Hôtel Liberata & Spa — Hotel in Calvi

Of course we are all different so what's important to me is going to be different to what's important to you. That sums up the Liberata Hotel in lle Rousse. It's pricey yes, but what you're paying for are those little intangibles that some love, but others couldn't give a monkeys about.||||Starting from when you first alight from your transport in the carpark you are confronted with a very impressive facade. If there are any shooting location managers reading this take note of this place for when the next Agatha Christie mystery set in Monaco or the Riviera comes up. It’s perfect for those red herring scenes, you know the type: Lord Snitchington on his balcony spying his debutant daughter in a passionate embrace with the hotel handyman in the garden.||In real life that scenario wouldn’t work because there doesn’t appear to be a man, handy or otherwise on the hotel payroll, it appears to be completely staffed by women. Either pretty little Mademoiselles tripping from table to table at breakfast time serving your every whim, or the slightly more mature matriarchs who patrol the reception area. One thing all ages had in common was their amusement at my attempts to speak French (North of England accent doesn’t help). The young ones just giggled, while the receptionists would just offer a benign smile and correct me or reply in English. Although one lady did ask me how many other French words I knew besides my room number (flippin’ cheek). ||||The facilities I’m unable to comment on as we used the hotel as a base not an amusement park. I don’t understand people moaning about the small unheated pool, lack of a bar/restaurant. Why do you want to spend any more time in your hotel than necessary when you are located in one of the best seaside resorts in Europe? Ile Rousse is an absolute gem. ||||We did eat in our room one night for the novelty and also the romance of sitting at our room window staring out over the Med. However, I have to agree with another reviewer who commented that they received a small microwaved TV dinner - so did we. I felt the hotel was punishing me for being so boring. There are so many different and excellent restaurants in the town there really is no excuse for eating in. We also considered using the spa and a massage, but at over 100 euros for a full body massage we decided against it.||||So there you have it: a pricey but perfect hotel (or B&B if you like) in a perfect beachside location with perfect internal and external décor, spotlessly clean and lovely staff, but because it is also in a perfect resort, one you’re not meant to spend all day in. If that doesn’t make much sense – then the Liberata is not the...

We booked a week at the Liberata direct with the hotel after a lot of research and our decision paid off. We had requested an upper floor room and were allocated a top floor room with a lovely view overlooking the beach, with the harbour beyond, so there was always something to see from our balcony. Most guests seemed to stay just a few days whereas we stayed a week, but the wonderful ladies on the front desk provided a series of recommendations for restaurants and activities, all of which proved to be winners. ||||The hotel is situated across the road (and a rarely used railway track) from the beach where you can hire two sunbeds and a sun umbrella for 16 euros a day. The beach is quite narrow but all sand while the sea is gently shelving and calm. It is about a five minute walk to the lovely town of Ile Rousse, which is full of excellent restaurants, interesting shops and a small daily market. There is also a train station from which you can make the spectacular journey along the coast to the equally spectacular Calvi. But be warned, the two-carriage trains are inevitably packed so we would recommend arriving well before the scheduled departure time.||||The hotel has a small pool at the side of the building so it has no view but is fine for a refreshing dip.||||Breakfast is not included in the room rate and is an attractive continental-style breakfast . As we are not big eaters the 19 euros per person cost was probably excessive for us but there is no doubt that some guests got their moneys worth!||||Corsica is a wonderful island and we loved Ile Rousse and if we return we will not look any further than the Liberata as our...

The all female staff were so welcoming and helpful, from the ladies on reception, to the chatty breakfast ladies and the bedroom cleaners: we really felt at home here.||We had our breakfast every day on the balcony and the fresh fruit, smoothies , meats, cheese and scrambled eggs were really good as was the excellent coffee. The hotel has no restaurant but there are lots of good, but pricey, restaurants a few minutes walk away.||Our room was large and spotless and we had a nice balcony overlooking the sea.||I have marked the hotel down a point for two reasons. We only had French television in our room for the 10 days we were there which was very annoying as our visit coincided with the Queen's funeral in London. There was no other language at all available. The staff kept telling us they were working on the problem but it still had not been resolved when we left.||The other reason is that if you want to go on the beach on a sunbed under an umbrella you have to pay 30 euros a day for 2 people which can soon ratchet up over a few days. The alternative is the public beach which is very close but it is not ideal for elderly people to sit on a towel on the sand all day. It would really help if the hotel could do a deal with one of the beach owners to at least have a discount on the prices for their clients.||Nevertheless the Liberata must be a first choice if you want a quiet and welcoming stay...