Eguisheim city - Alsace - France

The village of Eguisheim was elected in 2013 as most beautifull village of France. It als has the label 'ville Fleuri' which means all streets & houses are decorated with flowers. 

The city centre is set up in cirkels and was build in the Medieval. 

There is several restaurants & small shops with local products. Really worth a visit!

Hostellerie du Pape - Eguisheim - Alsace - France

The 3* hotel Hostellerie du Pape is located at the entrance of Eguisheim.

Eguisheim was elected in 2013 as the most beautifull village of France. And it is really worth a visit! And this all year round, in spring & summer you'll find flowers on all windows & during Christmas all is enlighted, amazing!

The Hostellerie du Pape is a former wine farm which has now 47 charmant rooms.

It has a big parking space in the back of the hotel.

Hostellerie du Pape on the left

Big terrace surrounded by the hotelrooms

Rooms:

We stayed in a standard double room with 2 seperate beds (190 * 80). 

Most of the rooms have double beds (190*160) and there are family rooms with 3 real beds & an extra bed which can be adres on request (only for children).

The rooms do have a desk, minibar(empty), small wardrobe & flatscreen. There is a wooden floor in the rooms! 

There is free WiFi in the room - which is a little slow for short movies on FB or wathever. But works well for text & images.

Standard room

Family room

Bathroom:

The bathrooms are rather small with bath or shower (depends on the room). We had a room with bath which is ment as shower too, but as there is no real pinpoint provided, you have to hold the thing in your hands (consequence: all is wet afterwords). There is no thermostatic fauset, so it takes a while to have the right temperature.

Next to the bath there is a sink with hairdryer (poor quality), so ladies take your own!

Liquid soap is provided in a dispenser, as well shoe shine & xtra soap. Also tissues provided + 1 big and 1 small towel per person (unfortunately no foot mat, cause it would have helped...)

Most of the rooms have a seperate toilet.

HINT: if you only take showers, ask for a room with shower.

Breakfast:

The breakfast is served as a buffet and is really extensive cfr the French standards. There is really a wide selection of everything and even more then 5 different kind of pies. There is also Nutella & a sparkling wine (unfortunately not cremant d'Alsace, which is a missed chance). 

Diner:

We stayed in halfboard and enjoyed the 3-course menu. The food is of a very good quality & served really nicely on your plate.

The wine menu is wide and they offer you several bottles of wine from Eguisheim wine farmers at a reasonable price.

Advantages:

- ideal location at 100m from the main square of Eguisheim.

- free parking space

- very large breakfast buffet

- high quality food served in a gastronomical way

- Charming rooms

Disadvantages:

- bath with poor shower facilities

- poor quality of hairdryer (but it is already a plus for a 3* hotel)

Conclusion:

I would rate the Hostellerie du Pape 8/10 for a 3* hotel. The hotel is clean, staff is friendly & food is of a very high quality. So when you look for a gastronomic hotel in the Alsace region, this is a great adress. Especially with it's great location in Eguisheim! I would rather advice this for couples as there are no real kids facilities.

Hotel l'Alexain - trois epis - Alsace - France

L'Hotel Alexain is a 3* hotel located in les trois epis in the Alsace in France.

The situation is amazing, this as the hotel is overlooking the vineyards and you can even see the black forest from your room.

The hotel has a brand new wellness area and offers different arrangements for 2/3/4/7 days.

Trois Epis is a very small village and is not worth visiting, as there is not even a bakkery. But you have to stay here for the vieuw and it's only 15 min drive to the heart of Colmar and less then 10 min. towards several wine farmers.

Room:

We were lodged in a comfort room (nr 310) overlooking the valley. The Windows are very large, which gives you a great view over the vineyards. There is a double bed in all rooms (160*180) with flat screen. The matras is rather small, but this is typical in France. Into my opinion the matras was rather hard. 

The room is spacious and has a big wardrobe in the hallway. 

Most of the rooms have carpet. 

Free WiFi with a good quality!

hint: There are also family rooms with a physical door between the kids room (sofa bed) & the main room, ask for it as not all family rooms have it!

View from our balcony

HINT: for allergic people or if you bring your dog, you can ask for a room with a wooden floor.

HINT: there are only 6 rooms which do not have a view on the valley, make sure you ask for a room with a view on the valley

Bathroom:

All bathrooms have been renovated since 2014. The bathrooms are rather small with shower (Some with glass shower/ Some with curtains - good water pressure) & sink. All standard rooms have toilet in the bathroom, comfort rooms have seperate toilet.

There is 1 soapbar/1 liquid soap plastic package/ 1 big towel /1 small towel per person provided and also a footmatt. Towels are of a good quality and not to hard/ the soap was not enough for me, so I would advice to bring your own.

Breakfast:

The breakfast is served as a buffet. They offer small chocolat breads/ small croissants/ bread (2kinds). There is emmenthal cheese/ ham/ jams/ chocolat spread/ 2 kinds of cornflakes/ yoghurt.

