Firstly, this place is not right in the village of La Gaude and it is difficult to find. You need to make sure you start in St Laurent du Var and take the D118. Then, as soon as you see the sign saying you are in La Gaude, turn left immediately and follow the long road through La Domaine de l'Etoile, which is a residential area. The hotel is right at the end.
Secondly, the hotel seems to have been built as an afterthought. The main site comprises a restaurant and a sports centre (mainly tennis). You need to check in at the restaurant and then walk through the complex, or drive, down to the hotel. Once there, however, the views are fantastic and the rooms are very good with everything you could need. We had a room with an upstairs area, which was brilliant for us as a family room. There was also a balcony, complete with a drying rack for towels and swimming costumes - a nice thought.
I did have a couple of small niggles with the room. The bathroom is very well set out, but has a shower over the bath, which is fine, but there was no anti-slip mat, so showering was a bit slippy. The room has excellent air conditioning, but the two outlets were both downstairs, which meant that the bedroom area upstairs got very hot. Since the main bed was upstairs (sofa bed downstairs) this was a bit inconvenient. Also, the bed and pillows were foam. Very hot and rather uncomfortable. Upgrading these would have made the room much more comfortable. As it was, the sofa bed downstairs was preferable to the main bedroom area upstairs.
Having said that, none of these things spoiled our stay here. The pool area is fantastic, with a large pool and more than enough sun beds around it. Although a sign said the pool was open from 10am to 6.30pm, this only seemed to mean that it was supervised between those times. There were people in it earlier and later, but it was never crowded. There were also signs which said no diving and no smoking, but these were similarly ignored - though the smokers tended to lurk around the bar area. You could buy paninis and ice cream from the bar - so no need to leave the pool. The breakfasts were served on the restaurant terrace overlooking the pool and were lovely, with a buffet providing everything you might need - cereals, toast, meats, cheese, yoghurts, fruit, croissants, juice, tea, coffeee etc. At the time we booked, breakfast was included in the price of the room. The restaurant itself was pretty standard for the area, with pizzas, pasta, bruschettas and a couple of meat/fish dishes. Price per dish was around 10 euros, which is pretty good. They were open for lunch and dinner most days. During the week, there were often business meetings going on in one of the convention rooms at the hotel, and the delegates there would eat in the restaurant. There were also lots of children taking tennis lessons, who would occasionally use the pool for a short period. It all seemed very laid back, and never crowded though. The staff were all very friendly, and helpful.
In conclusion, once you find it (and there are loads of signs, which we spotted eventually), it's a brilliant place, away from the rush of the coast, but with easy access to Nice and Cannes. Getting from the airport took just 20 minutes, and if you don't want to hire a car, the hotel can arrange transfers for 30 euros. They all speak English too. Although set up as a sports centre and restaurant primarily, the hotel is very comfortable and the views are amazing. And the cost is quite reasonable for what you get. Highly recommended.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
