Pierre Vacances Htel La Villa Gardnia

The breakfast was a real letdown. On the first morning, for €13 each, we got pastries, five slices of sausage, a few pancakes and mini crepes, and that was all. The next day we arrived at 9:30, with breakfast due to run until 10:30, but the room had been cleared. A woman came out looking surprised and asked what we were doing there. When we said we had come for breakfast, she said we weren't on her list. She gave us one roll and one croissant each, along with a baguette left over from the previous day. We paid €13 apiece for that. We'd paid €52 for breakfast over two nights, and the second morning was especially poor. The hotel itself felt very dated, with stained carpet that looked as if it had never been replaced, a slight musty smell, no fan or air conditioning, and tiny bathrooms. In my view it was more like a two-star place. The rooms and bathrooms are small, too. We'd already had trouble with the booking. We had reserved June dates, then had to cancel because of a death in the family. The hotel refused a refund despite the circumstances, leaving us to lose €200 or move the booking to July. We changed the dates rather than lose that money, then were charged another €89 with no way to undo it. Breakfast was also removed from the booking and had to be paid for separately. We weren't looking forward to the stay after all that. The way the hotel handled things added to our grief, though the staff we encountered during the stay were pleasant. Looking back, I wish we'd just lost the €200 and stayed home to relax. Don't expect flexibility if something goes wrong, and I found breakfast expensive for what was served. I wouldn't recommend Pierre & Vacances. If you can avoid it, do.

Deauville is magnificent, thankfully the essentials are still there. The stay itself reminded me why I'd been avoiding places like this. For a supposed Pierre & Vacances Premium resort, the room was only average, and the sofa looked like it came from a budget hotel in the 1980s. We arrived the night before and weren't offered even two or three little butters at breakfast, so we had to walk 20 minutes in the rain. That felt pretty pathetic for a place charging over €200 a night. The Nespresso machine took capsules that didn't work with ours, so we had to pay twice as much at reception.

The location is ideal, close to everything in Deauville. The kitchen area and furnishings feel a bit dated, but the place is quite clean.

I enjoyed staying here. It makes a nice spot for a relaxing weekend, and could work for a visit near the beach too. I'd recommend it.