Hôtel de Londres

The Hotel de Londres was superb in every regard. The staff were really friendly and helpful. The hotel itself is set one road back from the sea front, which is only a stone's throw away. It's right in the heart of the town, only a gentle stroll from away from the shops, bars and restaurants of Menton. However, it's slightly set back from the road and during our stay there was minimal road noise as the windows were well glazed. Our room was spotless. The bed was large (definitely a King size, if not slightly bigger) and very comfortable. The room had all the facilities you'd need, including tea and coffee making facilities, a tv, a safe, plenty of hanging space etc. The shower room again was very clean, and the shower itself was excellent, with very good water pressure and instant hot water every we used it. Breakfast was perfect for our needs - a buffet type continental style set up, with yoghurt and a wide range of fruit, nuts and seeds. There were also a variety of pastries, breads, with a toaster. There were also eggs, cold meats and cheese, as well as muffins and pancakes. It was all fresh, tasty and in abundance! There is also a small well stocked indoor bar, with doors opening out onto the more spacious and very tidy outdoor seating, which also contained a small boules court, with boules provided. This was a lovely area to sit at any time of the day and enjoy a drink. All in all we thoroughly enjoyed our short break!

This pains me greatly to share this, but at 04:30, I was required to attend to a phone call from Asia, and went to the lobby area to take care of my affairs so as to not wake others on my floor or in my room, and some 20-25 year old woman with a bucket and mop, no ID or other title, explained that for security reasons, I (and nobody else) was not allowed to be in the lobby area, the bar lounge, or the restaurant area at that time, and I had to go back to my room. When I asked "When would it be appropriate to be in the lobby area?", she looked confused, huffed and puffed, looked highly confused, and finally said "When the sun rises". When I asked why this was, she answered that the policy existed for hotel security and she wasn't allowed to work with others present (I suppose fears of sexual predators or people stealing tequila from the bar are the cause of this). When I asked "what does the 24/24 Reception mean?", she answered that it was for "emergency cases only", and that between 22:00 to 06:30 or "sunrise and the delivery of the croissants" nobody was allowed to be in the lobby area or first floor of the hotel. It was all childish and ridiculous, but greatly inconvenienced myself and my wife. I explained this was ridiculous, and I still have no idea what sort of strange logic the hotel was operating with. "I'm so sorry, but that's the hotel policy...You cannot be here". I remain highly irritated by this offhanded and somewhat selfish perception of hotel policy, especially in the face of "24/24 Front Desk Service" which I now know is "Emergency Cases Only".