ibis Styles Deauville Villers Plage

ibis Styles Deauville Villers Plage

This was a three-day stop on our route through France, and it was timed to coincide with the 75th Anniversary of the D Day landing.  Our unexpected stay highlight was to have the privilege of seeing and meeting some of the veterans who were staying in the hotel at the same time.

Arrival was straight forward, and check in was quick and pleasant. We had been given a one level upgrade to a room with a sea view ( if you turned your head when looking out of the window or stepped onto the balcony. No sunsets or sunrises in bed ! It was a small disappointment but as the hotel was probably over full, the upgrade from what we had booked was welcome and generous. ) The welcome drink voucher was for two persons, and in addition there was free tea and instant coffee via a kettle in reception – it produced hot water for tea so better than the drinks dispenser in the breakfast area we found after day one.   The drink voucher was good for juice / wine or beer. We redeemed against a local apple juice and were given the remainder of the bottle ( we kept the bottle as a reminder of the trip and it is still in use in our fridge )

During July and August there is paid car parking around the hotel,  but in June this was free. We parked in a car park directly overlooking the beach ( the hotel covered parking was 10€ ). The hotel is not quite on the beach, but set back a little and blocked from the view by 30% by a property.  It is surrounded on other sides by what appeared to be residential low rise flats.

Breakfast was standard Ibis, and had some local touches ( apple juice ), and was re stocked from time to time.  It was more like a cafeteria than a breakfast area as the hotel allowed non guests to have the same breakfast at the same rate as guest, and it proved popular. There are no restaurants or cafes open in the morning when we stayed within walking distance, and there were a large number of “wild campers” we saw on regular occurrences. It was not the most inspiring of breakfast choices, and to make it seem better the limited range was spread out over three separate serving areas.  It was probably just “one up” on an F1 style breakfast. But they just cost 3€ ( and I have stayed in these when all else fails – the look on the reception desk when you present the Platinum Card is worth the cost of the stay alone )

The lift was slow and small, but was constantly busy. The room and communal areas seemed a poor mix of between an accountants value for money and an guests expectations. The whole hotel could do with having money spent on it. At our room rate of over 140€ a night they were not short of cash that week.

The hotel is three star ( French rating ) so we were a little disappointed to find toilet paper in sheet form being rationed in the bathroom. The towels were thin and worn, and the free flowing mosquitoes added nothing to the ambiance. No fly killer was provided when asked, and we were the main course that night. The local supermarket sells really good fly spray in the next town. We were not bothered again in that respect. However on our return on the second night, we thought that we have been burgled, as the door was not closed. There is a maintance issue with the door closers as well . Lucky nothing was taken, ( it was not closed properly by housekeeping) .  A small service recovery was grudgingly made by the management.

Out of peak demand, and not 100% plus occupancy the hotel will be nice. Take bug spray.