VILLA SAINT ANGE ^{* * * * *}

Endroit superbe, service agréable, mets fin, délicieux... Les prix sont forcément un peu élevés mais justifiés et le rapport qualité/prix est très favorable. Un bon moment a passer à 2 en amoureux ou plus

This is one of the most expensive hotels in Aix-en-Provence and we booked it mainly for the big pool and beautiful rooms intending to spend most of the time in the hotel relaxing. Unfortunately, the hotel did not live up to the 5-star hotel experience we are used to receiving at this price range.

First of all, the staff is very nice and those who had to listen to our complaints showed understanding. It is rather the hotel management and their strategy that made our stay unpleasant.

Upon arriving we were told that we cannot dine at the restaurant, because it was already booked out. We were therefore offered the option of dining in the room with room service instead. Since there was no other option and we were quite tired to start searching for choices outside of the hotel, we had dinner in the room. We clearly expressed our expectation that this must not repeat on the next day. After checking multiple times with the reception it was again not possible to have dinner at the restaurant the next day as well.

So we ended up in the situation paying around 1000 EUR/night without breakfast being told the only option to have dinner as a guest of this luxury 5-star wonderful hotel would be to have it in our room again. The room service menu is basically the same as the menu at the pool and consists of club sandwich and Caesar salad. The food is not covered when delivered to the room...never seen something like this at this price range. I also don't know who can eat this kind of menu day after day. At the same time we see people arriving by taxi from outside to go to the only restaurant of the hotel we are actually guests of. So, the standard sentence we heard when complaining about the situation was, that we have received a link per email long before our arrival and we should have made a reservation for the restaurant at least one week in advance. So, basically it was our fault, that we were not aware of the situation at the hotel and the occupancy of their only special low capacity restaurant and we should have booked via that link. Honestly, this feels like a cheap low-cost airline and not a 5-star hotel experience.

One thing to add is that after really countless discussions, the restaurant manager offered an option to squeeze us in if we were to arrive much earlier and have less time for dinner. So thank you at least for this option! We were kind of tired of all this at the end and did not want to stress ourselves anymore. There are plenty of options in town, just we were uncertain about the safety at night initially, because the street outside looks like if you were in Morocco.

The hotel is definitely too expensive for what it is and what it offers as included, given also the small property size, lack of view and the location at the main graveyard. We have seen much better in France and of course around the world within this price range. As many people already mention in their reviews, the prices of beverages are quite exaggerated. We were surprised to find out that one of the most famous hotels in St. Tropez, with magnificent views over the bay, has actually lower prices. Furthermore, if you are a coffee person, do not expect to find a coffee machine with coffee available for you in your room. It is a management decision not to have this privilege. You will have to order it extra, wait and pay for it. Feels just like a 5-star hotel.

In case all of the above does not matter, I guess the hotel can be recommended as a very nice place to stay. The deluxe rooms are indeed amazing, just don't try to stop the air conditioning, this doesn't bring anything.