HOLIDAY INN RESORT NICE - PORT ST. LAURENT

Hotels normally have grand names. Sometimes, experience tells you the name lives to reality, some others, its wishful thinking.

The Holiday Inn Resort Nice is more... tsecond option. It is close to the airport, which is convenient if you arrive late... Well, sort of. Taxis don't want to take you there because it's literally, round the corner... But you can't go there on foot. There are "navettes" (shuttle buses) that take you there... When they work, of course. If you arrive late, you end up stuck in the airport, without a "navette", as they don't work after certain hour, and no taxis wanting to take you there. Well, that's service for you.

When you get there, the reception staff are friendly and tell you all you need. You get to the room, and then your "adventure" continues. The rooms are spacious, but furnished with old times items, in desperate need of renovation. It is just an old 3-star hotel.

Bathroom and toilet are separated, which is always good if you are sharing. Bathroom kit is a bit scarce. A little hand soap and some moisteriser. For the shower, there is a soap dispenser. It smells pleasant, by the way.

Bed is big and comfortable. It is a shame the room was freezing cold and there was a draft. The windows, even with the curtains drawn, allowed a lot of cold and air to come inside.
My remote control for the TV didn't work. I was so tired that I didn't need it. But had I needed a little bit of entertainment, I would have been a bit annoyed.

Morning breakfast was a buffet... A few cold meats and cheese, yogourt, toast (that I accompanied with Nutella, my favourite) and pain au chocolait. The hot food was not that interesting... Scrambled eggs (soup version), a bland omelette, roasted tomatoes... And not much more.

Juice and cereals too. Coffee was horrendous and staff was rather slow... And the worst of it was that they only needed to pour the coffee.

I was not impressed by the hotel. I have to say that everytime they offer me a Holiday Inn, whether it is Express or the standard one, I am not very happy. I don't like them. I guess in the past they were nice hotels but now they seem abandoned.

If you have another hotel in the area to choose from, go for it. The Holiday Inn should be the last choice.


HOLIDAY INN RESORT NICE-PORT ST. LAURENT
167 PROMENADE DES FLOTS BLEUS
SAINT LAURENT DU VAR, 06700
FRANCE
Telephone: +33-4-93148000

SOFITEL CITY CENTRE DUBAI

Sofitel is a good hotel. When you stay over in one, you are staying in all, as they all have the same features. However, the Sofitel hotel in Dubai is in deep need for renovation. Its 361 rooms are old, and the typical Arab lack of maintenance shows that many years have passed since it was refurbished. It clearly gets away from the idea of a 5 star hotel, making it more like a 4 star one.

The hotel location is excellent. Only 10min from airport, and offers a free shuttle bus service. Once you finish work, the hotel offers you bars and restaurants, but the best thing is that is attached to the City Centre Shopping Mall, were you can walk, shop, eat, drink, watch a movie... You don't even need to go into the City centre in Dubai...

The rooms are reasonably big. The beds look clean and are comfortable. For some reason, I really felt good in the bed. At night, when you return to your room, your curtains are drawn for you, the bed open, and a little chocolate (extremely good, I have to say) waiting for you by the bed.

The bathroom offers a kit that is welcome, as well as two bottles of complementary water. Avoid the EVIAN, which you have to pay for...

Breakfast is good... for the first day. Then... it is very repetitive. I was expecting a little bit more. There was no fresh fruit. Only fruit out of a tin. Bakery was ok... but the best was the possibility to get a couple of fried eggs or an omelette... How many omelettes can you eat in a few days? Service was a bit slow, but pleasant.

My rate included free internet connection, which allowed me to keep up with the office.

The bellboys were rather slow, careless, distracted, and not that helpful... but their managers weren't either. It was a nightmare to get a taxi unless one came to unload... This is a general problem in Dubai, but a little bit of interest from the bellboys would have improved things.

My flight was an evening one (I think they normally are... Who flies from Dubai in the morning?) and I got an extension until 4pm to do the checkout, something I am really grateful about.

SOFITEL CITY CENTRE
Hotel contact details
Near City Centre Shopping Mall,
Deira, DUBAI,
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Tel +971 4294 1222
reservation@citycentrehotel.ae