Originally Posted by orbitmic

A few years ago, due to a collapse in the rail system, I ended up having to get off the train in Menton Garavan station at an unsavoury hour. When it became clear trains were not restarting that night, I went to the nearest hotel to the station - the Ibis budget Menton - and they only had one room left, probably the worst one in house (ground floor, facing a wall towards the railtracks) which was pretty horrid but prevented me from walking around or sleeping on the street or whatever.

Having said that, if you are not picking the last and worst room available, there is actually quite a lot to say for that hotel. The front has panoramic 180 degrees sea views stretching from Menton's beautiful old town to the Italian border, they have large balconies with chairs, they are a decent size, the location is nice and central, 10 minutes walk to the old town, about 15 to the border, very close to a convenient and small train station, and funnily enough, I think it is probably the closest hotel to the Mirazur, Colagreco's 3* Michelin restaurant voted the best in the world several years running (even though I personally wouldn't have given it that title but that's another matter).

So I'm just puzzled as to why Accor has designated it an Ibis Budget. I'm sure there are reasons, but I have to say that when I think "Ibis Budget", spontaneously, I don't really expect panoramic seaviews and fully equiped balconies in excellent locations. I had to stay in Menton but to be honest, my loyalty to Accor only goes so far as it is reciprocal, so Ibis Budget hotels have no interest to me (no points, no perks etc). The Ibis Styles in the modern centre is highly rated but is not particularly attractive to me, a bit because I like the location a bit less, and mostly because it has no sea view which many hotels in Menton have, so I ended up booking elsewhere in a non-Accor property. Arguably, had the Ibis Budget been an Ibis Styles or a Mercure, I may well have chosen it.