Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Hotel La Jabotte, Antibes

Has anyone visited this hotel? We have booked for mid June having read the Sunday Times review. Has the hotel got a lounge or bar area. Their web site does not show any other facilities.




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There are some very nice aspects to staying at La Jabotte, and others that didn%26#39;t impress. Not in any particular order:





1) The room in which I stayed had a very musty smell, which I tracked to the closet. I found a wall board pulled away that evidently was the result of trying to having removed the original (?) wallboard in front of some piping. 2) The owners didn%26#39;t go out of their way to provide any service beyond the breakfast, which they pretty much insist you buy. It%26#39;s pretty routine petit dejeuner - a couple of plain but tasty rolls, a small morsel of cheese, a litte jam and possibly fruit. If you are renting a car, you may want to insist equally on finding your own and skipping theirs. Disclaimer: Wasn%26#39;t looking for a lot of coddling, just some help and advice. Think of this as more of a hands-off, small inn, keep those expectations in check, and it%26#39;ll be just fine. 3) They don%26#39;t have a restaurant license. They said they are applying for some type of permit which is why they also insist that you do not eat or drink anything on the small patios outside the rooms other than the appertif or other drinks that they sell. 4) I%26#39;d either plan on renting a car or only walking to and from there before 9/10 p.m. Before dark, Antibes was heaven. After dark, there were a lot of gangs who hang out down at the nearby plages and, as with all gangs in all countries, were not very nice. (Understatement.) The La Jabotte guests are instructed to lock the gate and to lock the shutters on their windows at night, since all the little rooms are at ground level, though I noticed not all the French guests did. 5) The dog is very cute. 6) The rooms are quite large and comfortable by local standards. The decor is tasteful.





Hope this is somewhat helpful. I really did like Antibes. The sea, the museums, the shops. I just know now where to go, when and how.




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I just got back from our trip and stayed at La Jabotte while in Antibes. They were the only disappointing place we stayed in. It is very cute with a nice courtyard but the place was tainted by the two gentlemen that own the place. Every encounter they acted %26quot;slightly annoyed%26quot; with us. At breakfast they served not even a full cup of orange juice and I waited for them to come around to see if I wanted more, never did. The next morning I automatically asked if I may have another glass of orange juice as I do not drink coffee and the reply was, %26quot;Not now, as I%26#39;m very busy.%26quot; When we checked out they gave the guests ahead of us a %26quot;petit souvenir%26quot; of their stay and were very nice to them for some reason and when we checked out right after them 2 minutes later, they were very short and no %26quot;petite souvenir%26quot;. The dog Tommy is adorable, we had our door open a few times as the rooms are fairly dark with only 1 small window and Tommy just wanders in to say hi, which we did not mind at all, and one of the gentlemen comes over and acts annoyed as if it is our fault that the dog came in our room!




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In the review section on Hotel Jabotte my friend and I posted descriptions of our less than favorable experience. The owners have since responded and I feel it is important to take a moment to respond to their comments -- as it may benefit future guests.



The key problem with our stay was obviously the owners %26quot;thought%26quot; we were young - in our 20%26#39;s. We emailed them after our trip about the problems and they kept calling us %26quot;young%26quot; %26quot;inexperienced%26quot; travelers. And once again they called us young in their response on this website. We are not 20 years old -- we are not even in our twenties -- we are in our 30s. It%26#39;s unfortunate that they have obviously had a bad experience with young people in the past and now paint everyone who %26quot;appears%26quot; young with the same brush.



We could have judged them from the second we walked in too - but are far more open minded than that. They claim we wanted 4* service and they are a 2* hotel. I clearly indicated in my first write-up that we were looking forward to the %26quot;Family run hotel.%26quot; We are experienced travelers (we have both been to Europe numerous times) and we mainly stay in small family run hotels. This trip was no different ...one of our favorites this time around was Hotel Nuovo Miralago in Bellagio.



We also did not ask for a wake up call at or around midnight. It was 10pm.



We have never had a bad experience on any of our trips. That is why we felt it was important to post a review of this hotel. For us, the whole experience was totally disappointing - and maybe because we took the time to let travelers know what happened to us - it won%26#39;t happen to anyone else. Either way, you can make your own decision.

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