Le Grimaldi - Nice, France 

MA
Posted: Fri, Nov 07 2008
The hotel is a 3 minute walk to the seaside boulevard and offers good sized rooms. It is opposite an old church and is fairly quiet at night.

LR
Posted: Fri, Oct 03 2008
The Grimaldi is superbly located in Nice Nord's central area, close to the old city, shopping and the Med. The breakfast was pricey and mediocre so we ate elsewhere. The staff was friendly and helpful. The only knock is that the rooms are a bit worn and the whole place could use some freshening up. All in all, though, a good value.

AM
Posted: Thu, Sep 11 2008
Pleasant, relaxed and highly competent. A great place to stay.

Peter Barber
Posted: Fri, Aug 01 2008
We switched to this hotel in a bit of a rush after realising that the Villa Saint-Exupéry was rather more of a dive than the smart YHA hostels we'd been used to in Victoria. Having arrived at Le Grimaldi, we were surprised there were any rooms available at such short notice. The hotel is in an excellent location, being only 10-15 mins walk from Nice SNCF and the sea, and 20 to the Cours Saleya and the Vieille Ville, and was a good combination of simple and smart that should satisfy most travellers. The staff were helpful, looking after our suitcases from early in the morning of arrival. The rooms was spotless, tastefully decorated, and very quiet. The air conditioning worked (it's amazing how often we've stayed in hotel rooms in hot places where the unit was broken), and the bed was supremely comfortable. The bathroom was cleanly tiled in travertine with a very good shower and L'Occitane en Provence toiletries - what more can you ask? We had two minor quibbles, which I mention for the sake of completeness. Firstly, the room smelt strongly of cigarette smoke. Apparently they don't offer non-smoking rooms, which surprises me, since most people don't smoke and that it's cheaper to insure premises which don't allow smoking. The reason given by the concierge was that they can't control what guests do in their rooms, which in a way is reassuring ;-) and they have a "special spray" which partly neutralised the smell. The other minor quibble is that the Wi-Fi access advertised on Venere was apparently access to an Orange.fr hotspot, and certainly not free. In this day and age, I can't see that it costs much to provide free Wi-Fi access in a hotel, and it's very helpful for planning activities in a city. As I said, minor quibbles. Overall we thought Le Grimaldi was excellent for the price and happily recommend it as a base for exploring Nice, or for trips along the coast by train.

Peter Barber
Posted: Sun, Jun 22 2008
We switched to this hotel in a bit of a rush after realising that the Villa Saint-Exup?ry was rather more of a dive than the smart YHA hostels we'd been used to in Victoria. Having arrived at Le Grimaldi, we were surprised there were any rooms available at such short notice. The hotel is in an excellent location, being only 10-15 mins walk from Nice SNCF and the sea, and 20 to the Cours Saleya and the Vieille Ville, and was a good combination of simple and smart that should satisfy most travellers. The staff were helpful, looking after our suitcases from early in the morning of arrival. The rooms was spotless, tastefully decorated, and very quiet. The air conditioning worked (it's amazing how often we've stayed in hotel rooms in hot places where the unit was broken), and the bed was supremely comfortable. The bathroom was cleanly tiled in travertine with a very good shower and L'Occitane en Provence toiletries - what more can you ask? We had two minor quibbles, which I mention for the sake of completeness. Firstly, the room smelt strongly of cigarette smoke. Apparently they don't offer non-smoking rooms, which surprises me, since most people don't smoke and that it's cheaper to insure premises which don't allow smoking. The reason given by the concierge was that they can't control what guests do in their rooms, which in a way is reassuring ;-) and they have a "special spray" which partly neutralised the smell. The other minor quibble is that the Wi-Fi access advertised on Venere was apparently access to an Orange.fr hotspot, and certainly not free. In this day and age, I can't see that it costs much to provide free Wi-Fi access in a hotel, and it's very helpful for planning activities in a city. As I said, minor quibbles. Overall we thought Le Grimaldi was excellent for the price and happily recommend it as a base for exploring Nice, or for trips along the coast by train.