The four stars are a little bit loose
Written: Jan 14 '07 (Updated Jun 11 '07)
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Pros: Excellent location, if you get sea view rooms
Cons: Room service menu and food in general is very limited and pricey
The Bottom Line: Great location in an excellent setting. But, you need a room with sea view to take advantage. Restaurants and room service not up to par.
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| icio's Full Review: Le Meridien Beach Plaza Monaco |
What makes me a good reviewer of this hotel? Well, I called it home for almost 3 months because of a job assignment and you can safely assume that I had the chance to experience it at its best and worst.
Is the Monaco experience so fancy as it seems to be from the pictures one gets to see? I guess it depends what you expect. If you expect a neat and rich place with lots of dream cars, then you will not be disappointed. If, on the other hand, you expect a vibrant place, they you will be disappointed. Most dream cars are driven by rich old people, and this is mostly a place for mature people, so do not expect too much excitement.
Is Le Meridien a good place to catch the action or whatever there is of it? Yes, sure. You are 15 minutes walk from the Casino and 25-30 from the area around Port Hercule. In addition, if you get a room with sea view, you can actually enjoy some intimacy away from the hustle and bustle of the streets which, during Summer, can be a little bit more than you would like to deal with, when French and Italian locals come to "town".
Is there a bus line serving the hotel ? Yes, great feature. The 6 number bus just stop in front of the hotel and takes you to all the places you need pretty much, Casino, Mall, etc.. Only the shop on Boulevard des Moulins remains slightly off its route, that is if you would call 5-6 minutes walking too much that you must take a bus.
I am planning to bring my car. Is there lots of parking ? Nope, you can get valet parking (for Eur 31 a day), but the hotel warns you that the spaces are limited so you should book those ahead of time. I assume that it depends at what time you are coming. During weekends it is usually more crowded and the Summer is more challenging than the Winter season. The Formula One days it is pretty much a true nightmare when the population goes up by about 300,000 units or so. Locals told me that they usually leave town when the Formula 1 "barbarians" come to town.
Parking on the street is very limited in most areas. The Larvotto area is not exception. There are many parking lots, but they are typically small. The one next to the hotel (Eur 25 a day) gets used up very quickly generally speaking.
Ok, parking is not great, are the rooms nice at least? Yes, I would say they are fine. Not the top of the line, but adequate for a four-star hotel. In my opinion, there is too much furniture in the rooms and they could become a little tight. Also, depending on where they are located they could look, feel and actually be different. A colleague of mine, had a room like mine, but the design and the arrangements in his room made it much more spacious then mine, albeit a little bit less appealing and organized
Bathrooms ... good stuff ? Yes those look nice. Mine has a TV in it. A fancy shower with massage. It is too bad that once the draining system did not work and I had to mop the bathroom, but they fixed the problem the same day. Also, not all rooms are built the same way, so I cannot tell you that you are going to get what I got. My colleague's had a tub, mine had fancy shower with wooded floor only. I do not care about tubs (as I do not like to use a tub used by other people, but if tubs are a big issue for you, make sure to ask a room with one when you book). Mine also had a bidet in a nice French and Italian tradition which I did appreciate. Also, service in the bathroom is very attentive and soaps, shampoos, even cologne were provided daily if needed.
Is the service good ? Yes, overall it is. A few complaints here and there, but only minor things. My room was always done, sometimes when I had to work in it and appended the "Please don't disturb" sign at my door, I would receive a phone call from personnel asking when they could come to do my room. Nice in a way, annoying in others.
If you don't show the sign, expect personnel to come in without knocking. I was working and not watching pornos, so no reason to be embarassed, yet, some knocking before entering would have been appreciated.
Room service is fast, not always accurate in the sense that some day for breakfast I got the sugar for my cereals and some day I did not. One day the milk was so little that I had dry cereals in a way. But more about the restaurant a little bit below.
The laundry service was excellent. Done within the same day and excellent quality of service. Not cheap (Eur 9 for a shirt) but it comes back ironed and boxed like you just bought it in the store. I guess I can pay that price for this kind of service. I did wash my own underwear. At Eur 5 for a pair of underwear, I could just buy them new!!
