Auberge du Col de Bavella

The dorms were clean, the staff were nice, and the bathrooms were especially spotless. The breakfast, though, was frankly insulting: old baguettes warmed in the oven with butter and cheap jam. I know this is France, but for a place hosting hikers, they could at least try to serve a decent breakfast. I stayed here while doing the GR20, and otherwise it was alright.

We stopped for a snack around 3 pm and ordered six snack meals, though the portions were closer to full main dishes. My brocciu lasagna was only okay, a bit plain and soggy, and I didn’t enjoy it. The other dishes were all great. The staff were kind and polite, although paying with a virtual card caused some trouble, as others have mentioned.

We left without ordering after nobody came back to help us. We’d arrived as a family with two children and asked for a menu and whether they had fries for the kids, in English and simple French. The waiter didn’t seem to understand, disappeared inside, then we found him playing soccer outside. After that, he had the nerve to tell my wife and children the restaurant parking lot was reserved, even though we hadn’t parked there and had only walked to the nearby water source. Incredibly rude and ignorant service.

The breakfast was easily the worst I’ve ever had: burnt baguette pieces that were all end pieces, with some jam, a small plastic pot of Nutella, one hot drink, and a little orange or apple juice. After my girlfriend got food poisoning overnight or early in the morning, they showed no empathy or accountability, and the boss seemed to want us out before checkout time. We had to book another night because she was so ill. He said a room would be ready in an hour, but it took three and a half hours and a lot of discussion, with customers blamed for arriving “too early” for the rooms to be ready. There seemed to be no sense of time or space. The food itself was tasty, and service seemed okay as long as you didn’t ask for anything. We only stayed because it was pouring when we arrived. To be continued..