Hôtel Vacances Bleues Le Balmoral in Menton

What could've been a good experience was completely ruined by an Italian woman manager (at the time) & staff with a haughty, couldn't care less attitude!

In the sweltering heat of Oct, they decide to turn off the air conditioning for the entire property, saying that it was 'hotel policy'!! Seriously? Totally ridiculous given how hot it was in Menton!
And one of the most horrid breakfasts I've had by far in any hotel in Europe!

And beside, they wanted to change our room the next day & wanted payment up front, without even showing us the room.

And mind you, prices were as though they offered gold plated service!! Awful!

And they refused to give a receipt for the payment.....
Will not go there again!

Scam - We booked this hotel through booking.com, though we were skeptical about the lack of recent reviews. We then received a WhatsApp from a US number, from a business account under a different name (the account was created October 2025). It asked us to follow a link to make a payment but we cancelled our reservation due to the bad feeling we were getting.
We have just received another WhatsApp with the same profile picture but a different name (created September 2023), again asking us for information.
Any messages we send do not get delivered, the phone goes to an automated message and then hangs up.
This is clearly a scam and should be avoided.

If I could leave -5 stars, I absolutely would. Do NOT recommend!

I paid extra for a sea view room—see the attached photo to understand what I actually got. When I questioned the front desk, they didn’t even bother to check availability and just said no other rooms were open. After 10 minutes of back and forth, I was offered a lower room with a patio view. Again, I paid for a sea view. I was told the property manager would follow up within a day or two. Spoiler: no one ever did.

The single room is tiny—so small that my luggage barely fit. The bed was extremely uncomfortable, with a thin, cheap mattress that offered no support. Definitely not what you’d expect for the price.

The overall cleanliness was below expectations. The carpets are old and dirty—you’ll want to keep your shoes on indoors. Housekeeping is incredibly loud in the mornings—it felt like someone was shouting in the hallways by 8 AM. The walls are thin, and the staff seems completely unaware (or uninterested) in the fact that guests are on vacation and maybe don’t want to wake up that early.

Breakfast? Good luck. If you’re not there at 7 AM sharp, everything’s gone by 9:30, and they do not restock.

On my final night, I tried to eat at the hotel restaurant and was rudely told there were no tables available for a party of one. When I spoke to the front desk (same woman who checked me in), she just shrugged and said, “Yeah, you didn’t have a good experience here.” That was the extent of her customer service.

And to top it off, I was charged $20 for a taxi I never asked for.

Disgusting service. Dirty hotel. Uncomfortable rooms. Total disrespect for guests. I will never stay here again—and neither should you. Just gross.