Residhotel Villa Maupassant

The balcony view over the sea was breathtaking, and the apartment had loads of space, with a kitchen, living room and separate bedroom. There are a few restaurants across the street, too. It’s a little way from downtown, but buses 1, 2 and 22 ran through the day, and the ride to downtown by the port took about 5-10 minutes. I split my six days in Cannes between here and downtown, three days each. If I came back, I’d stay here for all six days, and this would likely be my choice again. The free Wi-Fi barely worked for me. Reception had limited hours, so I waited almost two hours for it to open and get my keys. The receptionist was lovely, though.

The room was vile and nothing like the hotel photos. It hadn’t been cleaned when we arrived: rubbish was still there, the floors were dirty, and the sheets smelled. There was no air conditioning, and the bedroom light switches didn’t work. The brown front door scraped along the floor, while inside the bathroom there was mould, a filthy floor, stained bathtub and cracked tiles around the apartment. A drawer even fell out when we went into the bathroom. I had to keep my shoes on to walk around. Check-in wasn’t until 4 pm, and when I listed all these problems to the receptionist, she wasn’t surprised or apologetic. She said all the rooms were like that, she knew the condition, and nothing could be done. I’ve never stayed somewhere so disgusting. If I’d known what it was really like, I wouldn’t have gone in. Please spend your money somewhere else.

Getting the keys and paying turned our check-in into a last-minute panic. Three hours beforehand, they emailed to say I had to pay online or they wouldn’t send the check-in details. I called at least 20 times during reception hours and nobody answered. Even though I’d already used my card to book, they told me to come to reception between 15:00 and 19:00 to pay for the room and deposit. That sent us back to the hotel and disrupted our Cannes plans. The communication was poor, reception hours were limited, and the customer service was extremely frustrating. The apartment itself was in awful shape, with old, disgusting bathrooms and toilets and no maintenance. A plank came out of the sofa bed, and my child nearly sank into it and hurt an elbow. The toilet cistern had no lid and water dripped constantly. The bathtub and sink drains were clogged, so water went down very slowly. This was an extremely disappointing stay. They should take “Hotel” out of the listing. A private B&B would probably offer better accommodation. Owners, please put some money into making these apartments fit to live in. Stay away.

The room was filthy, with bugs across the floor and brown water coming from the shower. It looked like it hadn’t been cleaned for weeks. Customer service was woeful, too. There was one receptionist, and she’d huff, sigh and moan whenever we asked for anything. For check-in, you’re supposed to collect keys left outside, but if you book through a third party like Navan, they won’t share the information you need. This was the worst hotel I’ve ever stayed in. Please don’t stay here.