Le Meridien Beach Plaza, Monte-Carlo

Author's product rating:   

Value for Money	Good
Standard of Service	Excellent
Cleanliness	Excellent
Quality of Facilities	Excellent
Family Friendly	Good

Advantages:	5 star luxury, great breakfast, large bedrooms, private beach, large pool
Disadvantages:	expensive mini - bar

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I stayed in Le Meridien Beach Plaza from 1st -6th June 2008. I booked it about 4 weeks before we arrived with a friend for a last minute summer holiday. We booked the flights and hotel separately as i find this was the cheapest way to do it, instead of booking with an online travel agent e.g. last minute.com. We arrived at Nice airport around midday and instead of getting the usual taxi or shuttle bus to the hotel we decided to take an alternative form of travel. We decided to get a helicopter from Nice airport to Monaco. We found a link for this service on the le meridien website. The helicopter company is called HeliAir Monaco. It cost 70euros each for a 8 minute flight. However the views over the mediterranean are amazing. When we arrived at the helipad in Monaco a mercedes was waiting for us there to take us another 5 minutes by road to our hotel.

When we arrived at Le Meridien Beach Plaza straight away our luggage was taken off us by the doorman. There are 4 checking desks when you enter the hotel. We checked in within 5 minutes after talking to a lovely receptionist. She gave us 2 keycards for our room and told us the times of our breakfast etc. There are 4 lifts in the hotel. They were spacious instead of the usual crammed feeling you get in a lift. They also play weird sounds in them aswell such as animal noises, or the sound of the ocean. They are also lined with cow skin and have blue neon lights in them, something i have never seen before. However the lifts will always stay with me in my memory for being unique. We went to our to room and as soon as we entered the room our suitcases were already there.

The room itself was rather large. Straightaway on the left was the door for the bathroom. The bathroom had a sink, toilet, bidet and a bath/shower. Everyday they provided you with new soaps, shampoos and body washes which was greatly appreciated. Coming out of the bathroom and into the bedroom there was quite a big wardrobe which me and my friend used. Even after unpacking both our full suitcases there was plenty of extra room in the wardrobe. They also had a safe in the room which was free of charge. You just had to choose your own 4-digit password to open and close it. The bedroom contained 2 double beds, which were extremely comfortable. We had a plasma tv set on a large desk with a mini bar underneath. We also had a table with 2 chairs in the corner of the room. The balcony was also very spacious, it had another table and 2 chairs. Our balcony was on the side of the building but from it you could see the pool and the private beach. The mini bar in the room was extremely dear! A corona cost 13 euros, which i thought was pretty extortionate as they were only 4 euros at a bar down the road. The room was cleaned twice a day and a chocolate was left on your pillow everytime you came back to the room after your night out. I thought that was a nice touch that put a smile on my face. The room's had air conditioning for when it gets too hot in Monaco. We found the room to be comfortable, spacious and luxurious. The only disadvantage it had was the very expensive minibar, but that is the case in most hotels.

Breakfast was served on the ground floor between 7 & 10:30am. You could either eat inside or outside on the decking. We sat both in & out depending on the weather. The breakfast they served was out of this world. Everything you can ever imagine for breakfast, they had. Pastries, croissants, muffins, waffles, pancakes, yoghurts, cereals, fruit, cheese,meats, beans, bread, seeds, fresh omlettes, biscuits, olives, and the list continues. The service is very efficient aswell. Straight away we were served and seated and then a waitress asked us if we wanted coffee or tea. There are a couple of chefs who can also make you things to order such as omlettes. The juices were also delicious as they weren't from concentrate. They were freshly squeezed. You could chapmagne for breakfast if you wanted at no extra cost, which i thought was a bonus.

The outdoor pool area was great because they had lots of sunbeds and it wasn't overcrowded. When you go down to the pool a person at the hotel hands you a towel to use and then when your going back into the hotel you give it them back. Usually when you go on holiday sometimes people get up at 6:30am just to go down to the pool and put the towels down on the beds. There was no need for this here. No matter what time we went down to the pool whether it be 10am or 2pm there was always free sunbeds. The pool itself was big. It is split into 2 pools separated by a bridge. I loved the pool but a negative point is, if you have kids there is no shallow end. I think the shallowest point of the pool was about 4ft. The indoor pool is next to the outdoor pool but its inside under cover. We never used the indoor pool as the weather was so good, we didn't see the point of using it. It was smaller than the outdoor pool and looked very nice.

The private beach is just a few steps down from the pool area. Yet again there was always free sun loungers and everyday we managed to get a couple. The beach itself isn't fine sand. It is like small pebbles with a bit of shingle. However it doesn't hurt your feet when you walk on it so it wasn't a problem for me. The water was warm and clean and you could see the little fish swimming round you. It was a peaceful area of the hotel and we spent most of our time at the private beach. Waitresses are constantly walking past so if you ever want a drink from the hotel you don't need to leave your sunbed because they will take your order and get you your drink. If you burn easily in the sun like my friend, each two sunbeds comes with a parasol, which is easy to use.

The location of the hotel was pretty central in Monaco i think. It was a 5 minute walk to the Grimaldi Forum, which is where there are a few exclusive bars & clubs and where they hold summer concerts. Celine Dion played there the week before we arrived. The walk to the casino is about 15 minutes, but it is nice to stroll on the promenade along the ocean where you can admire the views. The walk to the harbour in Monaco is about 20-25minutes. At the harbour there are many bars & restaurants where you can eat fresh fish and other delicious cuisines. There are numberous restaurants only a couple of minutes walk from the hotel on the beach. They are reasonably priced and serve great food.

When we checked out of the hotel, me and my friend were about to order a taxi to take us to the airport but the hotel told us they already had a mercedes waiting for us outside to take us to the airport. The journey to the airport cost us 40 euros between us, but it was a great way to end our holiday. I would definitely go back to Monaco and i would highly recommend it to anyone interested. The hotel was perfect for our stay and i would love to revisit it sometime in the near future.