Great location - great price for the Riviera! 30 August 2006
Pros:
Cooking facilities, free internet, restaurants nearby
Cons:
Tram is being built nearby so road works at the moment
Lucy Cavell
saw things this way
Maintenance
(4)
Cleanliness
(4)
Facilities
(4)
Atmosphere
(5)
(Review ID: 793)
Great place to stay on the Riviera. Inexpensive restaurants nearby, train station just across the road. Just 15min walk to the beach - it will only be 5mins when they finish the tram line!
It's rare to find cooking facilities at hostels these days, so that is a positive too.
I love this part of the world!
13 of
15 people found this review helpful
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Fran
Sydney, Australia
Great location! 21 December 2005
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Fran
saw things this way
Maintenance
(4)
Cleanliness
(4)
Facilities
(4)
Atmosphere
(4)
(Review ID: 8172)
I have stayed at the Antares twice now. First time was beginning of 2004, second time was this year in Sep 2005. While it certainly isn't the best hostel I have ever stayed in, for a hostel on the Riviera it suited my budget and the location was the selling factor for me. Not only is the train station just across the road, but you'll find the post office, money change, car hire places , ATM, tourist information, cheap restaurants and mini markets all on the same street. The 15min walk to the beach was quite handy too. While the train station is a bit of a red light area (aren't all train station areas though!), it is also the place where you are likely to find the best budget accommodation. I felt safer here than in the red light areas of Paris and Amsterdam. After returning for a brief stay this year I couldn't believe the renovations made to the Antares/Baccarat. The courtyard area has been completely revamped - kitchen area (Yay!Hard to find a kitchen in hostels these days!), outdoor chairs and tables for relaxing in the sunshine, and I noticed three fab new dorm rooms. While the rooms are a bit dark, having free of charge sheets and towels supplied to you makes up for it. I'll be going back!
6 of
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Thomas
(jackwhack@mailsnare.net)
from Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
This hostel doesn't even deserve one star 7 August 2003
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Thomas
saw things this way
Maintenance
(1)
Cleanliness
(1)
Facilities
(1)
Atmosphere
(1)
(Review ID: 8173)
Let me tell you about my stay at Antares, I mean Bacarrat, no, Antares... well, we were sent across a courtyard into an ajoining premises. I wonder how many hotels on that particular block are in their particular little cartel! This doesn't even mention the fact that the website we booked through promised us a private room for three people and breakfast. We had a shared room for six and nothing to eat in the morning.If you have booked this hostel, I recommed you don't show up. You will not be charged for the first night's accommodation as it said on our booking form as the place doesn't take credit cards - this turned out to be a blessing in disguise. We had to pay 90% of our bill on arrival and didn't have enough cash so we only paid for one night. The staff were incredibly rude to us, and said go now or be out by 10 in the morning. We decided to stay the first night in case we couldn't get anywhere else, and then set off to find somewhere else for the next two nights.The bed wasn't all that bad. Clean sheets were provided, along with a hand towel and individual soap. There was only one small light between two of the beds, which didn't really light up the room, and the TV that was there didn't work, so I think it was a selling point rather than a functional piece of equipment. Then we noticed the bathroom, which was so small you could hardly turn around in it. There was no privacy since it didn't have a door. The bath was lined with a black film of grease and the little shower head converter either ran too hot or too cold, and with water pressure similar to the effect of showering under a little statue taking a piss! I didn't even bother wetting my hair!We left our bags in the room, remembering to take all our passports and everything, as there are no safes or lockers of any description. When we came back to our 6 bedded room (remember we were told we'd get a 3 bedded room and were later informed the other 3 beds would be filled anyway) later that evening, we found 6 others in it. At a grand total of 9, the management, if they deserve such a glorious title, had managed to double book us. After much arguing with the guy at reception, we finally persuaded him that 9 people could not stay in the room and he needed to find three beds somewhere. As we were in the room first we stayed and were forced to kick three Busabout backpackers out ourselves since the management were scared to, saying we should do it because our English was better. We got that dilemma sorted OK though, and settled down to our nights sleep, with the right number of people in the room, and a noisy restaurant and sex shop in the busy street right outside our window. We were told at reception that there was only one key for the room, and it was with us, but in the middle of the night these 2 Australians magically appeared in our room, thinking they were staying there too! But they managed to get a double room upstairs somehow.When it came to checking out, the lady on the reception (who was busy dealing with someone else who sounded unhappy) asked for our room number, didn't score us off any lists, look up our names, or anything. I can only hope in the following nights their pathetic excuse for a booking system wasn't thrown off by the fact that we were double booked and three beds they thought were empty had actually been filled by the ones we kicked out! The management didn't have a clue who was where, I think.So, for our second and third nights we went to Ibis Hotel beside the train station. For an extra 8euro a night we got air conditioning, private room, clean and tidy, free safe and luggage storage (even when we had checked out but were still in Nice for a few more hours) and even a swimming pool! The proximity to the train station is Antares/Baccarat's only good feature, but Ibis is even closer. I will never again, and I urge you not to stay in this dump - you'd be better off staying almost anywhere else!!!
