Bienestar - Maison de Charme

Excellent service, rooms spotless and cleaned daily. Food in cafe next door was OK though not great choice. Central location.

Some of the reviews here are now several years old, so things have changed - and mostly for the better. This is a rather quirky establishment, somewhere between a hotel and a b&b; it doesn't have its own restaurant nor 24 hour reception. But, in our subjective opinion, these points are adequately covered by the arrangements the management make. Reception: we arrived at about 10am; far too early to book in, but we dropped off our bags and were told that our room would be ready at around 1pm (which it was) but if the front door was locked then an entry code could be used to get in, and our key would be on the front desk. This late access arrangement worked fine. Breakfast. There is a busy cafe/bar next door and we were allowed 3 items for breakfast. I usually chose (1) freshly squeezed orange juice, (2) coffee (excellent) and (3) a croissant or pastry. It is enough to kick-start the day, plus we sat outside and watched the world go by. It seemed to be a meeting point for the local dachshund owners' club as well as other quite colourful locals. The room. We had a second-floor double room. No balcony, but the front door opened onto an open "gallery" area. The only window opened onto this area too, so although we had natural light it was at the expense of privacy. Also the window was exactly opposite the lift (yes, there is a lift). That aside, it was a spacious and quiet room with a comfortable king-size bed (2 singles made up together), modern clean bathroom, with shower, bidet, WC and large basin. The bedroom had a table, 2 chairs and 2 bedside units. The A/C worked well, but we didn't use it much (personal preference); it switched itself on during the night, which was a little annoying. There was a kettle and teabags, but no cups (we borrowed from the cafe) and the kettle had to be placed on the floor as the cable was too short. The TV had plenty of channels in Italian; access to CNN or BBC News would have been nice. The towels were clean, fluffy and plentiful. We could have had the room cleaned every day if we chose, so that aspect was very good. The reception staff were brisk and helpful. They had a stock of beach umbrellas and mats for our use - a nice touch. Location. This place is perfectly located for touring on foot; 5 minutes' walk to the harbour, the old town and the bus stop. The bus to the airport takes about 15 minutes and costs 1Euro. Overall we enjoyed our 10-days stay and have good memories of this hotel