Garrigae Domaine de l'Esterel

Incredibly good value here. It's a gorgeous hotel surrounded by a golf course and private villas. The rooms are only 109EUR per night for the standard comfort rooms which come with a balcony, good shower and comfortable beds. Fridge also in the room which was handy. Air-con also worked wonderfully and wasn't too loud to disturb. Location wise, it's both a blessing and a curse that it's in the middle of nowhere. Means it's extremely peaceful but it also means it's a bit of a pain without a car. There is the number 6 bus that runs from the main road, maybe 5-7min walk from the hotel. That takes you into Saint Raphael bus station which is right next to the train station. You've got a tiny retail park with a SPAR shop (much nicer than the SPARs in the UK...), a patisserie, butchers, fishmonger, Tabac shop, takeaway pizza place (fantastic) and a restaurant. Only negative, and it's a pretty big one, is the price of drinks at the bar. 6EUR for a 250ml soft drink! 4EUR for a bottle of water, 7EUR for a pint of Heineken isn't vastly greater than elsewhere but still hefty. Unless you go to the SPAR there aren't any other options for drink, so if you're thirsty and caught out... you have to pay.

We were 5 (4 adults, 1 child) for 2 weeks at the Hotel Garrigae Domaine de l'Esterel. Here is my (slightly detailed) review. Location: *** Good location, very quiet. However, there is not really a "view" as there are golf courses and tall pine trees all around. Food: Breakfast: *** If you stay for 2-3 days, the breakfast buffet will seem plentiful. But if you stay for more than a week, you will notice that it is always the same. Dinner: **** We ate there twice and were very satisfied. Service: * Our biggest criticism! After 10 days, I pointed out that we had been going to breakfast as a group of 5 for the 10th time, but a table for 5 was never set up. Even when we ate there twice, we always reserved a table for FIVE people. The service staff was never able to prepare a suitable table for us. They always added an inappropriate (in terms of size and height) table. These tables were DIRTY (bird droppings) and not stable. The service staff did not care at all. They made us feel like we were bothering them with our "special request" - well, we will let our child eat at a separate table in the future. Cleanliness: * Our bathroom was never cleaned .... In 14 DAYS! This can be proven with photos. Also, the hotel seems to be pet-friendly and has quite dirty carpet floors everywhere. That's all you need to know, right? The pool area, although otherwise very nice, is very run-down. The umbrellas are crooked, the cigarette butts wait there until they rot, the beautiful rattan furniture is decaying, the cushions are completely worn out, and the sunshades are torn. It's really a shame because the pool area would otherwise be really nice!! Spa: * € 25.00 per hour/person for using a spa is simply outrageous! Overall: It would actually be a top hotel that is unfortunately completely neglected. A completely destroyed table tennis table, a tennis court that no one wants to play on because it's decaying, garbage and/or broken lounge chairs just dumped behind the house. All in all, just a picture of a hotel that no one cares about anymore. Very, very sad! I would love to take over this hotel and bring it back to life 😉, because the basis is really good! CONCLUSION: The Côte d’Azur is certainly not cheap, and this hotel stands out in terms of price/value. I do not want to give the impression that we were very dissatisfied. We are very undemanding guests and do not let a few flaws ruin our vacation. However, if you can be bothered by the above-mentioned flaws, it is not recommended to stay at the Garrigae Domaine de l'Esterel. However, it is quite cheap in this area! The 3 *** are meant very sincerely. In Austria, a 4-star hotel with this quality would be severely criticized, or wouldn't even be considered a 3-star hotel.

Try to avoid this hotel if what you are looking for it a real 4 star hotel. Smelly rooms, filthy looking carpet , in dire need of renovation! The hotel and restaurant are hard to access when comiing from the highway and completely overpriced. At the bar we asked a question and were told in an unpleasant tone to wait for our turn ( the waiter was pouring beer into a glass and said ‘ one thing at a time’. The choice of meals in the restaurant was insufficient and food mediocre but extremely expensive. Loud and unpleasant live music playing non- stop next to the pool.