Le Meridien Garden Beach Hotel

On arrival at reception, the staff appeared busy with phone calls & kept us waiting. 3 ladies in our party had booked & paid for a triple room, only to be told that 2 complimentary beach towels are provided per room & the 3rd had to pay for this complimentary gesture, which was rather strange, as they had all paid the same price.
Although the hotel was classed as a 4* our rooms were not what I would class as 4*. Rather on the small side, no balcony, overlooking the street. Bathroom included a bath/shower, sink & bidet. Toilet was a separate room. Both looked quite dated & slightly shabby, definitely in need of refurbishment.
Be prepared to pay for everything here. The jetty had sun beds (without mattresses), for 25 euros per day; this also included half a bottle of still water. Their private beach is tiny & packed with 4 rows of cramped sun beds (with mattresses) that came to the edge of the surf. The front row sun beds are 15 euros each, 2nd row are 10 euros each & the remaining 2 rows (in the shade) are free! There was no possibility of moving your sun bed in any direction & it was a struggle to move between them. No food or drink that was not purchased from the bar was allowed on the private beach or on the jetty. To swim in the indoor pool costs 15 euros.
A good selection of a hot & cold breakfast was served on the terrace overlooking the sea, where the staff were very friendly & helpful.
The street outside the hotel was very busy with people & cars. There were plenty of bars, restaurants & cafes catering for all tastes & wallets. We ate in a wonderful fish restaurant (cannot remember the name) a few steps from the hotel where the food & service was excellent. The 2nd night we ate in ‘Le Paradis’ restaurant, which overlooked the beach. Once again the food was a joy & the young team of staff did provided an excellent service & made it a very memorable evening. The best bar for evening fun was the ‘Le Splendid’ across the road from the hotel. There are many good shops & a supermarket within 3 minutes walk from the hotel. Overall the place had a buzz about it with a good happy atmosphere.
The casino was next door & free to hotel guest.
We had a late flight home, but had to vacate our rooms at noon. The cost to keep your room until 6pm was 90 euros. There are enclosed showers by the beach which were adequate to shower & change before the flight home.
Overall the hotel was nice, but the staff seemed more interested in taking your money rather than trying to make your stay a memorable one. You would think that they could have ‘broken the rules’ & given one extra complimentary beach towel for a paying party of 11 guests, but instead of they put a note under the door to say that rules are rules!