The catch at Le Méridien Beach Plaza

The hotel sells six room categories below the suites, and the two city-view categories do not look at the sea at all. The Classic is 22 to 26 square metres and city view, with a shower over the bath, and it is not sold with a balcony, though some have a small one over the city; the Superior is the same side of the building on a high floor with 30 to 34 square metres. The sea and a balcony arrive together only in the Deluxe sea-view room, 28 square metres, two rungs up. Guests mark it down most on value.

The refurbishment is the other half of it. The suites on the top floors are shown in a light, contemporary finish, and those are the rooms the hotel photographs. Lower down, guests report rooms that were refurbished and already show wear, tired carpet, and traffic noise from Avenue Princesse Grace despite windows the hotel lists as soundproof.

The hotel's own events pages put the Sea Club at 3,000 square metres over four levels, and all its event space at 3,375 once the terraces and the beach are counted: fourteen meeting rooms, a Salon Atlantique of 579 square metres for 520 people, a Salon Méditerranée of 549 that divides in two, plus terraces and the beach itself, which the hotel lists as its largest event space at 600. With 398 rooms and suites feeding one breakfast service split between Le Café Lacoste and L'Intempo, a full conference or a wedding changes the building. Guests report breakfast crowds and a lobby given over to conference groups out of season, and on occasion the pool area closed early for a private event.

None of this is a secret and little of it happens in August, when the hotel is a family resort. The problem is that the rate does not tell you which of the two hotels you are getting.

This is the only hotel in the principality with its own beach, and it is a strip of pebbles inside the Larvotto Marine Reserve, not a bay. The hotel's own pages give the beach as lifeguarded from April to September, the Alang beach bar the same months, the heated seawater pools April to September on the pool page and April to October in the FAQ, and the water-sports base June to September. From October the sea side of the hotel is the indoor pool: fresh water, heated, 0.98 to 2.59 metres deep, swimwear compulsory and under-16s accompanied.

The hotel's own site also sells the beach. La Plage & More is a day pass for non-residents, April to September, covering the beach, the five pools and the Kids Club, so the loungers you paid a sea-view premium to reach are shared with people who paid for the day. It is a good product; it is just not a private beach in the sense the phrase suggests.

Breakfast is not on the standard rate: the hotel's dining page lists it for a fee at Le Café Lacoste and L'Intempo, so check what your rate includes. The Sea Club fitness centre, 7am to 8pm, is listed as complimentary on its own card, though the site's FAQ says otherwise; yoga and Pilates in Studio 22 are 35 euros a session. The room cards list the minibar for a fee, and Wi-Fi for a fee in three categories. Parking is paid; the daily rate is on the hotel's own overview page, so check it before you drive. Guests report the extras as steep.

Then there is the position. Larvotto is the eastern end of Monaco, and the casino square is 19 minutes on foot from the door, routed along the front. Buses 5 and 6 run along Avenue Princesse Grace at 2 euros from the driver or 1.50 by card. The hotel's 2027 Grand Prix package, 3 to 7 June, requires four nights.