Mercure Marché Aux Fleurs hotel

I can honestly say I’ve never stayed at a dumpier excuse for a hotel in my years of traveling. My husband and I traveled to Nice as part of our honeymoon. We were looking forward to the nice room we had seen online: large, with a balcony and seaside view. What we walked into upon check in was nothing of the sort. The first that greeted us was the DANKEST mildew smell. The room was tiny, dark, and NOTHING like the online photos. The bed was upstairs in a loft, which you had to climb a spiral staircase to get to. The “view” was of the building next door, and no balcony. We complained to the hotel staff and had our travel agent call on our behalf as well, as she was also shocked by the difference from the website portrayal. The staff was very helpful and said while they couldn’t move us to a new room that night, they’d move us for the next 2 nights, free of charge.

The following morning, we moved to a different room, also tiny but this time the bed was in the main room, and we had a small balcony (note: still not the room pictured online that we thought we were paying for). Still not seaside view. The room still had a smell, more musty than mildew this time. Mildly better but still uncomfortable to breathe in.

From the first night, I started sneezing and became extremely congested. My husband felt the same way the following morning. Whenever we would go outside or leave the room for the day, our symptoms would lessen. Within minutes of being back in the room, we were sneezing and blowing our noses again. We were allergic to something in these rooms, and note this happened in both rooms we stayed in.

We also both were bit by mosquitos multiple times, due to a couple of mosquitos in the room which we eventually found and killed.

The walls / windows were so thin I could hear every conversation happening outside. Since this hotel is right in the main area of town, people were out and about until the early hours of the morning: screaming, shouting, laughing, chanting, singing, dogs barking, etc. There were also no black out curtains on one of the large windows, so all the light from the restaurants and shops below streamed in all through the night. The noise and light woke me up multiple times throughout the night, as did other loud noises in the hotel around 4am one morning, due to the thin walls / floors.

Lastly, this hotel’s amenities were basically non existent. If you are looking for a nice or romantic stay on the French Riviera, this hotel is NOT for you. It is a budget motel disguised as a nice beachfront hotel. It’s dirty, dingy, and rundown. The area is loud and disruptive. I would urge you to look further into town or even down the street where things are calmer, if you aren’t looking to be up all night. And even if that is your scene, avoid this hotel at all costs.

One thing I will say and I did reflect this in my review, the hotel staff were extremely accommodating and kind. These issues do not reflect on them and they did all they could to accommodate us.

The photos attached are from our first room, which we were switched out of.

This hotel is in a great location but that’s the only thing it has going for it. The rooms were tiny, to the point where if you had a suitcase it wouldn’t have fit anywhere. I could barely open my small carry on bag, let alone if multiple people had bags. The bathroom was covered in black mold. For a room that cost over €200, I expect it to be clean. They let us store our luggage after checkout.

Gotta admit, the only decent aspect of this hotel is how close it is to the beach. But seriously, everything else? Total letdown. Spent two nights here and was rudely awakened by construction racket at 9 a.m. Like, really? Can't you guys schedule that stuff for later? Management needs a wake-up call on guest comfort. Overall, a bummer of an experience thanks to noise pollution and zero consideration for sleep-deprived guests.

I have to say, the only good thing about this hotel is its proximity to the beach. However, everything else falls short of even basic expectations. During my two-night stay, the unpleasant construction noises starting at 9 a.m. shattered any hope of a peaceful morning. Note to the management: consider doing construction when guests aren't trying to sleep! Overall, a disappointing experience marred by noise pollution and a lack of consideration.