Coffee machine + cremant d'Alsace

Restaurant:

The restaurant is pretty big, as the hotel has about 50 rooms and most of the guests stay in halfboard. But they work in 2 shifts in the evening (7pm & 8pm you can arrive) - this to avoid a rush. But I can tell you they're not to strikt. 

They serve 3 courses every night which is announced already in the morning. The food is of a good quality and the wine has a very reasonable price. ( bottles white wine as of 21euro and even grand cru for 28eur).

After the dessert they offer you a free glass of cremant d'Alsace!

Wellness:

The wellness is a new part in the hotel as of 2014. There is changing rooms/ relax area/ salt cave/ hammam/ sauna & pool.

They also offer massages at a very reasonable price (54eur/hour). The wellness is pretty busy in the evening as most of the guests come back to enjoy it after a day out.

Advantages:

- amazing view from all hotelfacilities overlooking Colmar & the vineyards

- well equiped wellness area

- good food quality 

- helpfull staff members

- owner who is happy to help you with all 'must-see' stuff. Really valuable hints!

- free & large parking space in front of the hotel

- very good WiFi!

Disadvantages:

- most of the rooms have a carpet in the room, a pitty they did not replace this during the refurbishments

- matrasses of the bed are short (180cm) & hard

Conclusion:

This 3* Hotel l'Alexain is an ideal hotel for couples who want to enjoy food & wellness + ready to Discover the surroundings. If you do not give to much about your room, you'll definitely enjoy your stay here. 

For a 3* hotel you get very good value for money! I would rate this hotel 7,5/10 for the food & the hospitality.

Hotel Gural Premier Tekirova 5* - Kemer - Turkey

I've stayed a whole week in this 5* deluxe hotel Gural Premier Tekirova.

It is a majestix luxury hotel surrounded by the mountains and directly at the beach. 

There is a lot of rooms in this 22.000 m2 domain. You have all kind of rooms (standard/ deluxe rooms with pool/ family rooms with pool & villa's with private pool).

We were lucky to get an upgrade to the deluxe pool room. Which means in this case you're located in a building with a pool to be shared with about 10 other rooms (it is no swim-up room).

Rooms:

The deluxe pool rooms are spacious rooms and in our case there was a double bed (200*180) & a single bed (200*90). The matrasses are of a good quality & feel soft. There is 2 different kinds op pillows (1feather/1fibres) per person.

There is a large desk provided with a minibar (filled with soft drinks (coca-vola/fanta/sprite/water & beer) and 100% complimentary) which is refilled Every day.

The different lights in the room make it a very nice atmosphere. A big plus is the wooden floor in the bedroom.

There is a large wardrobe with several amenities (seewing kit/shoe shine/...) and a safe (free). 

Bathroom:

The bathroom is spacious with shower (rainshower) & jacuzzi (also shower facilities). The shower has a very good water pressure! There are 2 big towels, 2 small towel & 1 floormat provided per person (which is a real luxury). There is also a make-up mirror.

The amenities in the bathroom have never been seen in my whole life!

There is all normal stuff (toothbrush/toothpaste/comb/..., but on top of that there is a condom, shaving foam/ razor/ nail clipper/hygiene pats for women/...)

The liquid soap, shampoo, conditioneer & body lotion provided are from Bulgary and have a great smell. Those last items are replaced on a daily base.

So the bathroom is really a big plus in this hotel! Except for the hairdryer, that's a real poor thing and a real frustration for women (I had a co-traveller who experienced this as a big issue), so you can better take your own.

Breakfast:

The breakfast is really extensive and served till 11am. The room with the buffet is so big and there is all kinds of stuff served, you can't name it or you'll find it.

They really serve all kinds of preperations of eggs, even 15 kinds of olives... there is a fresh bakkery where you can pick your warm breads. There is at least 10 kinds of yoghurt & on top of that there is even different tastes of yoghurt in packages. Even a whole table with cakes, another table with fresh fruits,...really the largest breakfast buffet ever seen.

Little remark, as you're in Turkey you can not find all the stuff we're used too (no fresh orange juice/ no bacon / no good espresso), but as the offer is so large, you will not be disappointed.

HINT: breakfast is served till 11 am, but when you arrive at 10.50, you'll not be served as good as when you arrive at 10.30, as tables are no longer cleaned & staff had no more attention for you.

HINT: you can ask the bellboys to bring you to the main entrance of the hotel to go shopping & to bring you back (as this is about 500m from the reception).

Pools:

There is a lot of Pools in this resort. There is the main pool with animation pool next to it and on top of that there is several pools which belong to the Deluxe Pool Rooms & - villa's. All Pools have a dept of 140cm and there are also several baby Pools provided.

There is also several baby pools with a dept of 40cm.

Aquaparc:

The aqua parc is a real plus and unique in the hotelworld with 9 tubes, wherefrom 6 accessable with inflatables. There is a wide variation of waterslides which is fun garantied for the whole family. Especially the wide slide with inflatable up to 6 person is a must do for friends & families!