16 of
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Vanessa
Sacramento, CA
Never again will I waste my time or money.... 1 May 2003
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Vanessa
saw things this way
Maintenance
(1)
Cleanliness
(1)
Facilities
(1)
Atmosphere
(1)
(Review ID: 8174)
My friend and I stayed in this hotel/ hostel in May 2002 and the only nice thing I can say about this place is that it has a decent location. Other than that my experience was beyond horrible. First and foremost the staff was VERY RUDE!!! Secondly, the first night we were there we had to share our room with some loud, obnoxious people who were traveling with Busabout. There were no lockers to store your bags in safely and although the rooms were locked you never knew who was in and out of your room throughout the day. The in room showers were less than private and because of that we had to wait till everyone else was gone before we even attempted to take a shower. And yes it is true the bathrooms were nasty and hardly ever stocked with toilet paper. I also definately would not recommend using the elevator unless you don't mind being stuck between floors in a pitch black box. So to all my fellow travelers, Please, Please, Please don't waste your time or money on this dump!!! There are plenty of better places to stay in Nice. In fact our friend stayed at a hostel right down the street that had a much better vibe. Hanging out at her hostel was probably our only saving grace.
5 of
15 people found this review helpful
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Anonymous
Pittsburgh, PA
fine by me 6 March 2003
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Anonymous
saw things this way
Maintenance
(3)
Cleanliness
(3)
Facilities
(3)
Atmosphere
(3)
(Review ID: 8175)
This hotel/hostel was just fine for my purposes. It's just across the street from the train station, so you don't have to lug your stuff far. The room I was put in (I dont remember what I paid, but it was the "dorm" price) had it's own bathroom which was nice. It was clean and had a desk and chair, two bunk beds. There was no curfew. The social atmosphere was more hotel like than hostel, however. I didn't even meet my roommates because they went to sleep before I came home for night and woke up before I did. There was no social space outside the rooms. There was an internet you could use for coins. I never ate their breakfast, but the little convience stores sell fresh bread which is amazing. (only in france!) It was within walking distance of everything I needed to get to. Though the area at night seems a little rough, it's always well populated which made me feel safe, even as a female traveling alone. If you want the "hostel" vibe you'd want to look elsewhere but if you just want a cheap convienent place to sleep with a little privacy, this place should do just fine.
13 of
13 people found this review helpful
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Anonymous
Houston, Texas
Find Some Place Else 14 August 2002
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
Anonymous
saw things this way
Maintenance
(2)
Cleanliness
(2)
Facilities
(2)
Atmosphere
(2)
(Review ID: 8176)
I only had a slightly more positive experience at Hotel Antares. The hostel is truly overpriced for the services and facilities provided. The facilities are awful....one bathroom per floor. Two or three showers per floor but the common shower is so tiny that you must get into the shower to shut the door. Other showers were simply a curtain in front of a drain in the hostel bedroom. Breakfast is certainly overpriced. On the plus side, I found that the hostel was cleaned semi-regularly and sheets were changed when a person moved out. The hostel is also conveniently located by the train station and a 10 minute walk to the beach front. If you are traveling with Busabout, there are many better hostels than Antares, which are nearby.
9 of
14 people found this review helpful
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okay_anastasia@hotmail.com
Oxford
Avoid at all costs 2 September 2001
Pros:
n/a
Cons:
n/a
okay_anastasia@hotmail.com
saw things this way
Maintenance
(1)
Cleanliness
(1)
Facilities
(1)
Atmosphere
(1)
(Review ID: 8177)
The worst hostel I have ever stayed in. Stay well clear of this place. The rooms were overpriced and filthy; the cockroaches testified to that, and the staff were incredibly rude. After being told we could pay the morning we left reception called out room at 2am demanding money for that night. The TV in the 'lobby' was kept on all night and the walls were so thin we could here all the goings on from the street 5 floors below, which happens to be covered with sex shops and the like. The toilet (1 per floor) was so small it was impossible to sit down and close the door. Claustrophobic and smelly, having to fork over 25 quid for the experience was the final staw!
Great place to stay on the Riviera. Inexpensive restaurants nearby, train station just across the road. Just 15min walk to the beach - it will only be 5mins when they finish the tram line!
It's rare to find cooking facilities at hostels these days, so that is a positive too.
I love this part of the world!
