Nice Pebbles Review

My family and I were very lucky to be invited to stay with Nice Pebbles for a long weekend break.

Nice Pebbles is a holiday company that provides luxury apartments for you to stay in Nice. Each apartment is hand selected, they are all within 15 minutes walk of the beach and are provided with a large amount of amenities to make your stay as luxurious as possible.

I hadn’t heard of Nice Pebbles before I was invited to visit, but I can say I was hugely impressed with the service. Very friendly and helpful with additional options to make your stay as easy as possible.

Our trip to Nice was also the first time either of my children had been on an airplane. Which my son was incredibly excited about. We flew from London Gatwick into Nice and it was about a 2 hour flight.

Our Apartment

Location

We stayed in the Le Miami apartment, which is located near the Gambetta Promende. The beach was just a five minutes walk at the end of the road and the city centre about a ten to fifteen minute walk. There was also a bus stop at the end of the road.

We were also a stone’s throw from lots of gorgeous boulangeries if you fancy fresh bread and croissants for breakfast (we did!) and two reasonable sized supermarkets.

We flew into Nice airport, and after deliberating getting a taxi (which was an expensive £71 return), we decided to get the airport shuttle bus which was €6 each way per adult – the children were free. I would definitely recommend the bus, it was quick and easy and only took about fifteen minutes to reach the bus stop at the end of the road.

The Apartment and Facilities

The apartment was lovely. Really big and spacious. Two large bedrooms, a bathroom and separate toilet. Kitchen and lounge / dining room.

The master bedroom had a king’s size bed and the second bedroom two singles. All bedding and towels were provided for our stay. Which I think makes such a difference. The kitchen was incredibly well equipped – a dishwasher and washing machine, but also a food processor and liquidiser, as well as pretty much everything you would need to cook, and cook well during your stay. It was also air conditioned.

Reading the guest book while we were there, there were a few people that stayed there for extended breaks – 5 to 7 weeks – and I can see why as it had all the comforts you would enjoy from home.

The best part of the apartment was the front room, beautifully bright with a wall covered in windows and opening out onto a balcony where you could watch the world go by. In the summer you could open all of the windows and the balcony doors and it really would be stunning.

The apartment was a corner plot, which also meant it had two balconies. One off the front room and a long one that ran the length of the side of the apartment which could be accessed from both bedrooms and the kitchen. I was a bit nervous having a balcony on the room the children were sleeping in, especially with my toddler who is a climber, but the doors had both locks and safety chains.

The Nice Pebbles Service

This was something I haven’t experienced in self catering apartments or villas before. Nice Pebbles offer a really personal service. Our lovely rep Eva met us from the bus stop when we arrived and walked us to our apartment.

When we arrived, she gave us a tour, explaining what facilities were available. While there was a very comprehensive folder in the apartment with instructions on how to use everything, Eva went onto to show me how the dishwasher and other equipment worked. She helped me connect to the internet to check there was no problems and was available for any questions during our stay.

I had requested a travel cot and highchair when we arranged our stay and these had all been delivered to our apartment and were set up and ready to use. It is worth noting that highchairs are £25 per stay and cots £30 per stay, which is slightly on the expensive side and one of my very few criticisms.

Check-in on arrival is normally 4pm and check-out 10.30am. But Nice Pebbles did say if the apartment was free and no-one was staying on our arrival and departure days they could be more flexible on this. And in fact they were great, we arrived just before 12pm on the Friday and we were able to check-in straight away and were able to stay later on our departure day too which really helped. You do literally find out on at the last minute on departure time, as people can book the apartment very last minute, but if you cannot stay in the apartment you are able to leave your bags at Nice Pebbles’ offices or a local hotel.

We were also given a very nice welcome pack which comprised of a bottle of wine and biscuits, tea and coffee. We also had bin bags, dishwasher and washing machine tablets and a cleaning sponge. As well as lovely hotel style toiletries.

You can book additional services for your stay such as beach towels, additional cleaning, airport transfers and a babysitting service. We didn’t but they might have been handy if we stayed for longer.

Nice

While I have been to France many times before, neither I or my family have ever been to Nice. But we instantly fell in love. It’s a chic and cosmopolitan city, running alongside a stunning beach with an absolutely beautiful blue sea. The only thing I would change it that the beach itself is a pebble beach, and it would be even better if it was sand. I think one of our favourite places was the promenade itself. We loved walking along it, taking in the view from the sea and enjoying a bit of people watching too.

The promenade is a busy and bustling place, with cyclists, joggers, people on their roller blades, or people like us just simply enjoying a stroll and taking it all in. If you fancy a bike ride yourself there are Boris style bikes available for hire.

Eating out there were plenty of restaurants for you to choose from, it wasn’t necessarily the cheapest place to eat out though and for that reason of our four night stay we did choose to cook and in eat in for two of them. There was a definite Italian influence to the food, but as a family we love pizza and pasta so it was all good. I would say we found the children’s menus very limited and in the end found it best to order an adult’s meal and share it between our two children.

If you fancy a bit of shopping there is plenty to keep you busy, from designer boutiques to fashion chains and toy stores. You can also walk further down into the old town, enjoy a market which is on everyday except Monday or walk a little further to the port and oggle some of the incredible yachts there!

Summary

We had an absolutely wonderful time in Nice and none of us wanted to come home. My son has now decided it is his favourite place in the world, but I suspect the chocolate croissants may have had an influence there! The Nice Pebbles service and apartment was fabulous and I would definitely recommend them, we’re even thinking about going back to France next year.

*Disclosure: We were invited by Nice Pebbles to stay in one of their apartments for 4 nights. However, all opinions are my own.