My wife and I have been visiting Nice for a short weekend break in September for a few years now and last year, as our usual hotel was fully booked, we tried the Meridien. Our first evening was so memorable that we chose to return this year. That evening, we'd arrived quite late having not eaten, so we ordered drinks, omelets and cheeses on room service. Our room had a huge balcony (more a terrace really) with two sun loungers and a table with two large chairs, looking across the neighbouring gardens to the old town and the sea. From these gardens we heard music, which was apparently a rehearsal for an open air concert later that weekend, and our late dinner, which was excellent, was served on this terrace around midnight. We'll remember the magical atmosphere of that evening for a long time.

That room, which was on the side of the hotel on the 7th floor, was sold as "garden/sea view" and so we booked the same again this year but we were given a room on the 5th floor looking straight out over the sea - a great view but not as interesting as last year's. Although nice in some ways the room was much smaller and had a balcony only about 2 feet deep, with nothing to sit on and only a small door to access it. We had our late dinner again but this time inside the room - not nearly as memorable. The rooms seem to have been refitted since last year in a rather stark style (you may like it or not) but this room lacked almost anywhere to store our stuff; no drawers at all - for clothes or bits and pieces - and only a few open shelves, mostly above eye-level.

All in all this seemed a much inferior room to the one we'd had last year, but Ann on Reception assured me it was in the same category. Apparently "Garden/Sea View" means one or the other - not both. Ann, who had checked us in, was helpful and checked carefully whether any other room was free that she could move us into but there weren't any. However, the next morning, she phoned to tell us one had become available and we moved into that for our second night; this was on the 7th floor at the side again, almost identical to last year's. Apart from the view and the large terrace, this room is better also in having more places to store ones belongings, so I really don't understand how it can be considered to be in the same price category.

Ann and the other staff were all very helpful and professional and in all other respects, we were very happy with our stay, once again. The price is pretty high - more than we usually want to pay anywhere and even worse for us given the poor exchange rate (Euro/Pound) these days.

My wife uses a wheelchair and this hotel does have some drawbacks for a wheelchair user, although the staff always do their best to make it work as much as they can. The Reception area is up an escalator from street level. The only way there in a wheelchair is via the lift that is reserved for the hotel porters and starts off inside the locked luggage storage room on the ground floor. This doesn't cause a problem at all - the porters helped immediately everytime we needed to use this lift. From Reception, the public lifts can be used for the rest of the hotel. Sadly, the pool and main restaurant on the roof are not accessible; the lifts stop one floor below the top and there is quite a long flight of stairs to get to the roof. Even if my wife had struggled up to there there are varying levels that would made using a wheelchair difficult, once there.

The private beach - though expensive - is good but the only way down to it is via a flight of stone steps. My wife struggled down and back up as there is no alternative but we don't blame the hotel for this; it's just the way Nice is - all the beaches are the same. There is a wheelchair-accessible public beach close by but we like the service and comforts of the private beach!

So, overall, if you are given a good room and are not disabled, this hotel has a lot going for it. My rating reflects the inconsistency over the room categories the difficulties for disabled guests, and the price, but apart from these, I'd rate it excellent.