Simon Hotel

The staff were very friendly and accommodating, and the location was marvellous for a day before a cruise. Unfortunately, the air conditioning wasn't working properly. They brought a fan quickly, but for a 350e suite, it wasn't good value on this occasion.

The service was very good, and I really loved the view from my room.

The rooms themselves were fine, but getting the two twin rooms we had booked took three room changes, and we ended up making the beds ourselves. The restaurant was okay but very slow, with breakfast and dinner only, no lunch. The hotel is near a dangerous area with drug dealers.

The rooms were clean, modern, spacious, and comfortable, with pleasant beds and pillows, lovely roomy bathrooms, closet space, a safe, mini fridge, and tea and coffee. The air conditioning worked, so we slept well. We only had city-view rooms when we booked. The mountain side and its homes and buildings look nice from higher floors, but the lower floor looks straight onto a parking lot. Everything is within walking distance, and the port is beautiful, with polite, pleasant vendors. At first we were happy we'd chosen this hotel for our stay at FDF. The advertised Boli Bar Terrace was described on the website and room amenities booklet as a place for drinks and Tapas, so we went after dinner to try drinks and dessert. We weren't allowed to sit on the terrace because staff said it was only for people having dinner, and that drinks or alcohol weren't allowed there. They sent us to a living-room-style lounge with comfy enough sofa chairs but very low, small tables. Our group of four was put at a table suited for one or maybe two. We went along with it, hoping to try the menu, but it took a while for anyone to take our order. Then they said the liquor and drinks listed on the menu weren't available. We were told the lounge was only for drinks, so we couldn't order food or dessert. After some back and forth, they let us order dessert, but only one, though we'd picked two. When we asked why, the answer was just, “you can only have 1.” Another group of four arrived speaking French and were welcomed onto the terrace with a bottle of Champagne. Our one dessert, chopped fruit in sweet sauce, arrived without cutlery. When we asked for forks, they brought just one for the four of us. We ended the night quickly. It was a real downer at the start of our vacation, and we'll avoid the place. Maybe being fully fluent in French would get you a warmer welcome, but this experience left us feeling the advertised restaurant and bar weren't worth trying. We'd planned to try the 25 euro per person breakfast the next morning, but decided against it. We didn't want to start the day with that kind of vibe.