Are the restaurants nice ? The ambiance is, the food is not. This is the most disappointing feature I found in this hotel. First of all, there is only one restaurant on site. Not a big deal since there are several restaurants outside within a short walking distance, but the quality was not impressive although a few dishes were good. It is, however, when one comes to the room service issue that all the pain shows merciless. The room service menu is very limited, outrageously priced, and so limited that after 5-6 days you are already tired of it.
I would like to make one remark about restaurants if you allow me to. In general, for a place so close to Italy and France, the restaurant scene in Monaco is quite depressing. While you will have a chance to spend a lot of money in them, the quality is much below my expectations. And this goes also for Alain Ducasse's Louis XV inside the Hotel de Paris!, a little disappointing for a 3-Michelin star restaurant. I strongly doubt that Ducasse himself is seen around very often. But, if you'd like to pay Eur 2-300 for a dinner per person (and that is before any wine) when the food is not even prepared under Ducasse's direct supervision, just to show that your wallet is in great shape, then it is your place. Ah, dress code.. do not forget it or you will not eat ....
Does Le Meridien have a private beach ? Yes, and nice too. It is small, but very cozy and quiet. They also have a nice pool outside.
Should I get a room with sea-view? I would say yes, go for it. The rooms on the other side look onto the streets. Avenue Princess Grace if you are staying in one of the lower floors, or Boulevard du Larvotto if you are staying at one of the upper floors (there are eleven floors overall): either not that exciting, unless you enjoy watching cars go by. In addition, the balconies on the rooms with a sea view are large enough to accomodate a chair to enjoy the sun and the sea breeze. Not so the balconies on the street side. The street side, is also much noisier. I stayed at the 10th floor and if I kept the door open could hear a lot of noise from the traffic.
Is the indoor pool nice ? It is adequate, nothing fancy, really. Mostly it is too small.
How about the gymn ? That is a little bit better. They also have a spa center which I did not use. It is usually my wife to tell me about those, but this time she did not have a chance to try it.
And the concierge ? Any helpful ? Yes, I did appreciate their help and insights about renting a car or get some tickets for shows and even a few suggestions about restaurants. Usually, they were spot on and were not shy in telling you that this or that restaurant was average or too pricey. I like straight shooters when it comes to this kind of details.
What amenities are there in the room ? A large safe, an umbrella and a decent iron board. Also one of the few hotels where you have a dvd players in the room. To my great surprise, the dvd player can play multizone dvds which was great for me. However, I needed to request the device to make some coffee or some tea. It was not there when I got in.
There is also a minibar. If you look at the prices though, be sure to sit down before it as you might faint. I used it to keep my own stuff.
Good value for the money ? For my company's money yes! Seriously, I think that my company paid Eur 150 per day and that includes breakfast. If you come on your own, rates could be quite higher. My room rate was reported inside the closet at Eur 570, a price I would never pay for this room, NEVER! Eur 250 is the most I would be willing to pay for a room like mine. But I am sure if you book you may get better deals than the prices advertised in the rooms.
In a nutshell: best and worst feature of the hotel ?
The best has to be the dvd player (not sure it is standard, to be honest) and the ability to play zone 1 and zone 2 dvd's. Most disappointing feature is the price of breakfast: you could spend Eur 30 plus for a very mediocre breakfast. My breakfast is included in the deal with my company, but I would never pay that kind of money for such a mediocre breakfast. Overall, the food sector is my only reason to complain loudly about this hotel.
So, is it a true four star hotel ? It is, certain features are characteristics of such category. However, it is in the lower region of four star hotels. Nearby and newly opened Monte Carlo Bay is a much better choice, albeit a little more expensive. I spent 15 days there and I was sad to have to leave it. Le Meridien is fine, but I would say I prefer Marriott's as far as chains go. However, the location of Le Meridien Beach Plaza makes up for the few deficiencies, yet there are a few stains here and there for a four star establishment.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Be sure to check your bills, after you pay if there are problems they are very uncooperative.. I spent another month at this hotel in March 2007. My company was supposed to cover my bill, which they did, then I got billed for almost $2,000! Tried to talk to the hotel and even my company did.. It was atrocious and extremely slow going.. Watch out. I feel that I have to bring this fact up, unfortunately. I will not change the rating, but not happy about this recent "discovery".
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
icio
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 - Top 1000 |
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Location: Thousand Oaks, CA
Reviews written: 59
Trusted by: 6 members
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