Radisson Blu, Nice
What is your Club Carlson status?
Gold.
Where did you stay? (Brand, Location, Country)
Radisson Blu, Nice, France.
Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
No.
Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked business (150k points for 2 nights), received no upgrade. Checked availability and suites were not full.
Did you receive elite benefits?
Complimentary Room Upgrade - No.
Early Check In/Late Check Out - Early checkin not applicable. Had to argue to get the late check out.
In-Room Welcome Gift - One bottle of still and one bottle of sparkling water but these may have been for all business class rooms anyway.
There was a welcome note from GM.
How are the rooms?
6th floor room had great view of the sea and a very nice balcony and a Nespresso machine. Bed was comfy. Bathroom was basic. Showergel etc from "Thisworks".
Good:
Breakfast was tasty with a good selection.
The rooftop pool, loungers and bar.
Sauna and mini hammam which are free to use.
Bad:
Very poor/nil status recognition:
No upgrade.
There was water in the room but I'm not sure if that was a room or Gold benefit.
We wanted a late check out as our flight departed in the evening. When checking in on the Friday I asked whether this would be okay. The receptionist said we would have to wait until the morning of checkout (Sunday) and then request this. On the Sunday I duly requested the late checkout and the receptionist firstly said no they were full. When I said that was pretty unlikely unless they'd had a surge of new bookings that morning he said the latest he could do was 1.30pm (12 o'clock is standard), I then asked him what recognition the property offers to Golds and told him I hadn't experienced any in the stay so far. He said that they weren't obliged to offer anything except to Concierges and he asked what it was that I wanted. I said a 6pm checkout was what I wanted - he said he could not do it but would do it anyway "because it was Sunday" and would have to tell his manager.
Other minor annoyances:
On the first morning the cleaner walked straight into our room without knocking.
On the second morning it was raining so the outside dining area was out of use. When we arrived at 9am the regular indoor dining area was therefore fairly full. We were asked to take breakfast in a dingy dark room quite a way from the buffet. We put our stuff down there and walked into the restaurant to pick up our food from the buffet and were stopped by another lady who again told us we couldn't sit down in the regular area!
I'd read on review forums that the hotel offered a free shuttle bus into town. When I asked the concierge if there was a shuttle he gave me a one word answer: "No" then turned away.
A free newspaper is a benefit of the business class room. I asked for 2 at checkin (one for me and one for my wife). The receptionist said that would be fine but in the event only one paper arrived.
The location
The hotel is situated on the end of the Promenade des Anglais which is near the airport. The bus number 23 bus takes around 15mins and costs 1.50 euros. It stops directly outside the hotel. The other end of the Promenade (~5km) is the town centre which is where you'll want to be if you're there to visit the city (45 mins walk along the Promenade - a very pleasant stroll during the day but at night there are no public buses and a lot of prostitutes).
Value for money or Gold Points? Would you return?
Gold Points were value relative to the rack rate and I booked pre-devaluation. Would I return? No.