Contradictory to the below review "Beautiful hotel but.." (July 1, 2005), my friend and I just spent Thanksgiving week at the Grand Hotel du Cap Ferrat and can give it an outstanding review!

Even before our arrival, the email correspondence from the hotel was very polite and accommodating. Approximately one month before arrival, we chose to downgrade our original room request from "Garden Room - Superior" to the lower priced "Garden Room - Standard". The hotel pleasantly fulfilled our request but to our surprise upon check in, upgraded us to the Superior room and charged us the lower rate.

We were also pleasantly surprised to find a complementary bowl of fruit in our room along with fresh roses in the bed and bathrooms. Both the fruit and roses were refreshed during our entire weeks' stay! Upon evening turndown service, the maid even left a beautiful personalized note on our nightstand along with a weather forecast for the following day (noted by placing a check mark next to either "sun", "partly sunny" or "cloudy" in Fahrenheit and Celsius).

Room service staff was very prompt and courteous. We ordered a pot of coffee every morning and it was delivered within minutes. We unfortunately did not have the opportunity to experience the hotel's fine dining as we spent most of our day sightseeing in our rental car.

As for our rental car, valet parking at the hotel is complementary. I especially appreciated the hotels "cruise ship" style tipping policy. We were able to add a lump sum gratuity for all of the hotel staff upon check out. I remember one morning even catching the valet shining the windows on our rental car!

The Grand Hotel du Cap Ferrat must have a very good reputation in the area. For every restaurant reservation made by our Concierge, the maitre'd welcomed us with either a complementary appetizer or bottle of wine. One restaurant even altered it's smoking policy when we entered and asked existing patrons to please refrain from smoking! Is this France? Were we members of the Grimaldi family?

When we expressed our sadness at leaving the hotel to the front office Manager, he offered to give us a tour of their unoccupied Junior and Senior Suites. Their top floor suites are absolutely spectacular. We will certainly return to this tucked away paradise on this gorgeous peninsula.

My wife and I just returned from a three night stay at the Grand Hotel. We paid $550 Euro/night for a deluxe sea-view room. We were on the top floor and had an absolutely stunning double exposure view to the Mediterranean Sea. We were awoken each morning (because we intentionally left the curtains open) to three of the most beautiful sunrises we have ever seen. The grounds are just as beautiful and well-manicured as advertised, and the Hotel itself is quite elegant. The meal we ate at the restaurant was one of the best we've ever had, and surpassed some of the best meals we've had in New York City, where we live. The poolside area is also quite nice and the staff there seem to have their act together. There is also a lovely walking path (more like a hiking path) which goes around the Cap, and which we really enjoyed.

However, the couple from the South who wrote a prior review basically hit the nail on the head with this place. We are also accustomed to "Four Seasons" type service and treatment. This place doesn't even come close. It caters to the European super-rich. If you are the kind of person in the (shocking!) habit of actually looking at a bill before you pay it, you will probably not love this hotel, and frankly probably not be made to feel welcome by the staff there. You can almost hear them thinking, "Oh, here we go again, one of those Americans who actually looks at the bills..."

Allow me to illustrate: We went down to the Hotel dining room for breakfast our first morning. We ordered an omelet and scrambled eggs ($20 euro each) and two cups of coffee ($7 euro each). While we were eating, a basket of bread/pastries was brought over. Nobody informed us that taking a bite from these forbidden breads would incur a FULL $25 euro EACH for "continental breakfast". Long story short, when I explained that we never ordered the continental breakfast, the snobby waiter pointed to the munched-upon bread basket. I responded, "so that was $50 euro"? And he responded, "you only got one?" Talk about missing the point. The concierge was even less helpful when I explained to him the general principle of economics that you can't give something to someone and then later charge them for it. They ended up crediting us $25. Highly unsatisfactory.

The other downsides mentioned in the prior reviews were also true. The Hotel is isolated, so you can't simply walk out the door and grab breakfast or lunch someplace else. Thus, you will either have to drive into town or pay $37 euro for the hamburger. Seriously. And there is no fitness center, spa, or anything else of a resort nature. (They are planning an expansion, but have not yet broke ground). There is also no beach anywhere nearby. There is a ladder where you can lower yourself into the Sea near some craggy rocks, but the waters were too rough when we were there to do that. The maid service was extremely slow and generally mediocre.

The attitude problem with the staff seems to get worse the higher up you go, topping off with the most arrogant and useless concierges on the planet. Don't be surprised if you call down for some help and are informed that the concierge is "very busy" and so can't help you. Last time I checked, that wasn't the Hotel guests' problem. At the Grand Hotel it is. They take the position that you should feel lucky you are even staying there.

Thus, despite dramatic inherent geographical and structural advantages, our view is that the Grand Hotel really is a bit of a pretender. You can do better elsewhere at this price point. Hence, luxury without value. Show up for dinner one night. That should be plenty.

Extremely recomendable !!
We stayed here this summer 5 nights and we had a very very good time.
The area and place is fantastic (wonderful for relaxing), with a stunning view and beatiful sunset, while hearing the piano in the terrace.... It´s not a resort-style hotel, it´s a nice and historic/charming european hotel.
In my personal opinion, the staff was very good, the rooms were good, the pool fabulous and the fireworks & dance nights in summer very very special. Although the food is a little bit expensive, it´s very nice. Maybe a little "sophisticated" in dinner time. Conde Nast Traveller readers can search for more typicall & provenzal small restaurants.
I never in my life been in a hotel with such charm and style guests.
That´s the difference between the good hotels and the best hotels, Service and Guests.

Having read a few good reviews before we booked our week at the Grand, It was with some trepidation that we then read the review, which to say the least was not very inviting from one of the American visitors.

The Hotel and Club Dauphin are superb, situated in a knockout location at the end of the Cap. However - you can walk to St Jean, the old port in 10 to 12 minutes, there are Mountain Bicycles you can have (for free) to get about the cap - which is only a couple of miles long. And a Taxi is about 15 euros to either Beaulieu or Villefranche, from where you can get a TER train to either Nice or Monaco - ten minutes either way for about 8 euros. The trains are far superior to anything qwe have in England, double decker, air conditioned and mostly efficient. So you can escape if you wish.

The staff where without exception friendly and helpful, Christiane the Concierge was really very nice. Room service was prompt and we really can't fault the staff throughout our stay.

Cost - well, yes, it's expensive, but we found that even in the villages a meal for two with a bottle of wine could soon come to 80 or 90 euros. it is Cap Ferrat after all.

It's a beautiful place and you can see why the rich and beautiful make that their home. It was a delight to share that for one week, and you're worth it aren't you?