Balestrino Vacations from $1,036

Good central location. No

My son and I stayed here for 2 nights to rest up after busy days at the Monaco Grand Prix. It was a terrific decision. The hotel is situated on the very edge of a mountainside looking down over Monaco and along the Mediterranean. The views are spectacular. A great place to take in the scenery is from the gorgeous infiniti pool. The rooms are spacious and luxurious. There is a choice of on-site restaurants with the option to dine outside with a view. Staff are extremely courteous and eager to help. The hotel operates a shuttle service to/from Monaco which is about a 15 minute ride. This hotel may be at the very upper end of the price range, but we feel that we received proper value. We treated ourselves and were very happy that we did.

First the positive. The room was clean, quiet and a short walk to the beach. Now the negative. Upon arrival there was a security gate to enter through. A numbered keypad and call button were located there. After many attempts all the call button did was ring. No one picked it up. I tried the phone number listed on the hotels.com website. That didn’t work either. Frustrated I decided to climb over the gate. The front desk person then came out. He apologized, saying he knew the call button was inoperative. Seriously? He couldn’t leave the gate unlocked? There was another secure door with a keypad at the hotel entrance. The hotel has no lift, so you have to lug your baggage in our case up stairs to the third floor. The room was obviously an attic space converted to a room. Sloping ceilings and wood beams. If you’re over 4 feet, you will hit your head getting out of bed. The A/C produced virtually nothing cold. The room was hot, at least 80 F. The front desk is unmanned after 8PM, so there’s no resolution to problems. A hostel would be much better value. No way would I stay again or recommend this hotel. I don’t often complain, but this hotel was an insult.