Unfortunately we have had a very bad experience during our recent stay in Pierre & Vacances Residence Cannes Villa Francia.

The quality and maintenance conditions of the apartment were awful. It seems that nothing has been done during the last 10 years or so.

Furthermore, we received the apartment very dirty. The floor, the bathroom, the walls, everything were not clean enough for an hotel of this category.

We spent there 7 days, there of one and half without warm water. Situation discovered after a whole day on the beach.

Our neighbors in the apartment downstairs gave us additional headaches. A group of teenagers who occupied that room spent the whole night drunk, laughing, crying and shouting until the next morning. We tolerate one night like this with the logic consequences for our children who could not sleep during the night as usual. The second night we try to talk to them. Their reaction was totally aggressive (probably was not alcohol the only one drug). So then we decided to call reception to complaint. Nobody was there. The reception is only open until 21:00 hs.

The situation was so bad (several of those guys knocking aggressively our door), that we decided to call the police. These must be the worst part of the story. In a place like Cannes the local police in unable to talk any other language than French. I speak four languages including German, English and Spanish. The police officer refuse even to make any single effort to understand what I was trying to say (and I try all my available resources!). He careless hanged up obviously not interested at all in our problem. It seems that because they did not understand is not their problem. Welcome international tourism!

The management of Pierre & Vacances apologizes calling our problems "unfortunate incidents which are exceptional", may be some of them, but surely not all. They also promise us to reimburse some money. We appreciate that but will never be enough to compensate the bad time we had and the poor impression we have got.

I booked my stay at the hotel, was happy with my reservation and awaited my vacations with family ... until I read the other reviews in Tripadvisor, which made me fell a little bit more nervous about my choice. But I was brave and took all the risks 8-) .

As you can see from my rating, I was happy with my stay. First one has to remember that this is not a hotel, but a vacation resort with apartments ... so don't expect a hotel, it isn't one.

From the positive side:

* Everyone will agree on that, the garden, view, location, etc are gorgeous. It's a wonderful place from that point of view, with sometimes excellent views on the bay of Cannes, etc ...
* The swimming pool is also very good, with a beautiful view on the bay and the islands
* Equipment is quite good (dish washer, two bathrooms, ....)
* We had a very good location, the balcony was quite relaxing and we had enough privacy

From the negative side:

* Both the outdoors, as the inside of the apartment were too dirty from my point of view. It wasn't something which forced us to walk out or even go to the reception, but it was certainly not clean enough. You see that it has been cleaned, but you see that it has been cleaned to give the impression, but not a real clean apartment. You see that especially when you look into the corners, etc ... Also the outdoor was not cleaned often and well enough (blood traces just before my apartment remained at least 10 days. The toilet of the swimming pool are not even cleaned on a daily basis (based on the sheet showed there). There where not really dirty, but especially for a swimming pool, that's not the way it should be.
* Pay attention if you want to cook there, electronic equipment is quite good, but you may lack one or the other tool to cook your favorite meal.
* The reception area is quite run down, but ok.

Just some comments:

* I didn't test the restaurant, but it is there and open and people where eating :-), prizes looked ok.
* There is a small shop, but way too expansive
* If you don't have a car, prepare to walk a few km's per day. Everything you may want is in walking distance, but not just on the step of the door.
* Yes, it is uphill, but that's normal, if you want this gorgeous view from the swimming pool, you have to be somewhat higher to get it.
* If you want some privacy, don't take an apartment with view on the swimming pool, there is no privacy
* If you need place for 5, take an apartment which can cope with 7 at least, guess the same applies for any other size
* There are apartments with better and less good views, but i guess that depends also on what you may want, so ask at the reception to show you on the map of the residence the different option they can propose you.

Located up a very steep hill - no problem going down but a serious challenge for older people or buggies. Shuttle bus only takes 8 and runs every 30 mins and finishes 6.30pm. Apartments are basic - TV and safe extras. No kettle or toaster. Shop on site bit dear but ok for basics. We had a 6/7 near pool - 4 in my view would be maximum. Restaurant was reasonable and good quality. Check in was a nightmare - long queque. Tried to charge me €500 more than quoted but i refused to pay. Never did afterwards.
Weather was excellent. Good public bus service at end of hill but again they stop at 9pm.
Good train service to rest of Cote from Gare in Cannes.
Liked resort itself but would find different accomodation.

Nothing is perfect in this price range ... especially in Cannes. So for 70 euros/night we got a simple apartment with well equipped kitchen including automatic coffee maker, dishwasher, and convection microwave. All linens were clean (changed weekly) and left in the room plastic wrapped from the cleaners. You do have to make your own beds on arrival. Everything in our room worked fine, TV was included, and there was always plenty of hot water with good pressure. The rooms are quite small though. There was just enough space to walk around the double bed. Fortunately the terrace was large and had a lovely view of the gardens. I was pleasantly surprised that our two bedroom unit had one bathroom with a shower/sink/toilet and another with a sink/tub. This setup was perfect for the two of us, our young daughter, and my mother-in-law. The grounds are picturesque with walking paths winding through the buildings and viewpoints overlooking the water and city. We thought the location was excellent. Just outside the bustle of downtown Cannes and built on the hillside of a quiet residential area. A nice sand beach is located about a 15 minute walk away. The chic hotel strip and a selection of good restaurants are about a 30 minute walk along the beach. We enjoyed the large horizon pool overlooking the bay. There are fresh baguettes, croissants, and pain au chocolat available every morning in the little grocery. Had a relaxing week of lazy morning coffees on the terrace and fresh pain au chocolats! The pizzas at the hotel restaurant were delicious and reasonably priced. There was also a coin laundry on site. The cons were that some of the mosiac tiles were missing on the pool bottom (tread carefully) and high traffic areas of the hotel appeared a little worn. You also have to pay extra for the loungers by the pool and for the underground parking. It was a good base for our family vacation on the Cote d'Azur. You won't be disappointed if you expect basic functional accomodations without daily maid service located in pleasant surroundings. Our room was not air conditioned. We didn't need it in September with temps in the mid 20Cs but you might want it in the summer heat? For the price it offered good value and we enjoyed our week there.