Of course the aquaparc also has a kids part which exists of all kinds of waterfun in indeed water. 

The pool in the aqua parc also has jetstreams/fast moving water & fountains.

The aquaparc is accessable from 10 to 18h.

A la carte restaurant @ noon - beach

There is a large restaurant overlooking the beach where snacks are served from 12 till 18h. They serve a wide selection of pasta/pizza/wraps/grilles meat/salad buffet/...

Bars

There are several bars all over the hotel. They serve international alcoholic drinks & soft drinks of the coca-cola company in bottles. 

Normally they serve you on the pool & beach, but it depends on their mood (if you know what I mean). Unfortunately it was the end of the season (october) & we had to pick-up our drinks ourselves. 

But as I said, the quality of the drinks is very good!

Diner:

Diner is served in the main restaurant from 19h in buffet. The buffet is really large and there is a variety of all you can think about. Even a cheese buffet/fresh fruits/pasta bar/ sushi bar/... 

This was really the first time I had such a wide variety of desserts on 1 buffet. And the cool thing is they really serve different stuff every night.

There is also a night restaurant where you can go to enjoy a small buffet all night long. This is a real plus when you arrive late.

Advantages:

- the materiaal used in the room is of a very high quality. 

- international alcoholic drinks (Bombay-gin/ Bacardi/ Absolute wodka/...) & soft drinks in a bottle from the coca-cola company.

- very good WiFi all over the resort. Even at the beach, in the restaurant,... (except movies are hard to sent/receive).

- a very nice wellness area - free to use

- public toilets are always clean and checked every 30 min.

- the aqua parc is a real plus and unique in the hotelworld.

Disadvantages:

- staff is not very friendly in the restaurant, into my opinion this has to do with the Russion customers who have no respect for the staff.

- service is not what I expect from a 5*luxury hotel, people at the poolbar do not leave the bar to serve you, not even to pick up empty drinks/ waiters did not took away our plate (last 2 days we had all 6 pilates still on our table when we left).

Also service in the evening bar at the pool is poor, we always had to wait very long before waiters came to us, they really try to ignore you. I'm wondering how that works during high season as the terrace was only 1/5 full and there were at least 10 waiters... --> improvement of the staff is a necessity to keep the Gural standards!

- in general a lot of russion customers, which we all know...

- all light switches do have a blue led, which enlights the room a lot during he night. On top the curtains can not make the room totally dark.

- the hotel is a very big domain with lot's of rooms, which can be crowded in high season (especially in the buffet restaurant). Also a long distance between the rooms & the common facilities.

- hairdryer of a very poor quality - totally not in line with the other facilities in the room, which are of a good quality.

General conclusion:

I would rate the 5* hotel Gural Premier Tekirova 9/10. But when I take into account the money you have to pay for this stay, I think there is work in progress to motivatie their staff (even at the end of the season). But for the quality of the food/drinks & infrastructure in General it is really worth 9/10! 

Bungalows San Pelegrino - Costa Verde - Corsica

I've stayed in This 3* hotel San Pelegrino exists of 105 bungalows with hotelservice. This domain is located in Costa Verde in Corsica @ the beach.

It is a very nice domain with bungalows which all have their private terrace.

Rooms:

There are several types of bungalows. Mine was a family bungalow with kitchenette, sofa (convertable into a bed with real matrasses) & connecting door.

The bungalow is large with good quality beds. The kitchenette is well equiped and ideal for those who want to cook their own stuff. 

Bathroom:

My bathroom was renovated with shower, sink & toilet. The shower has not a real high pressure. There is a hair dryer of average force. Small bottle of soap/shampoo provided + 1 big / 1 small towel provided per person. Also a beach towel is provided. 

Other rooms:

I've visited also the other bungalows, where I wanted to share the pictures too:

Breakfast:

The breakfast is served in the main restaurant which has a terrace next to the beach. It is very nice to sit here with the sun in your face in the morning.

There is a buffet with a wide variety of food. 

Restaurant:

I had diner in the restaurant overlooking the beach, which was a great setting. As a starter I had the fish soap, but there was a specific taste I didn't really like in it.

As main course I had the steak with french fries, which was a good quality steak. We also had a cheese selection followed by some icecream. All of it very nice.

Positive:

- large bungalows with a private terrace.

- wide variety on the breakfast buffet

- friendly & helfpfull staff members

- good free WiFi connection

- airco in all bungalows

Negative:

- hair dryer of average force

- no good coffee/ milk (poor water quality used - milk is water with powder)

General conclusion:

I would rate this bungalowhotel San Pelegrino in Costa Verde a 7,5/10 for a 3* establishment. This due to it's very Nice bungalows, friendly staff members & very nice location on the beach.

I think this hotel is ideal for families with children who want to explore the surroundings. I would not advice these bungalows for those who are looking for an haute cuisine, as the restaurant is rather a mainstream restaurant. So you really have to chose this for the bungalows and it's location.