Saint Gothard Hotel Nice

St Gothard's Hotel ( a two star hotel, mind) was about the worst thing about my visit to Nice. The location is not too bad (excellent for what we needed), very close to the Nice train station and close to Alpha B's Language school where we enrolled as students to improve our French.
But, for 70 Euros per night - (approx $110) it seemed a right rip off. Then again it was at the height of the season and most hotels were fully booked and we did book at the last minute!
The room was almost like snapshot from a dormitory in a dreaded boarding school from a time long gone (but never forgotten), in a communist East European country.
The small wardrobe had three and a half hangers- one was broken, the bathroom has seen better days and the one towel each was the size of a bisquit. I am not large- but that didn't cover anything!
We did borrow a "fer de repasse" (took me ages to explain what I had wanted at the reception) but they didn't have the ironing board - so we had to improvise on that as well.
But, the bed linen were clean, the air conditioning worked (and well, thank goodness), every day we had a fresh supply of toiletries (okay, we didn't use them but it was nice) and once we got used to the idea that we'll spend the next few days in this hell hole, even the frosty receptionist seemed almost mellow. Eventually, as my French improved to the level when I could actually talk to them, the staff were quite nice and helpful if apologetic- at the end of the day they only worked there.
Breakfast was the same every day: a croissant, jam, coffee and orange juice and a bit of dried bread.
However I don't wish to sound sour- we took it on our stride, after all it made the visit more memorable and it gave me something to laugh about!
The only thing- acording to a plaque proudly displayed on each floor- earlier this year the hotel had apparently passed an inspection from the tourist bord and they retained the two star status. My questions are: were the inspecteurs blind? Were they bribed?
Something was up- an establishment like this should never be alowed to open its doors to the public.
Oh! on the last day I found out why we didn't have a stopper for our bathroom sink- it was propping open the emergency door!

Do not let my experience dampen your enthusiasm about visiting Nice - its a wonderful place and I urge you to go, go,go!