Novotel Nice Centre Vieux Nice Hotel 4 stars

Good location. Had to ring reception to clean room a couple of times as hadn’t been cleaned by time we had arrived back late afternoon. Also asked a few time for extra pool towels but they were only provided once. Room ok, a bit dated. Air con v good. Bar staff v friendly. Breakfast well thought out under current circumstances. Difficult to get subbed by pool as very busy. Also pool bar only open at certain times.

We stayed for 3 nights and could never get into the pool.

It was a good experience staying at the hotel. The people working there were very polite despite all the challenges of the period. They were so kind with the children and helpful.

Nice staff especially recessed room service Rooms not really the Novotel standard needs renovation but the bed was really good

Firstly to leave such a bad review for me must be a thing as I never really leave any bad reviews from bad experiences. But this time I will. The hotel itself is located in a good area, just 3 tram stops from the bustling old town. So just out of the way. Its located next to a busy intersection and police station so there is a lot of noise at night, no complaints here, I was fully aware of this, and its in the middle of France's second-biggest city. So expect city noise. The hotel when we arrived was clean and people were wearing facemasks and also plenty of hand sanitizer available. Sadly that appears to be where the cleanliness ends. The hotel appeared to be running at full capacity with not enough staff to manage it. It appears that profit over health has come first. The staff all appeared to be hardworking but completely rushed off their feet and constantly surrounded by people with questions and issues. Is there a manager in this unit? I never so one person who represented management in 5 days. ( II assume a nice suit and tie and walking about engaging with customers and staff) At this point, I will highlight staff member Salem on the front desk who went above and beyond to help us with numerous issues. He addressed us with our names and was very personal, he understood the issues raised and had offered us a complimentary drink as a gesture of goodwill, he did, however, have to knock on a managers door in the lobby to seek permission, again a sign that management appeared to be hiding here and not front-facing. The issues. Ok so we paid extra for an executive room with mini bar etc. . We got to the room and the minibar was there and empty. No toiletrys in the room either. I went to reception and was told due to COVID I had to be handed it, I was then handed a brown paper bag full of tins of juice and toiletries. I am not sure what the difference is here from someone putting these in the room or putting it in a brown bag for self collection?????!!!! Next morning we went to breakfast. The busy period which is well advertised is 0900 - 1000. Unfortunately that was the time we also wanted to eat, not the quiet time of 0700 - 0745 am.... BREAKFAST WAS UTTERLY SHAMBOLIC. No control at all. People walking in at both ends, people handling lots of items and putting them back. Some quick logical fixes when you follow in a queue of people. Milk should be with or after you collect your cereal. Jams and honey should be with the bread/pancakes or croissants, not well before, I found myself walking back and forward-looking for things and failing to adhear to 1m distancing. The staff were only busy refilling plates and cuttlery and could not cope with refilling/clearing tables as well. After day 1 we left and ate out for the next 4 days. Bit of an extra expense having paid extra for the service. But I felt for health reasons it was a better option. Next - The rooms. Like most hotel rooms you have to put a key in the room to activate the electricity. So on the morning of the second day we left to go out for the day and on return, I came back to find the second room key that was activating the electricity gone. I thought it was an error on my behalf so left this. The annoying thing by this was that the fridge was now off and all our mini bar items WARM!!!! The next day we left again and I put a personal card in the socket to keep electrisity on and again when I retruned. THE CARD IS GONE AGAIN. I went to complain that 1. Where is my cards. 2. Why are cleaners taking personal items from customers rooms. 3. You gave me a minibar and you turn of the power so its always warm. I was told by a staff memeber this is due to energy saving for the enviroment. I said I had items charging in the room that stopped and items I personally bought for the fridge warm. The long story short is despite dealing with 3 members of staff it took me finding the saving grace that was Salem to finally locate my "Stolen" cards and return them to me. HOTEL STAFF - DONT TOUCH PERSONAL ITEMS - DONT TURN OF ROOM POWER ESPECIALLY IF THE CUSTOMER PAYS FOR A MINI BAR AS AN EXTRA. Finally the pool. The photos are deceiving the pool is tiny. There are signs up saying No Running. No Jumping. No Diving. No Kids unattended. THESE ARE POINTLESS if you don't have staff to manage this. The pool had about 15 kids in it at all times jumping and splashing. The color of the water of the small pool and hygenic levels was somewhat questionable to say the least. We made a swift exit and went to the beach everyday. Again another unplanned venture but we had no choice. There is no point having rules in place if you dont manage the rules. You must have some good public liability insurance because the behaviors round the pool and the lack of staff (Zero) will put you at risk of serious issues. Finally the website said that late checkout available till 5pm. We went down to book this was told its 2PM and that its 35 euros for an extra 2 hours!!!!! FYI - I booked an airport hotel for 55 euros with a pool that I can leave at 8 pm and go to the airport. Overall - Hotel - 6 Salem - 10 Breakfast 3 Pool -- 2 Location - 9 Tram Stop - 20meters away (Line 1) Covid Guidlines - 3