24 hours at the Hotel Hermitage in Monte-Carlo
Alright, to be honest, the start of my stay was not the best and I would describe it as chaotic amyhow! When we arrived we were greeted by the whole bellmen team and directly accompanied to the front desk by a young trainee who was shouting with one bellman in front of us! Then she checked-us-in and immediately informed us that the room is too small for 3 guests! She told something from Junior Suite and then anything from Superior Room again and 130 Euros. After this chaos - we did not know what happened - she continued with filling out the passport information, gave us invalid Cercle cards and informed us that the room will be ready at 3.00 pm (it was 1:00 pm). In fact we wanted to go to the beach but this wish was gone immediately! Then she told us to leave a number, she will call us. Of course nobody did!
At 2:00 pm I went back to the hotel and I was told by Mrs. Olga, one of the very efficient staff members, the room will be ready within 15 minutes. It was indeed and we finally could refresh ourselfs and went to the beach!
The resorts own shuttle brought us to the famous Monte Carlo Beach within 15 minutes and we just enjoyed the nice weather and the amazing view of Monte Carlo until 6 pm when every guest was kicked out in a friendly way - they just closed the access to the sea!
Back to the hotel, our room, which was upgraded, was really luxurious and smelled very good! The bathroom was very generous with seperate shower and tub, Bulgari toiletries and double basins as well as seperate bidet and toilet!
The beds are really good and we got some Laduree macarons and bottled water as a welcome gift!
Breakfast is served in the Mezzanine floor overlooking the courtyards and Gustav Eiffel's winter garden. The service at breakfat was excellent and the buffet large, the products excellent and very fresh! They have a live cooking and the employees serve your breakast choice directly to the table!
At check-out they gave me a bill with the accommodation including breakfast and anther 90 euros for two additional breakfasts. Upon asking why they charged me for breakfast the front desk employee told me that I invited some guests and she has to charge me know. I got really angry at this point and asked for the Front Desk Manager. When she arrived they seemed to be very rude and finally cancelled my breakfast bill. What a shame for this hotel and a Leading Hotels of the World member???
I will give the so "famous" SBM Monte Carlo Company (they own the world famous Casino, Hotel de Paris, Cafe de Paris, Monte Carlo Beach as well as the Hermitage) a second chance by a future stay at their Hotel de Paris, but the Hermitage is definitely not my kind of hotel since they seem to only employ cheap (trainees) at the most important part of a hotel: The front desk.
Next time I will also try to test the Hotel Metropole, to see if this is a common happening in the small country or if it was a unique issue.
The "Société des Bains de Mer" provided us a very special rate at the Hotel Hermitage, but we did not feel welcomed throughout our stay. Our above written review is our personal opinion and hasn't been influenced.
