Monaco Hotel & Resort Nelson

We visited “sunny Nelson” and stayed in the hotel part of the Monaco “resort” for three nights mid-January 2008; it turned out to be very thoroughly unpleasant despite its quite "chocolate box-pretty" surroundings. The hotel rooms are inordinately small and stuffy, but most uncomfortably there is no is air-conditioning anywhere in the hotel or the other units. Temperatures in the rooms reached the 40's (Celsius) and there is no bar fridge in the room (no closet either), no drinking water available in the rooms, no room service at night and no bar in the hotel! The unbearable heat effectively prevented us being in the room between 10 am and 6 pm. Eventually found a fan to circulate the warm air in the room, so it was possible to return there in the late afternoon. Found the hotel pool to cool off, but not a single piece of pool furniture around the pool.

The "Riverside" units turned out to be stuffy mosquito-infested affairs, but more roomy and well-decorated. The "river" turned out to be a stagnant and smelly cesspool hatching mosquito larvae.

On the upside, lots of effort went into building and decorating the place – if only a little thought could have been given to the comforts and design – e.g. bathroom doors facing room windows (forced to have open because of the heat) & electrical outlets and light switches right next to the shower cubicle. The staff are friendly, but appear to be weary of answering the same frustrating queries. Breakfast in the “award-winning” Orangerie restaurant is “tea-room” average. No fresh fruit or juice available. There is a Spa and Beauty” service available, but any service outside of facial and massage is not on the programme. Never found the gym – but in all honesty we were so hot that this was the last thing we were looking for!

I have stayed in better Backpackers, and if I was not part of a group with prepaid bookings, I would have moved to one. Will definitely not be returning.