The Caravelle is located more or less on the beach, approximately 5-10 mins walk from the centre of Calvi, and has the bonus of a big parking area just next door. We chose it as it was recommended by Which consumer magazine in the UK and it was a good choice.

We had a warm welcome from one of the receptionists, and were shown to a nice room with large terrace overlooking the sea and citadel. New modern bathroom, comfortable bed, nice furniture, flat screen TV. We were the only English guests at the hotel, most of the guests are German as the Caravelle has a link up with a German tour operator. The other guests were French.

Breakfast on the terrace was standard continental fare of croissants, pain au chocolat, yoghurts, fruit, with a self boiled egg/toast plus ham/cheese etc if you wanted it. Dinner was a 4 course meal, good but no choice so you would have to alert the management if you were not able to eat fish or whatever - there was a Fish night where 3 out of 4 courses were fish so that might have been a problem to some ! Of course you could stay at the hotel room only, the choice of restaurants in Calvi is extensive. The hotel has a beach bar/restaurant called Marco Plage where we had a very good lunch, views across to the citadel.

The only gripe was the proximity of the little train which passes by the hotel at regular intervals on its way to Ile Rousse or back again to Calvi. There is a train stop outside the Caravelle which is fine during the day but at 6.30 a.m. the noise of the train stopping and then revvving up again to go on its way did wake me up every morning. My husband did not wake up so its possibly a problem for light sleepers only !

All in all we can recommend the Caravelle for its nice rooms, staff and food, plus the proximity to the lovely beach in Calvi.