HÔTEL VAUBAN ^{* * *}

Petit hôtel sympa à Villefranche sur mer.

My wife and I stayed there for the Rugby World Cup. Virginie the hotel manager was most welcoming. Our accommodation consisted of a large room situated on the garden with ensuite and large stowage or changing area off the bedroom. The breakfast is a bit basic but for the price good value for money. Virginie was most helpful in helping us find suitable transport to the rugby stadium and pointing out places to see etc. The hotel is ideally suited for public transport to Nice or Monaco. The bus stop is literally 3 minutes walk away. 5 minutes away on foot is the 'old village' a small bay with a beautiful beach and numerous restaurants. A location you must visit. Parking is an issue in the whole of Nice. There is a small public pay and display carpark 100 yards away from the hotel. However, virtually across the road from the hotel is free parking for about 12 cars off road. We initially parked in the public car for an hour and parked off road when a space become available. If you want to use public transport, you need payment car available when you board the bus that you top up as and when. Overall I can thoroughly recommend Le Vauban hotel both for is accommodation and location. But my real praise goes to Virginie who has to be the most helpful hotel manager I have ever met. She made our stay a pleasure.

I think they probably try their best at this hotel but I had a pretty unpleasant night in one of the rooms. The room smelled really bad, there was some smell coming from the sewer perhaps, so it almost felt like sleeping in a public bathroom. The room was on the garden side and on ground level which, for me, felt a little unsafe. Perhaps this feeling was made worse by the fact that there’s no 24/7 reception and the gates to the garden are open to anyone. The receptionist was understanding, though, when I wanted to leave after just one night. With small tweaks to plumbing/cleanliness and safety this could be a really charming hotel!

This is a 2 star hotel and not worth more than $50 euro a night at its current state. We had a garden (lower) room. It smelled like sewage and the floor was dirty. The smell was mostly in the bathroom but naturally escaped into the room so we tried to keep the bathroom door closed. The sheets also had unsightly stains. I wanted to gauge the reception for its customer service by simply asking for a blanket as our room did not have one and my wife mentioned she’d like one. It did not go well as the reception lady kept mentioning “it’s warm outside” and “you don’t need a blanket”. She mentioned this maybe 2-3 times, I kept ignoring her so as not to engage in an argument. Eventually she gave us a blanket. This interaction gave me no confidence in asking for a new room due to the bad smell or sheets without stains, and we were worried that another room might just have another set of problems anyways. All that said the AC worked, bed was comfortable and it was quiet other than the inevitable sounds a very old but charming building makes (mostly HVAC duct making noise). This hotel just needs to invest some money and time into the blaring renovations it needs (small holes in the walls, stinky plumbing, terrible quality exterior doors and locks) improve customer service training and it could be a 3 or 4 star hotel. We made it work by being outside of our room as much as possible and Villefranche is an amazing place to do just that. The surrounding beauty is unique and breathtaking. Very walkable to everything as well. Location is great. Definitely skip the breakfast if you do stay here. WIFI only worked outside of our room on the patio.

Piccolo hotel con camere pulite che affacciano sul giardino ed altre con vista mare. L'hotel è situato vicino alla fermata degli autobus che portano a Nizza e Monaco. La prima colazione era più che soddisfacente con dolce e salato, yogurt, cereali e pane fresco. In uso ai clienti vi è un frigorifero comune ove poter conservare i propri alimenti. Sono stata un mese per lavoro, la signora che gestisce l'hotel è molto gentile e molto disponibile, mi ha fatto sentire a casa. Grazie da Monica