When the travel agent tells you that La Caravelle does not have a pool, but you really don’t need it, since the beach is barely 50 metres away, you have doubts, but you go ahead and book it nevertheless, since you have 2 weeks to go for your vacation, and everything else is booked. But man, is that true!
We stayed at the La Caravelle, Calvi, Corsica for 7 days/ 7 nights and generally speaking our experience was good. The hotel is quiet even during the busiest period. Since is was end August, there were only elderly or young couples without children.
Lilian at the front desk has a pleasant personality and is exceptionally helpful, as opposed to her counterpart. She took care of all little details, including directions, postcards and food requirements, since I am not too fond of onions!
In terms of service, it has to be mentioned that the restaurant staff is brilliant. Never in my life have I seen such fast service. We had a half board package, which included breakfast and dinner. While the breakfast was buffet, the dinner was a four course meal (I think the hotel only offers set menus). The dinner was a pleasant surprise. A four course meal of entree, salad, main course and dessert awaits you every evening. The staff is great, the presentation is wonderful and there is plenty of variety. Compliments to the chef, who incidentally is a young lady in her 20s. The best part of the meal was that any leftover wine or bottled water from your dinner was carried forward to the next evening. Therefore, the next day, your wine was already lying in your ice bucket, much before you got there.
We were in the garden view room on the ground floor. The room was slightly cramped with an annoying glass door staring right at your bed. Therefore you almost always had to draw the curtains if you wanted privacy. Compared to other facilities, the room probably came towards the bottom half in terms of expectations. Despite requesting housekeeping to clear away our used glasses every single day, we never got fresh ones even after a week.
The location of the hotel is probably its biggest strength – 50 meters or a minute`s walk from Marco Plage (Marco beach), ten minutes walk from the marina/town and 15 minutes drive from the airport. There is a huge parking right outside the hotel, so visitors with cars will face no problem. There are plenty of restaurants, bars, grocery shops, a super market, bakery and a petrol pump a minute`s walk from the hotel, therefore, it makes life easy.
The hotel has a strip on the beach where it hosts a restaurant and has approximately 40 loungers with an umbrella and a table. To sunbathe there, you need to hire space (two loungers), 12 euros for half a day (1000 hrs to 1400 hrs or 1400 hrs to 1800 hrs) and 16 euros for the entire day. It is advisable to book in advance, since the place gets pretty busy during season time. The restaurant is functional from 1000 hrs to 1900 hrs with a full lunch from 1200hrs to 1500 hrs. Rest of the day you have snacks, desserts and a full bar. The beach is wonderful. Clean, with shallow calm waters and small waves, with a view of the Marina, citadel and the entire Calvi region. The beach is perfect for families with young kids and people who are scared of water. You can rent beach towels at the hotel lobby. I do not know the price for that, since we carried our own.
The hotel has limited amenities, for example lack of a swimming pool, business centre, gym and limited satellite and the paid-for wifi is only available in the lobby and restaurant area. Personally, we were not very affected by the absence of these amenities, since we were there primarily to enjoy the beach and after all it is a three star.
All in all, the La Caravelle is a comfortable, cosy retreat, in the middle of Calvi, but away from the hustle bustle of the town. It is run by a third generation young couple, who can be seen getting their hands dirty at the beach restaurant during the day and having dinner with the other guests in the hotel during the evening. Go to La Caravelle if you want proximity to the water and great food.
- La Caravelle Calvi
