booked through their own site and said the room would be available. I also had a few other questions for them via email and they were very helpful. I was nervous upon arrival that I would actually get the room I had payed for, but I definitely did!! What a gourgeous view from our deck...partly the Sea, partly the Citadel, partly the pool...it was perfect.
We arrived on the Les Beaux Voyages bus from Bastia and walked to the hotel with our luggage, which was OK. They didn't keep our passports like another review said. They made copies of them while we waited for 15 seconds, just like every other European hotel we visited. Marie showed us to our room and was very nice and helpful the entire time (the other staff always seemed a little too busy to go out of their way for us, but generally answered my questions if I needed help).
The room was very nice. Comfy bed, desk, TV, big enough bathroom with good size shower stall (although awkwardly laid out). The AC in our room was on all the time, not just when you put the card in the slot, which is great after coming home from the beach! The chairs out on the deck were just the typical cheap white deck chairs and were not very comfortable, but we really enjoyed getting take out and bringing it back to the hotel and eating on the deck. The walls were a bit thin. Our neighbors were OK, but we could still hear them a bit, but not enough for us to get upset about. It didn't keep us from falling asleep.
The first night we arrived we went to dinner at the hotel because we were tired and didn't want to go out. Pants are required for dinner, no shorts, which is unfortunate considering Calvi is a beach area, but it keeps dinner relatively fancy, though there were guys in jeans. I'm glad I did not pay for the full dinner option. The restaurant is nice, but too fancy for my tastes, and pretty expensive. I think the full dinner option gives you a 25 euro limit (after that you pay)...the Corsican meal is 25 euros, but everything else is much more a la carte. The hostess was very nice and spoke english. Our waitress didn't speak any, but she was very nice and tried hard. I'm glad we ate there once, but that was enough. There are great restaurants in Calvi anyways...try U Minellu! The breakfast at the hotel was very good though! Shorts are OK for breakfast. Typical European, but very good. They'll even bring breakfast up to you in your room at no charge if you fill out the slip the night before.
We signed up to get massages. I've had a few massages before, and I would consider this more of a body rub, but it was relaxing nonetheless. My wife said the same. Not really worth it, wait till you get back home after the trip.
The hotel is a pretty good walk to the beach. At least 15 minutes. We walked there one day, which is alright. its walking back that gets you. You're wet, tired, and you gotta walk up hill. (By the way, I was unimpressed with the beach in Calvi. I certainly wouldn't call it 'white sand' like the guide books do. In fact, it's pretty rocky. We paid for a chair which was nice though. 22 euros for 2 chairs, and then you can use the bathrooms and order drinks if you want.) The hotel is high over the cliffs, and many people go swimming right off the rocks. We swam there a couple times. The first time was fun, but the second time, it was pretty rough seas, and not so much fun. Many people snorkel there. We tried that too. Not a whole lot to see other than some plain fish, but fun. All the diving boats anchor just off the cliffs near the hotel, so there must be something out there. We went to the pool one day as well. The pool is nice, and not too busy. There seemed to always be a few chairs available. The pool is open all day too, 7:30 - 10:30, which is nice. Its easy to walk from the hotel to the center of town where all the restaurants are and the marina...less than a 5 minute walk downhill.
We asked them to have a car bring us to the airport when we checked out. Sure enough it was there waiting for us and they charged it against the room, which was great. (By the way, the Calvi airport is ridiculously small. You're not allowed to check in your bags until an hour before your flight. We got there 2 hrs before, but just had to wait). I was nervous during checkout because one of the reviews here said they claimed their credit card machine was always broken. I asked the night before if credit card was OK in case I needed to go the ATM, but credit card was fine, no issues. Check out went quickly.
I really enjoyed my time at Hotel Saint Christophe and I would certainly recommend it. If your goal is to go to the beach everyday, its not for you, its a little too long of a walk to do more than once or twice. But if you want to relax, it is certainly the place. Its high above town, so it is quiet. Calvi has quite the nightlife, so I imagine the hotels in the center of town are really loud. There's nothing better than waking up, and going out on the deck and see the sun rise, and at night, to eat dinner on the deck, overlooking the waves crashing on the rocks, and reading a book on the deck too. Its truly luxury.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
