A few weekends ago, we headed down
to the Riviera to celebrate the union between two of our friends in sandy
Juan-Les-Pins. During our extended weekend of three days, my husband and I
stayed in the former house of Mr. and Mrs. F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hôtel Belles
Rives. Currently a SLH member, this five-star hotel is perfectly located on
the beach overlooking the shores of the Mediterranean. Entering the hotel,
you instantly voyage back in time to the fabulous Gatsby era thanks to the
hotel’s lavish art deco styling and old-school charm.
The check in process
went smoothly; however, due to our late arrival we learnt that our planned
(double) upgrade (thank you SLH) had unfortunately been changed and we were
instead given one of the smallest hotel rooms I have ever seen (red. The
upgraded room number 94 had been tippexed and instead another number had been
added by hand). There was a king-size bed and a small desk. Nevertheless, the
disappointment was soothed when I stepped out on the tiny one-step balcony.
In front of me, there were miles and miles of clear blue water and far away
in the horizon I could see the beautiful Lérins islands. Another positive
aspect of the room was the spacious, green and white marble bathroom with
double sinks, a bathtub and the toilet (which thus was the size of half the
room). The bathroom was very well presented with his and her bathrobes
hanging on the door (with the hotel logo on the breast pocket), classy Penhaligon’s
products nicely presented in between the two sinks as well as differently
sized towels strategically placed across the bathroom. Contrarily to the
beautiful presentation, the bathroom does not offer a massive storage space.
The only space available to store items such as toilet bags, makeup case etc.
consists of two small glass racks located above the toilet. Similarly, the
shower protection wall is less than convenient as it lets through water
underneath and thus creates a flood on the floor during every shower.
Also
positive are the spacious cupboards which are big compared to the room size,
with one double-door cupboard for hanging items and another double-door for
folded items such as jumpers, polo shirts, accessories etc. Nevertheless, the
room lacks of drawers fit for items such as lingerie, socks, and swimwear. And
the washbag is made of 100% plastic (not very luxurious)!
Leaving storage space behind and
moving on to the hotel features, the hotel does unfortunately not offer a
spa, but massages can be reserved, if made in advance, with external therapists
who come to the hotel for you. Otherwise, you are directed to the hotel’s
sister hotel, Juana, located a few minutes-walk from Belles Rives. Due to our
saturated planning, my husband and I did not have the time to test a massage
and we had no interest in going to Hôtel Juana only to enjoy a few minutes of
steam bath. It has to be stressed that the whole idea of a spa is to be able
to take your bathrobe and go from your room down to the spa without leaving
the hotel and thus being forced to get dressed, don’t you think? Instead of
offering a swimming pool, the hotel benefits from its beach location and thus
offers a “so called” private beach. Yes, it seems better than it is. The
beach does not boast much sand, but mainly concrete, and there is even a
concrete wall in the midst of everything, making it less than glamorous. And
this is something for which you need to pay even as a hotel guest!
I would
rather recommend two other private beaches nearby (also for a fee, the same
as the hotel beach), “Les Pirates” (neighboring beach) and “Les Pêcheurs” (a
five minute-walk from the hotel towards Antibes). Here, the sand is soft and
light, it is spacious and you eat very well.
Speaking of food, the hotel’s
beach restaurant is a real disappointment! Do not think that just because you
are in the hotel and on the beach, you do not need to book in advance as you
are lucky if you are able to have a table without a reservation. My husband
and I thought, because it was Monday, that we could just arrive when the
hunger set in. However, we were rejected and instead offered a table in the
lounge area right next to the restaurant. We were given the menu immediately,
but disappointingly had to wait more than 30 minutes before a waiter acknowledged
us and came to take our order (despite several reminders from us). After a
while, the food arrived, but still no drinks nor any cutlery in sight! We had
to reclaim both as the waiter did not notice that something was missing. The
food was also far from satisfactory. I had composed my own salad from the
salad bar (offering each client to select his/her ingredients) and what I
received was a plate with all ingredients served separately and not mixed
into a salad. My husband tried the club sandwich which arrived crispy (well
done!) but cold and with guacamole and not a traditional mayonnaise dressing.
The accompanying chips were colourless, soft, and not even hot.
During our short stay, we also
tried the more upscale gastronomic restaurant “La Passagere” for dinner. Thanks
to mild weather that evening, all tables had been dressed outside on the
beautifully charming and very romantic terrace. As I had booked in advance,
we were given a front row table overlooking the gorgeous bay of Cannes and
Juan-Les-Pins. The food was very good and well proportioned, almost too
generous (2 appetizers, delicious bread, starter, main course, pre-dessert,
dessert and chocolates). But the overall rate plummeted due to the
pretentious waiters. It was very evident that the staff aim for a Michelin
star which should be positive but at this occasion it became too much and
thus faulty. A good example is the champagne that we ordered at the very beginning of the evening. The waiter served the champagne in our glasses and when we drank it there were no bubbles. Due to this fact, we did not finish our glasses and thus before serving the wine, the waiter removed our half empty glasses asking us if we did not like the champagne. We kindly explained that there were no bubbles and therefore, we did not want to finish. The
"highly service-minded" waiter's answer was: Yet, the bottle was opened
at the beginning of the evening at 7 pm (noteworthy, this event took place
after 9pm). As a result, we could never imagine that the two glasses of champagne would be charged on the final bill. However, and very surprisingly, the champagne was written on the bill!
Both mornings, we decided to indulge
in the breakfast in our room which we had to enjoy sitting on the bed due to
the lack of space and table in our tiny room. The room service staff were
very polite. The woman on the phone even remembered our special order of
fresh fruit (as opposed to the normal fruit salad always loaded with sugar)
from one day to another despite the fact that we forgot to mention it over
the phone. Unfortunately, the breakfast took almost 30 minutes to arrive.
Therefore, if you are in a rush you should take it in the restaurant
downstairs. Nevertheless, the servings are generous, the coffee is good and
the bread basket is versatile and mouthwateringly exquisite (what do you say
about a selection of croissants, pain au chocolats, muffins, apricot tarte,
chocolate cookies, baguette, and donuts?!). If you have a sweet tooth, the
breakfast at Hôtel Belles Rives, is definitely a must!
Finally, two other points to raise
are the cleaning service and the taxi service offered. Firstly, the cleaning
service is generally good but what I did not like is that the turn down
service did not prepare the room for the night. Thus, the staff did not close
the shutters nor the curtains as they should do every night (or at least I
expect that from a luxury hotel). Secondly, we encountered a taxi problem
during our stay and learnt a shocking truth about the relationship between
the hotel and the local taxis. Namely, the hotel rarely calls for taxis but
prefers to contact drivers (which probably pay commission to the hotel) to
take guests from point A to point B. As a result, you ask for a taxi and
receive a driver who charges more. Moreover, there are not enough drivers
to meet the demand during peak season, this leads to long waiting times for
us (the clients). Therefore, I recommend that you emphasise to the concierge
that you want a taxi and not a driver, otherwise you are going to get played
like we did.
To summarise our stay, Hôtel
Belles Rives oozes glamour and aristocracy, but under the surface there is an
important lack of luxury details. With whopping room prices even outside of
August, you would expect more (than an exquisite breakfast, and luxurious
marble bathrooms with quality products to justfy the room rates) from this villa with its spectacular
view and long history. However, a strong advice before booking your room, you
should definitely pay the extra cost of having a sea view; this changes
everything!
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